Though much time has passed since the release of Walt Whitman's "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry", his poem has stayed relevant as the world population has exploded. Written and published just before the Civil War, Whitman was attempting to bring together the widest variety of peoples, and therefore focused on cities. In this poem, Whitman is protesting against the disassociation of peoples that live in large cities spurred by his strong feelings of a shared human spiritual connection. He builds on the interconnectedness of the manufactured and the natural and expands his focus to include the people that flood the city daily to show the unrecognized connection. In large cities, people rarely know their neighbors. I happen to live in a 300 unit apartment building, and I only know four or five families simply because it is so large. Besides the massive quantity of people, they …show more content…
Using the fifth section as a launching point to further dive into his exploration, it signifies the core of his protest, that he knows all humans are connected, though it can only be realized thorough introspection as he says," That I was I knew was of my body, and what I should be I knew I should be of my body." Immediately after his full comprehension, he talks about the ugly that also connect us. American cities have always been known to be dirty, both in cleanliness and morals, and Whitman acknowledges it, as he said, "The dark threw its patches down upon me also." However, ultimately this only serves to bring us closer as we rise above darkness and come together to travel and work and continue with our lives. Being in a dangerous situation with a friend or even a stranger allows a certain connection to form bringing two people together. Together being in a city that has its own dangers, Whitman believes that it should bring itself
Readers are persuaded to get to know their neighbors because of how Lovenheim describes the joy of forming a bond with neighbors. He points out that people have become fragmented by ethnicity and status quo as a society. They have isolated themselves from each other by dividing themselves with an invisible line. Neighbors living a few doors down from each other don’t know their neighbor’s names. Lovenhem cited a study from Robert Putman’s book “Bowling Alone,” that the decline began 20 years earlier, and that neighborhoods are less than half as strong as they were in
...s a man of the world, the spiritual citizen of the universe.(Baudelaire 7) It is fundamentally a way of thought and thought process which artists, writers, and poets commonly have, Walt Whitman being one of them. He is a mirror as vast as the crowd itself who responds to each movement, then reproduces the multiplicity of life and the flickering grace of all elements of life. (9) Of course he is not a genuine flâneur like Monsieur G. but he continues to take in his city of Brooklyn, his nation of America, and himself as Walt Whitman: the poet and analyzes the world, soaking it in and not letting it pass him by like the many who keep their eyes glued to the never ending sidewalk.
In Walt Whitman’s poem Oh Captain! My Captain! He talks about the death of America’s commander and chief, Abraham Lincoln. Whitman published this poem in his book of poems about the civil war causing him to become one of a handful of people to be the only ones who did not participate in the war, but wrote about it. In fact, Whitman uses various metaphors to tell of the death of Abraham Lincoln to the common people of the Union.
Poetry is a universe of subjectivity. When two poems are set up, side-by-side, to create discussion, results may vary. But it is clear in Sherman Alexie’s two poems, “Defending Walt Whitman” and “How to Write the Great American Indian Novel”, where the discussion must go. Alexie explores Native American culture and the effect that the Europeans have had on the native people of the United States. This feat is accomplished through the thoughtful use of several literary devices, including tone, simile, allusion, and metaphor.
Throughout the span of this semester, much of the literature discussed revolved around the so-called renaissance of American literature and its impact upon both the nation and its people. Of all the authors studied in this time period, Walt Whitman may well be known as the quintessential American author. Famous for breaking every rule known to poetry in the inimitable compilation, Song of Myself, Whitman provided a fresh and insightful commentary upon the dualistic nature of society, love, and life itself. Through defining these essential aspects of humanity, Whitman indeed composed one of the most accurate and enduring definitions of the individual self that literature, American or otherwise, has ever seen. Specifically, this was done through
American poetry, unlike other nations’ poetry, is still in the nascent stage because of the absence of a history in comparison to other nations’ poetry humming with matured voices. Nevertheless, in the past century, American poetry has received the recognition it deserves from the creative poetic compositions of Walt Whitman, who has been called “the father of American poetry.” His dynamic style and uncommon content is well exhibited in his famous poem “Song of Myself,” giving a direction to the American writers of posterity. In addition, his distinct use of the line and breath has had a huge impression on the compositions of a number of poets, especially on the works of the present-day poet Allen Ginsberg, whose debatable poem “Howl” reverberates with the traits of Whitman’s poetry. Nevertheless, while the form and content of “Howl” may have been impressed by “Song of Myself,” Ginsberg’s poem expresses a change from Whitman’s use of the line, his first-person recital, and his vision of America. As Whitman’s seamless lines are open-ended, speaking the voice of a universal speaker presenting a positive outlook of America, Ginsberg’s poem, on the contrary, uses long lines that end inward to present the uneasiness and madness that feature the vision of America that Ginsberg exhibits through the voice of a prophetic speaker.
Whitman’s approach to poetry is a reflection of his thought. These thoughts are free and wild, and his typical run-on sentences and his endless litanies of people and places represent the thoughts trying to be conveyed. The overall effect of these run-on sentences provides the reader with a feeling of greatness and of freedom. All of the feelings that are evoked from Whitman’s style can be classified as quintessentially American democratic feelings. The belief that Whitman had no style would imply that Americans as a society have no style, a statement that not only Whitman but Emerson and Thoreau as well fought against through their writings. Whitman and Emerson fighting for the same cause is not coincidental, Whitman has often been viewed as the “child” of Emerson, his work being greatly influenced by Emerson. Whitman’s technique of looking at everything as a whole and always opposed to breaking up the whole can be linked to his belief of unity within our country and the reason why he took the Civil War extremely hard and personal.
(A critique of Walt Whitman’s themes and ideas in Song of Myself 6, 46, 47)
In summary in this poem Whitman is talking about the population of America. This population is composed by workers who are developing the industry and the society, so they are improving the new nation. Although each person has a different occupation, all together create the new nation as a group. Each job is important for everyone, and for the development of their nation. They want to build a civilization based on the success and on the harmony.
He crossed the boundaries of the poetry literature and gave a poetry worth of our democracy that contributed to an immense variety of people, nationalities, races. Whitman’s self-published Leaves of Grass was inspired in part by his travels through the American frontier and by his admiration for Ralph Waldo Emerson (Poetry Foundation). He always believed in everyone being treated equally and bringing an end to slavery and racism. Through his poetry, Whitman tried to bring every people in America together by showing them what happiness, love, unison, and real knowledge looked. His poetry and its revolution changed the world of American literature
Walt Whitman is considered the foremost poet of American democracy of his time. Not only did he fully embrace it, but he believed that American democracy was more than a political system, but a way of life (Casale 48). Many of his personal experiences influenced his deep democratic point of view (48). As a volunteer at an army hospital during the American Civil War, he saw many die and became increasingly grateful for the opportunities provided by the American government (Mirsky). Later, as he was residing in New York City, Whitman witnessed America face urbanization. He loved the diversity of the cities and believed it was possible because of democracy (Brand). This adoration of democracy is apparent in many of Whitman’s works, such as “Drum-Taps”
While the poem can be termed to be democratic, both in subject matter and its language, Whitman is viewed to be cataloging the ‘new’ America that he is seeing around him. The poem includes subject matter such as relationships, patriotism, heroes, family and ancestors, and a view on social commentaries too.
Although Whitman uses a great deal of structural ways to stress his ideas, he also uses many other ways of delivering his ideas. First of all, Whitman portrays himself as a public spokesman of the masses. The tone of the poem is a very loud, informative tone that grabs ones attention. The emphasis placed on the word “all” adds to the characterization of Whitman as a powerful speaker. Furthermore, Whitman takes part in his own poem. Participating in his own poem, Whitman moreover illustrates the connection between everything in life. Lastly, Whitman, most of all, celebrates universal brotherhood and democracy.
The dominant themes that are more pervasive in Whitman’s poetry are democracy, life/death cycles, individualism, and nature. These themes play major roles in some of his more notable poems such as “Songs of Myself” or “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” He used democracy as a theme to bring society together, and unite everyone based on their general beliefs. He depicted life and death cycles that merge society together on a spiritual level. Despite his eagerness to unite society he also embraced individualism, and is also a persistent theme in most of his poetry.
On the other hand the neighborhood I live in now isn’t much of a neighborhood at all, it’s just a street that has multiple apartment buildings. I feel more as though my apartment complex is an entire neighborhood in itself than my street or my town actually is. There’s also upsides to a living so close to your neighbors such as you’re able to ask them for anything you might need and you’re able to get to know them on a more personal level. In my other neighborhood we also knew each other, but people didn’t seem to see each other as often or interact as much because everybody was so distant from each