Walking The Fine Line of “disgracefull”
Throughout his writing of “Song of Myself”, Walt Whitman focuses on creating a new standard for social progression. Going against the flow instead of with it, this is Whitman’s belief throughout his life. During his writing career, Walt Whitman focuses on creating a new standard for writing while pushing the limits with what is socially acceptable. In “Song of Myself”, he brings up obscene subjects such as sex and democracy to challenge other writers to write about the same topics. The belief of many people is that writers and poets are people that are proper, writing only about nature and non-debatable topics. Contrary to popular belief Whitman was quite opposite of this, writing poetry that was considered profane by some.
Whitman’s goal is to be different, creating
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This quote is describing Whitman’s soul and that they connect with each other in the most vulnerable state, when they are naked. The main idea could’ve been conveyed in a more conservative manner, but Whitman chooses to aggressively push the subject of sexuality to describe simple things. Another example of Whitman’s fascination of sexual writing is in the eleventh section. “Twenty-eight men bathe by the shore…Twenty-eight years of womanly life and all so lonesome”(Whitman 200). As if saying this wasn’t enough, Whitman goes on to tell us that the speaker is fanatisizing about being on the beach with the men, becoming “the twenty-ninth bather”(208). Whitman not only wants his work to be focused on sexuality limits, but also the democratic limits. In order to spread the idea of equality, which was not a social concern during the period that this poem was written, Whitman writes about African Americans in the 13th section. The speaker in the poem refers to the worker as “The negro”, which indicates that racism is thriving at this point
Stanza 33 of “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman is a beautiful poem. In the poem, Whitman describes a multitude of examples of people he considers heroes.
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.
The Heath Anthology of American Literature repeatedly refers to Walt Whitman and his poetry in terms of being American, yet as I read Song of Myself, my thoughts are continually drawn to the philosophies and religions of the Far East. Like the Tao Te Ching ideas are expressed in enigmatic verse and each stanza is a Zen koan waiting to be meditated on and puzzled out. Even Emerson called Whitman's poetry "a remarkable mixture of the Bhagvat Gita and the New York Herald" ("The Whitman Project"). Song of Myself contains multitudes of passages that express Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist thought.
Whitman is giving a more graphic example of how sex is a natural thing. By comparing the act of reproduction to death he shows just how natural of an act sex is. Everything that is born will eventually die. He feels that the natural curiosities of the human sexual appetites should not be denied or not discussed because of social standards. Not only is sex a "miracle" that is a part of him, but also nature and the universe, and each individual part should be celebrated.
The most prominent and controversial themes in Walt Whitman’s works is that of sex and human sexuality. Many of his poems, especially Song of Myself and The Body Electric contain imagery that is sexually explicit and, at certain times, simply erotic. The most prominent and sexual example can be seen in the fifth section of Song of Myself in with Whitman elaborately describes a sex scene between the speaker and an unknown second party. This section includes:
The homosexual themes displayed in Walt Whitman’s works, especially in his most famous collection of poems Leaves of Grass, raise the question of his own sexuality. Many of his poems depicted affection and sexuality in a simple, personal manner, causing nineteenth century Americans to view them as pornographic and obscene. Based on this poetry, Whitman is usually assumed to be homosexual, or at least bisexual. However, this assumption does not account for major influences of his writing such as the shift from transcendentalism to realism and the American Civil War. After considering these factors, it can be concluded that Whitman’s poems were not intended to set apart a few homosexual men, but to bring all men and women together. Walt Whitman’s poems of spiritual love and physical togetherness of both genders emphasized exalted friendships and are indicative of his omnisexuality, or lack of a complete sexual preference, rather than his alleged homosexuality.
Nursing students report higher levels of anxiety than the overall population of college students, in part due to heavy course loads, rigorous exams, long hours of clinical experiences, and ongoing pressure to get good grades in a very competitive environment. The educational goals of the academic nursing program are to cultivate students’ creative and critical thinking abilities and promote continuous self-development (Song, Y., et al 2015). Thus, nursing students must not only endure burdensome theoretical learning, but also experience clinical practice. Myriad stressors exist in nursing students’ experiences, including meeting professional
Whitman's radical ideas of individualism have a great deal to do with his Quaker background. The Quaker religion is one in which the authority was Inner Light. "Whitman himself was not only personally familiar with, but deeply impressed by, a religion whose only authority was the Inner Light" (Canoy 481). The Inner Light is a special influence, which made Whitman's poetry unique. This certain influence did such things as guide Whitman down his soul searching path as well as help him define within himself the characteristics of an individual. In section fifteen of "Song of Myself," Whitman discusses people from every class and every profession. He goes on to say "the young fellow drives the express-wagon... love him though I do not know him;" (2753). ...
The poem has set a certain theme and tone but no definite rhyme. In this poem, the poet explores into a thought of the self, the all-encompassing "I," sexuality, democracy, the human body, and what it means to live in the modern world. He addresses that the human body is sacred and every individual human is divine. Hence, Whitman was known for writing poems about individualism, democracy, nature, and war.
Walt Whitman is arguably America’s most influential poet in history. Born Walter Whitman in May 31st, 1819 to Walter Whitman and Louisa van Velsor, he was immediately nicknamed ‘Walt’ to distinguish him from his father. He came to life in West Hills on the famous Long Island, the second of nine children that grew up in Brooklyn. He came to be fondly known as ‘the Bard of Democracy’, mainly because that was a main message in his work. He is also celebrated as ‘the father of the free verse’. He was a liberal thinker and was vehemently against slavery, although later on he was against the abolitionists because, according to him, they were anti-democracy. He managed to marry transcendentalism with realism in his works. His occupation was a printer school teacher and editor.
Explication Through a multitude of literary devices and techniques, Walt Whitman's poem, "Song of Myself," is one of his most famous contributions to American literature. He uses simile and metaphor, paradox, rhythm, and free verse style, to convey his struggle between the relation of the body and soul, the physical and the spiritual being. He continues to disobey all social restrictions of the romantic time period. From the beginning, Whitman begins by stating, "What I shall assume, you shall assume, for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you," proposing that the reader listen to him, for he possesses all of the answers to life. The setting is somewhat naturalistic, and offers an image of the speaker, relaxing, possibly sprawled out across a blanket, philosophizing about life, while in the middle of a peaceful meadow. As the poem later shifts in tone, and setting, Whitman starts to think about the answers to life he has come up with, based upon the past, and decides that the reader should hear him out, one final time, as his ideas have changed. This brings us to #44 of "Song of Myself." In section #44 of, "Song of Myself," Whitman's first stanza begins: "It's time to explain myself…let us stand up. What is known I strip away…I launch all men and women forward with me into the unknown. The clock indicates the moment…but what does eternity indicate? Eternity lies in bottomless reservoirs…its buckets are rising forever and ever, they pour and they pour and they exhale away." Whitman is simply stating that he wants to tell the purpose of his madness. The madness that Whitman expresses is that of power and self-confidence. Whitman has written this based upon his experiences in life. Through these experiences, he has grown to know certain things about life and tries to pass them down to the reader. Throughout the beginning of the poem, Whitman takes the reader by the hand and demands that he follows Whitman and his ideas, because based on his own life Whitman holds the answers to the reader's questions. But now, he asks the reader to erase everything that he has previously said - forget the past. Why don't we try something new? We have to focus on the present, not on the past, but also to focus on what we are going to experience in the future, what can we expect?
Society shapes human beings into what they think is perfection. People in today’s society follow the world’s rituals as they continue to conform to fit in to the latest trends. Today, implants, plastic surgery, and weight loss treatments are the reason people have money set aside in their savings accounts. The pressure of others claims to be the main reason people change their hair, skin, and size, and often forget about their own special characteristics. There is a reason Walt Whitman, writes “I Celebrate Myself, and Sing Myself,” to show the importance of loving yourself and cherishing your own personal qualities as a human being. He speaks of himself, hoping to grab his readers’ attention. Throughout the poem, “I Celebrate Myself, and Sing
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.
That the topics that he discussed in his poems should not be shared with the world, that his thoughts and opinions should be kept to himself. The negative reactions to his poetry did not stop him from continuing to write said poetry. “During his lifetime, Whitman continued to refine the volume, publishing several more editions of the book” (Walt Whitman). Whitman showed great resilience when it came to writing his poetry. No matter what people had to say about it how they felt, he kept writing. If he had not shown such resilience, there is a very good chance that poetry would not be the way that it is today without Whitman. The continuation of his writing led to some of the most influential poems ever written being created. One of these poems being Me Imperturbe (Published Works). It is poems like this that showed a culmination of who Whitman really was. It expressed his view points and his feelings towards and people. At the time that this poem was written, it was strange for people to have this sort of connection to a poet. They were no longer just getting his thoughts about love or animals, they were getting the nitty gritty thoughts and feelings of a poet and that was something that people were not used
In section 48 he touches more on his biggest ideas of all such as he says “And i say to mankind,be not curious about each and not curious about god”(whitman 48) .Then he says “ i hear and behold god in every object”(whitman 48).In walt whitman 's mind he thinks that every single place in the world that 's where god is in whitman 's mind he opens up his eyes and looks around him and that where he finds god in every element of being.In section 51 he says”Do I contradict myself?Very well then I contradict myself,(I am large, I contain multitudes.)(whitman 51) it gets back at the idea that he quite literally is speaking for all of us and for all of us and for the entirely human and earthly experience and if it seem like he contradicting himself then that 's exactly what he suppose to be doing because in reality there are many contradictions and in the final section he says “I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles(whitman 52).which is an interesting thing because most people will not be that humble to come up with that idea that you should seek to find somebody under a boot sole and then he says Missing me one place search another,I stop somewhere waiting for you.it 's profoundly beautiful this idea in this long poem a song of myself revised and edited and changed over the course of a lifetime speaks for so many different cosmic issues and so many possibilities in the idea that if we go out into the world