Walt Whitman Essay

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Although Walt Whitman manifested a lot of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s ideas into his poetry, his poetry also differs from the ideals presented in Emerson’s essays. Emerson focuses on how our soul is good, and our bodies are bad because our bodies are weak in that it wants and craves more materialistic things. However, Whitman loves the body, and he emphasizes that sexuality is essential to the principles of nature. Whitman is known as Emerson with a body, but I think Whitman is bolder than Emerson because he takes his ideas and experiments with his writing to present those ideas in a different way. Whitman uses language and lots of descriptions to address what others are afraid to explore: sex and the body. Whitman distinguishes the sexual union that humans have with nature, and he invites humanity to partake in nature through the use of senses, physicality and experience. …show more content…

The speaker begins the poem by revealing that he is not satisfied about his name being received “with plaudits in the capitol” (1), nor satisfied when accomplishing his plans. It is not until he thinks about his dear friend and lover coming to see him that the speaker becomes truly happy. This suggests that Whitman cares more about the connections between people over materialism. The night that his friend finally arrives, the speaker becomes very descriptive: And that night while all was still I heard the waters roll slowly continually up the shores, I heard the hissing rustle of the liquid and sands as directed to me whispering to congratulate me, For the one I love most lay sleeping by me under the same cover in the cool

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