In this passage, Whitman talks about being a spirit, being greater than the stairs, and being in an intimate relation with God, being kept safe while traveling through a great expanse of nothing. As he does many places elsewhere in his poem, Whitman uses much repetition in his poem, although they rarely last very long, as shown when he writes words and lines such as, “I am an acme of things accomplished, and I am an encloser of things to be”, here repeating the word ‘things’ in one line. There are other repetitions of words, such as his saying of “mount and mount”, “Rise after rise”, and “long and long”. By using the repetition of these words, Whitman is emphasizing that these actions and nouns are with him for a long time. “All below duly …show more content…
traveled-- and still I mount and mount” talks about how Whitman is still riding, even after he has been traveling for a long time- The use of the word ‘Duly’ in this context drives the point home, showing that Whitman has been ‘fittingly’ traveling. “Rise after Rise bow the phantoms behind me” also suggests that he has been running away from something for a long time, long enough for all the phantoms of his past to bow away. Lastly, “Long was I hugged close....long and long” is emphasizing “And slept while God carried me through the lethargic mist/ And took my time...”, which emphasizes the amount of time Whitman spent with God. The use of the anaphora (am I using this word correctly?
I mean repetition) of the word “And” in the lines “And slept while God carried through the lethargic mist,/And took my time....and took no hurt from the fetid carbon.” suggests that he is still being carried by God. Despite the use of past tense in the poem, the repetition of the word ‘and’ suggests that there is still more to say, or maybe that his journey with God is still not over. If ‘and’ had been used only once, it might have seemed final, but with the repetition of it, it seems that he still has more to say- he just doesn’t say …show more content…
it. The use of Alliteration in this poem seems to emphasize lines which Whitman thinks are important- in this case, the first and the last ones: “My feet strike an apex of the apices of the stairs” and “Faithful and friendly that arms that have helped me.” The alliteration in the first line is more than the first letter, but for ‘apex’ and ‘apices’, it is the first two letters, making the words sound very similar if not listened to carefully.
Here, by setting up the alliteration, he is telling people that the poem is just beginning, and to pay attention carefully, or else they’ll miss something important. This line is also a bit of ‘setting’ for the rest of the poem, so it is especially important for people to pay attention here, else they’ll miss a lot of the meaning of the passage of the poem. The last line, “Faithful and friendly that arms that have helped me”, also has alliteration, but instead of making them so similar as in the first line with ‘apice’ and ‘apex’, they are slightly more different, this time marking the end of the passage instead of the first line of the passage. This last line has a bit more of a reflective tone, talking about the ride that Whitman has had over the course of the poem instead of setting up the poem itself. In the beginning, the alliteration is meant to bring us into the poem, but in the end, the alliteration is meant to be a smooth transition out of
it. Many themes of Whitman’s work are also visible in this poem. For example, Whitman describes that “I know I was even there....I waited unseen and always”, which is reflecting the idea that Whitman sees himself as a spirit being everywhere, such as he says in different parts of the poem. This is also shown in the first line, where he says “I am an acme of things accomplished, and I am an encloser of things to be.” By saying this, he says that he is at the top of everything, and everything that he is not, he encompasses, practically making him Omnipresent. This idea of Whitman seeing himself as a spirit is also reflected in his sleeping “while God carried through the lethargic mist,/And took my time....and took no hurt from the fetid carbon”. Here, he describes being ‘carried’ by God, which is a far more physically intimate idea of being close to God than many people on the earth might think. The overall tone of the poem seems to be a general feeling that he will be safe, no matter what worries him or how long he has been worrying. In the line “Rise after rise bow the phantoms behind me”, which suggests that he has had phantoms behind him, which I see as a metaphor for his worries and struggles. However, it also says that the phantoms bow behind him, showing that he has overcome them and so they cannot worry him anymore. This continues in the line “Long was I hugged close....long and long”, with the repetition of the word ‘long’ demonstrating that it does not matter how long he has been worrying, he will still get through everything safe, being carried by God through the lethargic mist and the fetid Carbon.
Henry Thoreau uses specific rhetorical strategies in Walden to emanate his attitude towards life. With the use of many strategies Thoreau shows that life should be centered around Nature. People live their lives not ever taking a second glance of what Nature does and has done for humanity and Thoreau is trying to prove his point. Humanity owes Nature everything for without it humans would be nothing.
These poems represent the idea of allusion by symbolizing the need for poetry. For example in sentence 9 of Introduction to Poetry he uses allusion to demonstrate there is a dream or accomplishment he wants to do with "his students". In sentences 16-19 of Trouble with poetry, he also uses allusion because it looks like he has an idea in mind and has plans set ahead.
All through out Henry David Thoreau’s life his works have been rhetorically significant, in his piece Walden which was written in 1854 you can see what kind of strategical moves that me makes. In chapter 8, The Village, of Walden Thoreau uses many strategies to get his stories of what happened in the town to the reader, he uses rhetorical moves, appeals, and also figurative language which was tied into how he used his words.
Throughout the poem, there is repetition of the line “I am the man, I suffer'd, I was there, ” to emphasize his empathy. He also includes alliteration such as “rent roofs” and powerful imagery like “the long roil of the drummers” to liven the poem. Additionally, he helps the reader experience the events in the poem by using similes to compare the challenges to things that the reader has experienced. One line reads, “The twinges that sting like needles his legs and neck”. In the poem, Whitman becomes the heroes, but by incorporating the literary devices, Whitman allows the reader to experience the same experience as the heroes as
A cold stare, and a hand on his hip, is how Walt Whitman introduced himself to his readers in 1855. The style of Whitman’s frontispiece was uncommon for its time, a man with a loose collar and a worn hat would have been found more commonly on a farm than adorning a literary scholar in the mid-nineteenth century. Whitman wanted to show that he was no better than anyone who would read his poetry. Whitman conveyed himself to his audience by showing himself as an everyday workingman; his wrinkled shirt shows that he is use to working hard for everything that he has. The stare he gives back to his audience looks as if he is examining the reader the same way they may be examining him or his work.
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.
Walt Whitman’s poem Time to Come explores Whitman’s curiosity of what happens when people die. Rather than taking a pessimistic approach, his writing is more insightful about the experience. The title alone introduces an aspect of his purpose; to point out that dying is inevitable. With Whitman captures the reader’s attention and shares his curiosity with vivid images, sophisticated diction, and his use of metaphor and personification in Time to Come.
.... With Whitman using his style of free-verse in can quite cause the works to be disorganized. His use of repetition often comes into play by him repeat to use the same phrase or word four times.
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.
First of alll, the poem is divided into nine stanzas, where each one has four lines. In addition to that, one can spot a few enjambements for instance (l.9-10). This stylistic device has the function to support the flow of the poem. Furthermore, it is crucial to take a look at the choice of words, when analysing the language.
The repetition of the “s” sound in line 4 and of the “m” sound in line 5 illustrate alliteration, and this occurs throughout the poem, providing to the listener what the rhyme of modern-day poetry provides – an aesthetic sense of rightness or pleasure.
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?
In “On the Beach at Night Alone,” Walt Whitman develops the idea that everyone has a connection with everything else, including nature. Whitman uses a variety of writing techniques to get his point across. First, the repetition and parallel structure that his poems contain reinforce the connection between everything in nature. The usage of “All” 11 times emphasizes the inclusion of everything in the universe. The sentence structure remains the same throughout the poem, without any drastic change; however, the length of the lines in the poem vary. In addition, Whitman’s’ extravagance with his words further illustrates his idea of the Over-Soul. For example, “A vast similitude interlocks all” (4) shows his verbose nature. Whitman does not do directly to the point, but gives every little detail. Most importantly, Whitman’s’ use of catalogues stands as the most recognizable Whitman characteristic that illustrates his beliefs. These long lists that he uses set the mood of the poem. “All spheres, grown, ungrown, small, large, suns, moons, planets,” (5) shows the idea that everything is connected in nature. Similarly, “All nations, colors, barbarisms, civilizations languages.” (10) furthermore emphasize Whitman’s belief in the Over-Soul.
As Whitman, the specific individual, melts away into the abstract, “Song of Myself” explores the possibilities for communion between individuals. Whitman addresses the reader in a particularly direct manner. He integrates his reader into the poem, and is freed of the constraints of poetic principle and social etiquette. The poem presents entire body lounging on the ground, leaning and idling. Whitman deliberately conflates natural world and poetical world. “Song of Myself” goes beyond the boundaries of Transcendentalism in the relationship of the physical and spiritual, individual and universal. The self that Whitman cheerily sings and celebrates substantiates a ‘uniform hieroglyphic’: suggestive, multiform, and awash with inconsistency. “It is as much a physical presence as a projected spiritual possibility” (Jason 2). Even as it blatantly and fervently expresses Whitman’s faith in evolution (and therefore in the necessary indivisibility of self-reliance), “Song of Myself” also conveys a separation with the “self,” the poet himself, and the co...
In the second stanza the poet describes the things while he was praying for his daughter. He walks for an hour and notices the "sea-wind scream upon the tower", "under the arches of the bridge", "in the elms above the flooded stream." They probably represent the dreaming of the human beings and they are decisive. They are all about the present things and they block people from thinking about the future events. The last four lines of the second stanza clearly explain this idea: