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Walt WhitmanAmerica’s poet I hearAmericasinging… October 13, 2023
Introduction to Walt Whitman 01 I am large… I contain multitues.
- Walt Whitman, born in 1819, is often called the "father of free verse." He grew up in Brooklyn and Long Island, New York, and worked as a journalist and a teacher.- Whitman is known for his groundbreaking poetry collection, "Leaves of Grass," which he continued to expand throughout his life.- His poetry was deeply influenced by the American Civil War, during which he worked as a nurse. "O Captain! My Captain!" is one of his famous poems mourning the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.- Whitman celebrated the individual, the common person, and the American experience in his poetry.- He embraced sensuality, the human body, and the human spirit in his work.
Birth and Early Career Born 31 May 1819 near Huntington, Long Island, New York Second child (of 8) born to Walter and Louisa Van Velsor Whitman. Works as printer’s apprentice (to 1835) and as a schoolteacher.
Worked for several different newspapers Wrote short fiction from 1841-1848 Themes and techniques borrowed from Poe and Hawthorne The Journalist, 1844
1846-1848. Becomes chief editor of the Brooklyn Eagle, a post he holds from March 5, 1846 to January 18, 1848. In May 1848, Whitman is fired because his politics conflict with those of the publisher. A “free soil” or “locofoco”Democrat, Whitman opposes the expansion of slavery into new territories. The Brooklyn Eagle
Franklin Evans, 1842 Temperance novel Sold 20,000 copies, more than any other work Whitman published in his lifetime
New Orleans Lives in New Orleans for 4 months as editor of the Daily Crescent. Sees slavery and slave-markets at first hand Experiences with nature (“live oaks, with moss”) and with French language later appear in his poetry.
02 Poetic style of Walt Whitman
Free Verse: Whitman's rejection of traditional rhyme and meter allowed for natural speech patterns. He believed that this style could capture the rawness of human experience.Long, Flowing Lines: Unlike the short, structured lines of traditional poetry, Whitman's lines are long and flowing. They mimic the breath and rhythms of life.Use of Catalogs: Whitman often listed things, creating catalogs of diverse American experiences. This device reinforced his democratic ideals by highlighting the multiplicity of American life.Anaphora and Parallelism: Whitman frequently repeated words and phrases at the beginning of lines (anaphora) and used parallel structure to reinforce his ideas.Symbolism: His poems often employ symbolic images, such as the grass, which represents the continuity of life.
Use of repeated images, symbols, phrases, and grammatical units Use of anaphora or “Epanaphora” (initial repetition) in lines and (each line hangs by a loop from the line before it) The Whitman “envelope” Contrast and parallelism in paired lines Whitman’s Poetic Techniques
Where the heifers browse, and the geese nip their food with short jerks; Where the sundown shadows lengthen over the limitless and lonesome prairie, Where the herds of buffalo make a crawling spread of the square miles far and near; Where the hummingbird shimmers . . . . where the neck of the longlived swan is curving and winding Where the laughing-gull scoots by the slappy shore and laughs her near-human laugh . . . From “Song of Myself”
Key Themes in Whitman's Poetry • Self and the Individual: "Song of Myself" is a celebration of the self and the individual's place in the universe. • Democracy and America: Whitman believed in the promise of America as a land of equality and opportunity. He celebrated the diverse voices of the nation. • Nature and the Universe: Nature, for Whitman, was both the physical world and a symbol of the universe's interconnectedness. • Love, Sexuality, and the Human Body: Whitman's poetry was sensual and celebrated the human body and human love. • Death and Immortality: He explored themes of mortality and immortality, often juxtaposing them in his poetry. • Spirituality and the Divine: While Whitman's spirituality was unconventional, he saw divinity in all aspects of existence.
Transcendent power of love, brotherhood, and comradeship Imaginative projection into others’ lives Optimistic faith in democracy and equality Belief in regenerative and illustrative powers of nature and its value as a teacher Equivalence of body and soul and the unabashed exaltation of the body and sexuality Whitman’s Themes
Idiosyncratic spelling and punctuation. Words used for their sounds as much as their sense; foreign languages Use of language from several disciplines The sciences: anatomy, astronomy, botany (especially the flora and fauna of America) Businesses and professions, such as carpentry Military and war terms; nautical terms Whitman’s Use of Language
