Who’s Whitman

Throughout the reading of Leaves of Grass, I repeatedly came back to two thoughts; that Whitman was a radical and that his writing was a metaphor for America.  Over and over during the reading I kept coming back to these ideas.  Additionally, I feel that our class discussions over the last two weeks support these ideas.

Whitman as a radical:

• I think Walt Whitman achieves a confident freshness by creating dramatic images in his prose.  In addition, he succeeds in maintaining a calm and peaceful tone while surfacing some of the crudest topics; ones which were not generally discussed openly in his time.

The metaphor for America:

• Universally speaking, I think Whitman uses grass throughout his work as a metaphor for America with all of the blades of grass representing people.  I did some research on Whitman and it is said that some people did believe he was the voice of America.  This is not collectively agreed upon, but I agree that Walt Whitman is representative of the growth of the American individual in the American society.  While controversial, I think Whitman is the voice that gives rise to a unique American identity.

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Being that I am new to Whitman, I found myself focusing on examining the voice behind the prose while reading Leaves of Grass.  While I did find the work enjoyable, I have to admit I struggled at times with the reading.  For the most part the words and ideas made sense to me, but at times I would get lost in Whitman’s stream of consciousness.  He so often jumped from idea to idea, writing down everything he was thinking, that I felt in some ways it took away from the work as a whole.

I was able to take away much from this reading…there were pieces that really resonated with me.  It was finding these small pieces within the poem that made me keep reading, they are what got me through the struggle.

The following lines are some of my favorite:

• “I celebrate myself/And what I assume you shall assume/for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you”  (page 27).
• “This is the grass that grows whenever the land is and the water is/This is the common air that bathes the globe”  (page 43).
• “And I know I am solid and sound/To me the converging objects of universal perpetually flow/All are written to me, and I must get what the writing means”  (page 46).
• “Not I, not anyone else can travel that road for you/You must travel it for yourself”  (page 82).
• “You are also asking me questions, and I hear you;/I answer that I cannot answer…you must find out for yourself”  (page 83).
• “Happiness not in another place, but this place…not for another hour, but this hour”  (page 98).
• “Each belongs here or anywhere just as much as the well off/just as much as you/Each has his or her place in the procession”  (122)

Feel free to share some of your favorite lines….

Throughout the reading of Leaves of Grass, I repeatedly came back to two thoughts; that Whitman was a radical and that his writing was a metaphor for America.  Over and over during the reading I kept coming back to these ideas.  Additionally, I feel that our class discussions over the last two weeks support these ideas.

Whitman as a radical:

• I think Walt Whitman achieves a confident freshness by creating dramatic images in his prose.  In addition, he succeeds in maintaining a calm and peaceful tone while surfacing some of the crudest topics; ones which were not generally discussed openly in his time.

The metaphor for America:

• Universally speaking, I think Whitman uses grass throughout his work as a metaphor for America with all of the blades of grass representing people.  I did some research on Whitman and it is said that some people did believe he was the voice of America.  This is not collectively agreed upon, but I agree that Walt Whitman is representative of the growth of the American individual in the American society.  While controversial, I think Whitman is the voice that gives rise to a unique American identity.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Being that I am new to Whitman, I found myself focusing on examining the voice behind the prose while reading Leaves of Grass.  While I did find the work enjoyable, I have to admit I struggled at times with the reading.  For the most part the words and ideas made sense to me, but at times I would get lost in Whitman’s stream of consciousness.  He so often jumped from idea to idea, writing down everything he was thinking, that I felt in some ways it took away from the work as a whole.

I was able to take away much from this reading…there were pieces that really resonated with me.  It was finding these small pieces within the poem that made me keep reading, they are what got me through the struggle.

The following lines are some of my favorite:

• “I celebrate myself/And what I assume you shall assume/for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you”  (page 27).
• “This is the grass that grows whenever the land is and the water is/This is the common air that bathes the globe”  (page 43).
• “And I know I am solid and sound/To me the converging objects of universal perpetually flow/All are written to me, and I must get what the writing means”  (page 46).
• “Not I, not anyone else can travel that road for you/You must travel it for yourself”  (page 82).
• “You are also asking me questions, and I hear you;/I answer that I cannot answer…you must find out for yourself”  (page 83).
• “Happiness not in another place, but this place…not for another hour, but this hour”  (page 98).
• “Each belongs here or anywhere just as much as the well off/just as much as you/Each has his or her place in the procession”  (122)

Feel free to share some of your favorite lines….

Throughout the reading of Leaves of Grass, I repeatedly came back to two thoughts; that Whitman was a radical and that his writing was a metaphor for America.  Over and over during the reading I kept coming back to these ideas.  Additionally, I feel that our class discussions over the last two weeks support these ideas.

Whitman as a radical:

• I think Walt Whitman achieves a confident freshness by creating dramatic images in his prose.  In addition, he succeeds in maintaining a calm and peaceful tone while surfacing some of the crudest topics; ones which were not generally discussed openly in his time.

The metaphor for America:

• Universally speaking, I think Whitman uses grass throughout his work as a metaphor for America with all of the blades of grass representing people.  I did some research on Whitman and it is said that some people did believe he was the voice of America.  This is not collectively agreed upon, but I agree that Walt Whitman is representative of the growth of the American individual in the American society.  While controversial, I think Whitman is the voice that gives rise to a unique American identity.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Being that I am new to Whitman, I found myself focusing on examining the voice behind the prose while reading Leaves of Grass.  While I did find the work enjoyable, I have to admit I struggled at times with the reading.  For the most part the words and ideas made sense to me, but at times I would get lost in Whitman’s stream of consciousness.  He so often jumped from idea to idea, writing down everything he was thinking, that I felt in some ways it took away from the work as a whole.

I was able to take away much from this reading…there were pieces that really resonated with me.  It was finding these small pieces within the poem that made me keep reading, they are what got me through the struggle.

The following lines are some of my favorite:

• “I celebrate myself/And what I assume you shall assume/for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you”  (page 27).
• “This is the grass that grows whenever the land is and the water is/This is the common air that bathes the globe”  (page 43).
• “And I know I am solid and sound/To me the converging objects of universal perpetually flow/All are written to me, and I must get what the writing means”  (page 46).
• “Not I, not anyone else can travel that road for you/You must travel it for yourself”  (page 82).
• “You are also asking me questions, and I hear you;/I answer that I cannot answer…you must find out for yourself”  (page 83).
• “Happiness not in another place, but this place…not for another hour, but this hour”  (page 98).
• “Each belongs here or anywhere just as much as the well off/just as much as you/Each has his or her place in the procession”  (122)

Feel free to share some of your favorite lines….