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‘To a stranger’ is a poem written by Walt Whitman, which was published as a part of the collection of his poems titled “Leaves of Grass”, in the year 1855. The sexual nature of the poems in this collection fuelled a great controversy at the time of its publication, and in 1865 he lost his government job as a result of the indecent behavior which his boss saw reflected in his works. In the “leaves of Grass” there is a separate cluster of poems called the “Calamus”, and “To A Stranger”, is a part of that cluster. The main theme discussed by Whitman in this poem is the quest for love, understanding and companionship. In this poem Whitman expresses a feeling of yearning directed, not just to a person, but in general to the world. He sees brief and chance encounter of strangers as an opportunity for them to interact, and enter into a relationship. From the subsequent lines, the readers are led to believe that the narrator is in love with the stranger. However throughout the poem, the narrator remains skeptical whether to approach the stranger, and talk to him or her. The poem may also have been a dream vision, as Whitman relates to a transient experience, recalling some of the things the stranger and the narrator might have done together. "You grew with me, were a boy with me, or a girl with me... "I ate with you, and slept with you". It is also not addressed to a particular person, thus the vision of the strange person (who Whitman says might be he or she) is a metaphor, to a generic everyman we encounter in life. He uses the exclamatory mark in the very beginning, to lay emphasis on the word stranger, which is the key of the poem. No other line in the entire poem carries an exclamatory mark in t... ... middle of paper ... ... reality. In essence Whitman, through this poem, conveys the spiritual intimacy he feels with all men and women of his country. Through this Whitman, throws light on the commonalities that exist between all human beings, and explains why we should not remain strangers to each other. The ending of the poem confirms that the stranger is a product of a dream. "I am not to speak to you, I am to think of you when I sit alone. . .” It is clear that the stranger resides in Whitman’s mind or intellect, and thus there is no chance of losing him/her. He talks directly to the stranger in an active voice, which provides the poem an intimacy. Whitman’s poem talks about love and the quest for it, and the use of simple vocabulary enables even a common man to identify with his theme. He ends the poem with the hope that, love even with a stranger- will find its way.
Whitman, Walt. "Song of Myself." The Norton Anthology of American Literature.. Gen. ed. Nina Baym. 8th ed. Vol. C. New York: Norton, 2012. 24-67. Print.
The poem starts out with the daughter 's visit to her father and demand for money; an old memory is haunting the daughter. feeding off her anger. The daughter calls the father "a ghost [who] stood in [her] dreams," indicating that he is dead and she is now reliving an unpleasant childhood memory as she stands in front of his
Walt Whitman poem is about the marvel of astronomy. He wanted to learn about the stars. He went and heard an astronomer. He tells, “When I heard the learn’d astronomer, When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me.” All the data about astronomy was laid out in front of him, but this did not captivate his interest or filled his curiosity. It mad things worst. His plan to see the beauty in the stars was turned to boredom and sitting in a tiresome, lackluster lecture. He writes, “How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick.” The lecture, data, and astronomer were not the beauty he wanted to see. The visual experience is what he wanted to see. The silence and view of the stars was better for him than the lecture and data. The beauty is what he really wanted. He did not want the hard facts.
“Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you. You must travel it by yourself. It is not far. It is within reach. Perhaps you have been on it since you were born, and did not know. Perhaps it is everywhere” (Whitman 33) is Walt Whitman’s first and one of his most popular works, Leaves of Grass. It was and still is very inspirational to many people including Ralph Waldo and many others after him. He had a major influence on modern free verse. Following a hard childhood in and around New York, Walter Whitman was well known and received in his time for Leaves of Grass which did not use the universal theme, which he became known for in the eighteenth century as well as his way of seeing the world in a view that very few could comprehend in his time.
This change in tone echoes the emotions and mental state of the narrator. At the beginning of the poem, the narrator starts somewhat nervous. However, at the end, he is left insane and delusional. When he hears a knocking at the door, he logically pieces that it is most likely a visitor at the door.
The poem told the story of a man who is inhibited by language, and has never quite had the ability to articulate his thoughts and feeling through words. It is said that his family members have tried
Though most of the poem is not dialogue, from what little speaking there is between the...
The speaker's shame at her cowardice is clear in the second stanza as she describes how she "lay on the ground and wept" (5). It is at this point that Bogan introduces another symbol in the poem, a woman who "leapt for the rein" (6). The stranger's strength and courage seem so alien to the speaker that she refers to her as a "creature" (6), something not shackled by human fears.... ... middle of paper ... ...
As the practice of homosexual love became more widespread, poetry became more erotic, celebrating beautiful boys. A similar erotic theme was then seen in the homoerotic “friendships” developed between mal...
(A critique of Walt Whitman’s themes and ideas in Song of Myself 6, 46, 47)
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?
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.
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 used free verse in “Song of Myself” in order to connect with the common man and his American readers. In this first person narrative, Whitman deconstructs the “self” into many different sections that all are a part of the celebration of the individual. Some of the topics he breaks the “self” into are self- identity, and human exploration (including the human body and sexuality). In the poem, Whitman uses a speaker to exclaim that for individuals to grow they must discover themselves spiritually, physically, and mentally. The speaker in the poem
Whitman's Poem "Out of the Cradle, Endlessly Rocking," is not, at first glance, an obvious love poem. Most readers would probably consider this a tragic poem about death and love lost. In spite of the fact that the poem is about intrinsically sorrowful events, or perhaps because of it, Whitman is able to capture a very unique and poignant portrayal of love. There are three major perspectives to examine how Whitman develops the theme of love in Out of the Cradle, and by examining each reoccurring theme in the poem separately, we can come to a more complete understanding of how they work together to communicate Whitman's message about love.