Walt Whitman

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Recommended: Themes in whitman's poetry

During the time period that Walter Whitman lived, there were many controversial things happening to the American people as a whole. One of the most strenuous upon society at the time was the Civil War. The Civil War created many problems in the lives of most Americans during this time period. This war also prompted, and inspired Walt to create many of his historical works of art. The war was raging in both the north and the south during Whitman's golden era of his writing. In the North, the economy was blooming, and growing, and industry was getting better and better each day. While in the South, the price, and the labor of the war was taking its effect upon society. The economy was getting worse, and worse as time went on. The problems in the South grew more troublesome to the inhabitants as the battles in the South became more frequent. One poem written by Whitman, O Captain, My Captain was written in retrospect to the death of one of our nation's greatest leaders, Abraham Lincoln (Whitman, 2). This act of violence was just an outcome of the war. A young man by the name of John Wilkes Booth killed one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States after the war just as something to revolt about due to the loss by the South. It's hard to imagine how someone could do something like this to such a great man, especially after all he had done to help, and encourage the rights, and goodness for the peo...

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    Even though Walt Whitman and Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote with different styles and ideals, the common theme of war gave them the similar purpose of exposing the destructive nature of battle while remaining inspiring and even optimistic. Tennyson’s "The Charge of the Light Brigade" reveals a fatal "blunder" that cost the lives of many English soldiers, while asserting that the unquestioning loyalty of the British troops causes tremendous pride. Whitman’s Drum-Taps series of poems, especially "Beat! Beat! Drums!," documents the tragedies that occurred during the Civil War, yet maintains a feeling of hope that the war will help to cleanse the nation and revitalize it. Despite the outward similarities between "Light Brigade" and Drum-Taps, subtle differences exist between the respective authors’ attitudes towards war and the tones that carry over into the poems. The extreme pride Tennyson felt for England as Britain’s poet laureate swayed his writing, and critics have since attacked the excessive jingoism that seeps into "Light Brigade" (Marshall 135), since he was unable to capture the immense suffering of battle that could only be seen on the front lines, where he never set foot. Conversely, Whitman was able to grasp the darkest of emotions that war generated in his poems because of the prolonged experience he had caring for the wounded and mourning the dead (Golden 106). Tennyson’s "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and Whitman’s "Beat! Beat! Drums!" appear to be nationalistic poems glorifying war, but while Tennyson paints a heroic picture of valiant soldiers fighting a just war, Whitman employs a mixture of sarcasm and grim reality to portr...

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  • Walt Whitman Oh Captain My Captain Analysis

    527 Words  | 2 Pages

    The way he writes the poem shows how he was in love with the president on how Lincoln conducted himself during the war. He refers to Lincoln as the captain of the ship which is the Union, throughout the poem he begins to call out to the Captain acting like the president was never shot. Through this all, it seems like Whitman could never bring himself to acknowledge the assassination of the late president. He also wrote it as a way to express the grief of losing the beloved commander and chief, and also explain to the American people how Booth killed the man who helped bring the Union together once again. However, he makes the metaphor in this poem explain why he would have wrote it, it shows that through an imaginary situation that things begin to seem alright in the world. Finally, Whitman deals with the pain through the metaphor to cover up the hurt America feels even if he despised the poem later on in

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  • Walt Whitman's Drum-Taps

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walt Whitman was born May 31, 1819, in West Hills, Long Island. His early years included much contact with words and writing; he worked as an office boy as a pre-teen, then later as a printer, journalist, and, briefly, a teacher, eventually returning to his first love and life’s work—writing. Despite the lack of extensive formal education, Whitman experienced literature, "reading voraciously from the literary classics and the Bible, and was deeply influenced by Goethe, Carlyle, Emerson, and Sir Walter Scott" (Introduction vii). Whitman was drawn to the nation's capital roughly a year after the Civil War began, at the age of forty-three. The wounding of his brother, George Washington Whitman, who served in the Union Army, precipitated his contact with the carnage of the war.

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  • Whitman

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    Whitman’s approach to poetry is a reflection of his thought. These thoughts are free and wild, and his typical run-on sentences and his endless litanies of people and places represent the thoughts trying to be conveyed. The overall effect of these run-on sentences provides the reader with a feeling of greatness and of freedom. All of the feelings that are evoked from Whitman’s style can be classified as quintessentially American democratic feelings. The belief that Whitman had no style would imply that Americans as a society have no style, a statement that not only Whitman but Emerson and Thoreau as well fought against through their writings. Whitman and Emerson fighting for the same cause is not coincidental, Whitman has often been viewed as the “child” of Emerson, his work being greatly influenced by Emerson. Whitman’s technique of looking at everything as a whole and always opposed to breaking up the whole can be linked to his belief of unity within our country and the reason why he took the Civil War extremely hard and personal.

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  • Biography of Walt Whitman

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    Walt Whitman is an American poet, journalist, and essayist whose Versace collection Leaves of Grass is a landmark in the history of American literature.

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    Walt Whitman was an American poet, born in 1819. Whitman published a collection of poetry in which he outlined his democratic vision for America. Walt Whitman was credited with being the founder of a literature that was uniquely American. America was a very new country at this time, the Declaration of Independence, in which America claimed independence from England was signed in 1776 and was still quite recent. In 1781 America had proclaimed themselves as the First New Nation. They then began to create a culture that was uniquely American to give Americans a sense of nationalism. America had been influenced by English literature and now there was a search for a uniquely American literature. Walt Whitman took it upon himself to help to promote American identity. Whitman was very liberal as he was pro-homosexuality and an early supporter of women's equality. Whitman was also a passionate believer of an American Ideology that believed in American's exceptionalism. Whitman used his poetry to spread his democratic vision for America; there are many good examples of the theme of democracy in Whitman's poetry.

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  • A Comparison Of Walt Whitman And Emily Dickinson

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    Whitman saw America as a land of opportunity, yet realized that the Civil War was a stain on its potential. In his poetry, the writer was able to demonstrate both the country’s positives and downfalls, which is epitomized in “O Captain! My Captain!” In this tribute to Abraham Lincoln, Whitman transitions from “Exult O shores, and ring O bells!”

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  • Walt Whitman Poem

    544 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

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  • Similarities Between Walt Whitman And Langston Hughes

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    Whitman’s poem was written in the mid-1800s during the industrial revolution, but Hughes’ poem was written in the 1900s during the Civil Rights Movement. This is important because the Civil Rights Movement established the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Industrial Revolution moved at a slow place but there were still issues with slavery. Whitman’s poem was free verse while Hughes’ poem was traditional rhyme/rhythm. The tone of Whitman’s poem was patriotic and celebratory (I HEAR America singing, the varied carols I hear); because he was paying tribute to the success of the individuals; however, the tone of Hughes’ poem was sarcastic and frustrated (to build a “homeland of the free,’’ because he didn’t feel like some individuals were allowed to experience the American Dream. Whitman’s theme of his poem was that individuals and liberties make America great. On the other hand, Hughes’ theme of his poem expressed that individuals felt excluded from the “homeland of the free.” The purpose of Whitman’s poem is praise for universal brotherhood. However, Hughes’ poem’s purpose was to inform individuals about inequality, meaning that not everyone has the same liberties in America. Whitman’s poem focused on the jobs of the workers, while Hughes’ poem focused on race, social status, and a list to represent the “I am’’ phrase; (I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars). He also

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  • Song Of Myself Quote

    1056 Words  | 3 Pages

    There were so many injuries of the Civil War which were extremely tragic but Whitman took everything in a positive and beautiful way. I examined one narrative in particular titled Back to Washington which was very significant and portrayed an image to the audience without having to actually be there. In my perspective, Back to Washington illustrates what Whitman thought was the greatest injury of the Civil War. The loss of humanity was definitely portrayed in this narrative.

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  • Whitman's Critique of American Democracy

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    The soldiers that fought during the civil war were fighting for their livelihood. The northern soldiers needed to bring the south back to the north, and the southerners were fighting to keep their way of life. Whitman was amazed at how far each side was willing to go and was amazed at the sacrifices that the men gave to their causes. The soldiers according to Whitman went through hell just to get to battle which if in the case of Gettysburg was even worse. Food was hard to come by, their clothes were tattered, they marched through heat, cold, rain, through mud, and anything that they needed to to get to where their next battle was, only to march on again once the battle has past (Whitman 333). While Whitman worked as a nurse, he was moved by how strong the soldiers were, and when he was going from Fredericksburg to Washington D.C., he wrote to the wounded soldiers families, as he felt that this was one of the best was he could comfort soldiers as they traveled to hospitals (Home). Whitman’s dedication to these wounded soldiers shows how even if he couldn’t fight in the war, he could help in the recovery of the injured. Walt Whitman thought that the way that the developing culture of the arts was beginning to take shape in what was going on around America. Claiming wilderness for fertile farmland, being able to ship goods anywhere along the coast and further, and expanding the railroad so it could touch the furthest reaches of the Louisiana Purchase allowed new ideas to flow and mingle in the new areas and then be condensed into literature and

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  • Criticism Of Walt Whitman

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  • Walt Whitman and Hanshan

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    Poems by Walt Whitman and Hanshan feature strong enlightenment ideals and prevalent references to nature as a way to achieve these ideals. Though the two men lived in very different times, their works carry similar messages. Following the path to enlightenment generally refers to the Buddhist Eightfold Path, though it has been adapted over time to refer to the state of understanding a person reaches, both of oneself and his or her surroundings, as well as of that beyond what can be sensed. Relying solely on one’s talents and denying society and worldly possessions are typically seen as characteristics of an enlightened person, as seen in the writings of both Whitman and Hanshan.

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  • ‘America’ by Walt Whitman.

    1143 Words  | 3 Pages

    Walt Whitman is arguably America’s most influential poet in history. Born Walter Whitman in May 31st, 1819 to Walter Whitman and Louisa van Velsor, he was immediately nicknamed ‘Walt’ to distinguish him from his father. He came to life in West Hills on the famous Long Island, the second of nine children that grew up in Brooklyn. He came to be fondly known as ‘the Bard of Democracy’, mainly because that was a main message in his work. He is also celebrated as ‘the father of the free verse’. He was a liberal thinker and was vehemently against slavery, although later on he was against the abolitionists because, according to him, they were anti-democracy. He managed to marry transcendentalism with realism in his works. His occupation was a printer school teacher and editor.

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  • Walt Whitman: The American Poet

    1559 Words  | 4 Pages

    Walt Whitman was arguable one of the most influential poets during the Civil War era. Though never directly involved in war, Whitman was able to talk about the war in a more insightful way than many poets at the time could. Whitman was most active in writing during the times before and after the war, choosing to dedicate himself to helping wounded soldiers during the war instead. Walt Whitman’s poetry reflects the progression of his philosophy of America: his initial view of America was uplifting, represented in his Pre-Civil war poems and while the Civil War poetry presents the degradation of American society, Whitman’s final poetry returns to a realistic, optimistic view for America.

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