In 1855, Walt Whitman, an influential American poet published his first edition of his collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass, in which a controversial piece was included, “I Sing the Body Electric.” Whitman wrote the poem during the 19th century and pre civil war, within a free verse genre. Harold Bloom, an American critique and professor at Yale University, mentions in his book, Bloom’s How to Write about Walt Whitman, that equality is one of the central standards of the American society and that throughout most of Whitman’s life, “America struggled to fulfill the promise of equality for all” (Bloom 107). That said, the stereotypical male and female of the 1800s were given defined roles in society: “Man with the head, woman with the heart” (Larke). Woman stayed home and performed tasks that defined their role as a wife and mother. On the other hand, the man’s role was to get involved in outside activities. Today, changes in ideas and aspirations differentiate less the roles of men and women. Women still have main responsibilities for the home and children; however, as opposed to the 19th century, there is a greater measure of equality. Whitman sees democracy as a way of integrating individuals’ ideas into the everyday life, such that all are considered equal. The poem is divided into nine sections in which Whitman challenges the conventional gender roles during the 19th century. In “I Sing the Body Electric,” Whitman argues that all bodies are of equal importance regardless of race, gender or social differences, as he expresses his concern towards the limitations of gender roles based on the norms of society during the 19th century. Through the use of parallel structure, Whitman provides a catalogue of the body by enumeration an...
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...hould be considered the same.
Works Cited
Whitman, Walt. “I Sing the Body Electric.” Poetry Research Center. Academy of American Poets. 13 February 2011.
Asselineau, Roger. "The Evolution of Walt Whitman." Asselineau, Roger. The Evolution of Walt Whitman. Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, 1999. 814.
Bloom, Harold. "Bloom's How to Write About Walt Whitman." New York: Maple Press, York PA, 2009. 264.
Jeffrey Briggs, Anabel Villalobos, Esther Chow, Thomas Hsieh. The Writing Studio: Wiki Page: I Sing the Body Electric by Walt Whitman". January 2011. 14 February 2011 .
Larke, Sean. Role of Men and Woman in the 19th Century. 2009. 31 January 2011 .
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.
Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself.” 1855 ed. Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself.” Edwin Haviland Miller. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1989. 9-11.
During the late romantic period, two of history’s most profound poets, Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, emerged providing a foundation for, and a transition into Modern poetry. In its original form, their poems lacked the characteristics commonly attributed to most romantic poets of the mid to late nineteenth century who tended to utilize “highly stylized verses, having formal structures, figurative language and adorned with symbols” (worksheet). Unique and “eccentric use of punctuation” as well as “irregular use of meter and rhyme” were the steppingstones for this new and innovative style of writing (worksheet). Even though these two writers rejected the traditional approach, both remained firmly dedicated to their romantic idealism of the glass of water being “half full” opposed to “half empty.” Noted for his frequent practice of catalogs and parallelism, Whitman stirred up much controversy with his first edition of “leaves of Grass” in 1855. Many critics responded negatively to the ...
American Bards: Walt Whitman and Other Unlikely Candidates for National Poet. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 2010. Print.
Meinke, Peter. “Untitled” Poetry: An Introduction. Ed. Michael Meyer. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s 2010. 89. Print
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, returning eventually 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).
Very few people will contest that Walt Whitman may be one of the most important and influential writers in American literary history and conceivably the single most influential poet. However many have claimed that Whitman’s writing is so free form as evident in his 1855 Preface to Leaves of Grass and Song of Myself that it has no style. The poetic structures he employs are unconventional but reflect his very democratic ideals towards America. Although Whitman’s writing does not include a structure that can be easily outlined, masterfully his writing conforms itself to no style, other then its own universal and unrestricted technique. Even though Whitman’s work does not lend itself to the conventional form of poetry in the way his contemporaries such as Longfellow and Whittier do, it holds a deliberate structure, despite its sprawling style of free association.
“Leaves of Grass” is a well-known collection of Walt Whitman's poetry which he published. In the preface to “Leaves of Grass” Walt Whitman wrote “the United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem”. Whitman was deeply nationalist and spread his love for nature and for his country in “Leaves of Grass”. The period from 1815 to 1880 saw American manifest destiny taking place. This was the idea that America should be expanding westwards. Whitman like many Romantic writers felt an overwhelming love for their own coun...
Wikipedia contributors. "Walt Whitman." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 7 Apr. 2014. Web. 11 May. 2014.
The homosexual themes displayed in Walt Whitman’s works, especially in his most famous collection of poems Leaves of Grass, raise the question of his own sexuality. Many of his poems depicted affection and sexuality in a simple, personal manner, causing nineteenth century Americans to view them as pornographic and obscene. Based on this poetry, Whitman is usually assumed to be homosexual, or at least bisexual. However, this assumption does not account for major influences of his writing such as the shift from transcendentalism to realism and the American Civil War. After considering these factors, it can be concluded that Whitman’s poems were not intended to set apart a few homosexual men, but to bring all men and women together. Walt Whitman’s poems of spiritual love and physical togetherness of both genders emphasized exalted friendships and are indicative of his omnisexuality, or lack of a complete sexual preference, rather than his alleged homosexuality.
(A critique of Walt Whitman’s themes and ideas in Song of Myself 6, 46, 47)
*Whitman, Walt. Song of Myself. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 3rd ed. Ed, Paul Lauter. Boston,NewYork: Houghton Mifflin, 1998.
Stedman, Edmund Clarence. "An Important American Critic Views Whitman." Critical Essays on Walt Whitman. Ed. James Woodress. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1983. 116-127.
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.
Whitman of all that it endures and does for Earth and its importance. It speaks of