Few works have been as influential and important in American literature as the book of poems titled “Leaves of Grass,” written by Walt Whitman. This book was the only one that Whitman ever published, and in it contains a great many poems spanning most of Whitman’s adult life. The poems string together and can be seen as a long epic concerning Whitman’s life and identity as a proud American.
The emphasis of the poems range in topic from war and peace, to slavery and freedom, to sexuality and love. The setting is America, shown to us in great detail throughout many of the poems as Whitman perceived it, as a place of nature and a place for everyone. Reading this work allows one to enter the time and place of America in the late 1800’s and feel what Whitman felt, see what he saw, and possibly learn from his experience through his poetry.
As a reader, the specific poem that I enjoyed and found the most interesting was “Song of Myself,” which is probably the most famous of his poems. In this poem Whitman shows us life from his point of view and how he views America, and the nature of all things. These topics are covered in the other poems as well, but none as successfully as in “Song of Myself.” Whitman puts forward an attitude of basic happiness with his life, although at some points it is seemingly bitter sweet.
He attempts to share the reason of his happiness with the reader through his descriptions of how perfect nature is, and how he appreciates all that is given to him by life. In probably the most famous line of his poetry, Whitman states that, “I celebrate myself, and sing myself/ and what I shall assume you shall assume/ for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
” These are the first three lines of “Song of Myself” and show what the rest of the poem will be about. The optimism Whitman has about America and life in general for himself as well as everyone else is demonstrated. I was impressed by his musing into the way that all people are in fact connected, or even the same. Science shows this to be true in the fact that when broken down all things are basically the same. Whitman also addresses this through his metaphor of grass, which he says grows everywhere for everyone and shows how we are all equal and the same.
Following from the belief that all people are the same and equal, Whitman addresses his sympathy for slaves through a scene that he describes himself allowing a slave to take refuge with him for a few days. To believe in the equality of slaves was not a popular idea in Whitman’s time, and shows one of the topics of his poetry that could have been considered controversial. Whitman seems to have written his poetry without thought to the consent of all the social norms of his time period. He writes about nakedness being part of nature, and about loving men and women the same, and a great deal about war, death, past and future.
As the poems progress, Whitman’s tone seems to become more downcast with the onslaught of war and the state of the nation. He is obviously unhappy with the nature of so many young been dying in such horrible fashions and sympathizes with the soldiers by showing the reader the experience of a soldier. Whitman sees death as a natural thing not to be feared, but instead just as joyous and amazing as the idea of sudden life, but he still hates the idea of war tearing apart the country and destroying a generation of young men.
The techniques Whitman uses in his poetry help to keep the steady flow of an epic poem that he establishes. These include such things as extensive parallel structure, line breaks that emphasize a constant beat or sound of the poems, and very descriptive imagery. Along with these techniques, he demonstrates a great use of language that helps illustrate and specify exactly what he is trying to say. Although he shows a great knowledge of language and use thereof, it can sometimes be difficult as a reader to follow the meaning of every line and every thought, as there are so many details and many words that are not commonly used.
As a reader I really enjoyed reading history through poetry. Lines that listed the many different types of land and animals got my attention. I remember one line that mentioned hemp alongside many other mainstream crops and I realized how important it was for Whitman to list so many details from his time period, as many people in today’s society are unaware of facts from the past such as the fact that hemp was one of the most popular crops in America at that time, yet is virtually ignored today because it is for some reason illegal to grow here now.
The environment and nature are huge parts of the poetry and of importance to Whitman. He shows his happiness and content with walking next to a stream and seeing so many animals, or the idea of so many different animals off in the nearby wilderness, peacefully existing. Again, it is important that Whitman found these issues so important, because today’s readers, and especially tomorrow’s, may never know what it was like to see an America with undisturbed nature alongside the human race.
Through “Leaves of Grass” the reader is given a truly American collection of poems that shows what was great about America, along with its problems, yet leaves us with a tone of optimism and happiness overall. Whitman shows us he was happy to be alive and live quietly among everything else. He shows us that we are really all the same, and that love is more important than hate or war. We see that death is not a bad thing in itself, but the horrific deaths that come with any war are not necessary.
The true beauty and nature and peacefulness of life of all kinds is shown, along with the collective link through everything, throughout America, and even further on. I really enjoyed focusing on every last detail that I could get my mind around and seeing Whitman’s spirit and outlook on everything through his lasting poetry.
