WALT WHITMAN TRANSCENDENTAL AND REALIST POET 1819 1892

WALT WHITMAN: TRANSCENDENTAL AND REALIST POET (1819 -1892) by Elena Shmeleva, Yana Sidorova ICC 1

BIOGRAPHY. EARLY LIFE ■ born in 1819, West Hills, Long Island, New York ■ in 1823 the family moved to Brooklyn due to financial difficulties ■ Whitman began working at the age of 12 and learned the printing trade ■ over the years it sparked his interest into journalism - at the age of 23 he edited a daily newspaper in New York

BIOGRAPHY. FROM JOURNALISM TO POETRY ■ he spent a great deal of his 36 years walking and observing in New York City and Long Island ■ a strong love of music (especially opera) and theatre ■ he read extensively at home and in the New York libraries and began experimenting with a new style of poetry ■ While a schoolteacher, printer, and journalist, he had published sentimental stories and poems in newspapers and popular magazines

BIOGRAPHY. A NEWBORN POET ■ in 1855 Whitman printed the first edition of Leaves of Grass at his own expense ■ Whitman continued practicing his new style of writing in his private notebooks, and in 1856 the second edition of Leaves of Grass appeared ■ later there were some more editions of his poetry collection

BIOGRAPHY. CIVIL WAR YEARS ■ After the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Whitman’s brother was wounded at Fredericksburg, and Whitman went there in 1862, stayed some time in the camp ■ in 1865 a collection of war poems entitled Drum-Taps was published

BIOGRAPHY. LATER LIFE ■ Whitman was ill in 1872, probably as a result of longexperienced emotional strains; in January 1873 his first stroke left him partly paralyzed ■ Whitman’s health recovered sufficiently by 1879 for him to make a visit to the West ■ he spent the rest of his life in a modest little cottage in Camden

TRANSCENDENTALISM + REALISM ■ aspirations for independence and freedom ■ Nature and its phenomena as sources of inspiration ■ criticism of contemporary society ■ honesty with a reader ■ Illustrations of life of common people ■ description of the world in Whitman’s poetry coincides with what that world actually was like

WHITMAN’S UNIQUE STYLE ■ Whitman was a pioneer (together with William Wordsworth) and contextualised the poet behind the words - the Romantic “I” ■ Whitman’s poetry is prose-like - poems consist of individualistically shaped stanzas (free verse) – structural revolution ■ he uses the word "sing" to stand in for "write" when referring to his poetry This style manifests the author’s inner individualism and innovative spirit

‘CROSSING BROOKLYN FERRY’, ‘I HEAR AMERICA SINGING’, ‘I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC’

‘CROSSING BROOKYN FERRY’ The poet describes his daily commute on a ferry running between Brooklyn and Manhattan ■ Description of the scenery (“Clouds of the west-sun” + “Flood-tide below me!”) and the passengers (“Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes, how curious you are to me!”) ■ He thinks about all the people who have made this journey in the past and how many are yet to repeat it long into the future.

‘CROSSING BROOKLYN FERRY’ ■ The main theme of "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" is the shared human experience ■ No matter the era, travelers on this ferry route will experience the same, timeless view: the round masts, the steamer ships in motion, and the seagulls flying by. ■ These shared experiences can unite people across different historical eras.

‘I HEAR AMERICA SINGING’

‘I HEAR AMERICA SINGING’ ■ Whitman lists the different members of the American working class and describes the way they sing as they perform their respective tasks ■ Even though each worker sings his or her individual song, the act of singing is universal, and by extension, all of the workers unite under one common American identity. ■ The tone of the poem is joyful and hopeful. ■ Whitman celebrates the common American worker, magnifying his characters with descriptors such as "robust”, "friendly”and "strong” ■ He highlights individuals that often go unnoticed in classic poems ■ It is a love poem to the nation

’I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC’ The poem is a celebration of the beauty of the human body, both male and female, that dwells on its physicality and its divinity. ■ the speaker links the body to the soul

’I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC’ ■ Whitman discusses the various ways in which the body is perfect and lists the characteristics that define a "well-made man" – “The expression of the face. ” – “It is in his limbs and joints also, it is curiously in the joints of his hips and wrists, It is in his walk, the carriage of his neck, the flex of his waist…” – “ That of the male is perfect, and that of the female is perfect” ■ Whitman remarks that there is nothing more wonderful than to be surrounded by beautiful human bodies (“To be surrounded by beautiful, curious, breathing, laughing flesh is enough”) ■ The poet celebrates the female form by describing a woman's sensuality (“The female contains all qualities and tempers them, She is in her place and moves with perfect balance”)

’I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC’ ■ Sections seven and eight take place at a slave auction. Whitman occupies the position of the auctioneer. However, he uses his description of these slaves as a way to condemn the practice of slavery, underlining his belief that all bodies are equally sacred ■ In the final section, Whitman lists all of the characteristics of the human body that he admires, BUT: “O I say these are not the parts and poems of the body only, but of the soul, O I say now these are the soul!” Summary: ■ Whitman's longest and most specific poem devoted entirely to his appreciation of both the male and female form ■ the body and the soul are inextricably intertwined and therefore, devaluing or mistreating the body is also a crime against the soul.

O Captain! My Captain! "O Captain! My Captain!" is an extended metaphor poem written in 1865 by Walt Whitman, about the death of American president Abraham Lincoln. The poem was first published in the pamphlet Sequel to Drum-Taps which assembled 18 poems regarding the American Civil War. It was included in Whitman's comprehensive collection Leaves of Grass beginning with its fourth edition published in 1867.

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done; The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won; The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring: But O heart! O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. O Captain! My Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills; For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding; For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; Here captain! dear father! This arm beneath your head; It is some dream that on the deck, You've fallen cold and dead. My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still; My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will; The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done; From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won; Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells! But I, with mournful tread, Walk the deck my captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.

Rhyme features Throughout the paper there is a distinct rhyme scheme, which is unusual for Whitman. The rhyme scheme in "O Captain! My Captain!" is AABCDEFE, GGHIJEKE, and LLMNOEPE for each stanza respectively. Two examples of alliteration are in line 10 "flag is flung", as well as in line 19 "safe and sound". Repetition occurs many times in this poem, for example "O Captain! My Captain", and "fallen cold and dead".

Song of Myself "Song of Myself" is a poem by Walt Whitman (1819 -1892) that is included in his work «Leaves of Grass» . It has been credited as "representing the core of Whitman’s poetic vision. »

Publication History The poem was first published without sections as the first of twelve untitled poems in the first (1855) edition of Leaves of Grass. In the second (1856) edition, Whitman used the title "Poem of Walt Whitman, an American, " which was shortened to "Walt Whitman" for the third (1860) edition. The poem was divided into fifty-two numbered sections for the fourth (1867) edition And finally took on the title "Song of Myself" in the last edition (1891– 2). The number of sections is generally thought to mirror the number of weeks in the year.

Reception Following its 1855 publication, "Song of Myself" was immediately singled out by critics and readers for particular attention, and the work remains among the most acclaimed and influential in American poetry. The greatest American poem ever written

Literary style "Song of Myself" includes passages about the unsavory realities of America before the Civil War, including one about a multiracial slave The poem is written in Whitman's signature free verse style. Whitman, who praises words "as simple as grass" (section 39) forgoes standard verse and stanza patterns in favor of a simple, legible style that can appeal to a mass audience. In addition to this romanticism, the poem seems to anticipate a kind of realism that would only become important in United States literature after the American Civil War.

«Self» In the poem, Whitman emphasizes an allpowerful "I" which serves as narrator, who should not be limited to or confused with the person of the historical Walt Whitman. There are several quotes from the poem that makes it apparent that Whitman does not consider the narrator to represent a single individual. Rather, he seems to be narrating for all: • "For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. " (Section 1) • "In all people I see myself (…) And the good or bad I say of myself I say of them" (Section 20) • "It is you talking just as much as myself. . . I act as the tongue of you" (Section 47) • "I am large, I contain multitudes. " (Section 51)

An interesting fact Canadian doctor and long-time Whitman friend Richard Maurice Bucke analyzed the poem in his influential and widely read 1898 book Cosmic Consciousness, as part of his investigation of the development of man's mystic relation to the infinite.

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