The city sleeps and the country sleeps, / The living sleep for their time....the dead sleep for their time, / The old husband sleeps by his wife and the young husband sleeps by his wife / And these one and all tend inward to me, and I tend outward to them, / And such as it is to be of these more or less I am.
Importance
This section follows an extremely long section about people doing things that typically relate to their identity (eg prostitutes dragging their clothing and a crowd of men laughing at them). Because each of the people described his completely unrelated to the previous person, this section is totally different. Whitman instead talks about people in relation to each other and the connectedness that binds them. Because the structure and theme is so different, the reader is forced to pay closer attention to it and that emphasizes Whitman's intention.
Analysis
Whitman utilizes parallel structure to give more emphasis to the connectedness of the humans he is describing. Instead of the random descriptions of human activity, these people are all bound by the common thread of humanity. In the last line, Whitman says "And such as it is to be of these more or less I am". By directly addressing himself, Whitman is no longer an independent observer but instead a part of them as well. Whitman also revisits the topic of life and death. Because the dead "sleep for a time", he is again denying that death is permanent. By saying the same thing in relation to life, he is also denying that life is permanent, showing the inherent equality of the two states.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Leaves of Grass 4
They are alive and well somewhere; / The smallest sprout shows there is really no death, / And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it, / And ceased the moment life appeared.
Importance
Following his discussion on his growing older and transition from a young man to an old one, or at least a middle aged one, Whitman dedicates a few passages to the confrontation of his own mortality. This progression from fear of getting older in previous sections to his acceptance, and yet simultaneous denial, of death shows the speaker's growth and increasing maturity. He thinks about death in an abstract fashion, so he is gaining the mental capacity of a rational adult instead of one of a child. Although he is growing older, he is growing wiser.
Analysis
Whitman is establishing a grass motif early on in the poem. He uses the existence of a blade of grass as proof against the idea of full and absolute death. The fact that he uses grass, one of the smallest visible life forms, for the metaphor shows his belief that life does not only exist in the complexity that is humanity but also the simplicity that is a single spear of grass. Previously in the poem, he talks about how grass is the "uncut hair of graves", so he could be saying that people live because their bodies fertilize the ground after they die, and lead to the production and nourishment of new life. Because death "lead forward life", he shows his understanding of the life cycle, that without death life cannot exist. However, its only purpose is to perpetuate life, because death "ceases the moment life appears". As soon as someone's legacy leads to the birth of something else, they are no longer dead but instead live inside that new creation.
Importance
Following his discussion on his growing older and transition from a young man to an old one, or at least a middle aged one, Whitman dedicates a few passages to the confrontation of his own mortality. This progression from fear of getting older in previous sections to his acceptance, and yet simultaneous denial, of death shows the speaker's growth and increasing maturity. He thinks about death in an abstract fashion, so he is gaining the mental capacity of a rational adult instead of one of a child. Although he is growing older, he is growing wiser.
Analysis
Whitman is establishing a grass motif early on in the poem. He uses the existence of a blade of grass as proof against the idea of full and absolute death. The fact that he uses grass, one of the smallest visible life forms, for the metaphor shows his belief that life does not only exist in the complexity that is humanity but also the simplicity that is a single spear of grass. Previously in the poem, he talks about how grass is the "uncut hair of graves", so he could be saying that people live because their bodies fertilize the ground after they die, and lead to the production and nourishment of new life. Because death "lead forward life", he shows his understanding of the life cycle, that without death life cannot exist. However, its only purpose is to perpetuate life, because death "ceases the moment life appears". As soon as someone's legacy leads to the birth of something else, they are no longer dead but instead live inside that new creation.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Leaves of Grass 3
Apart from pulling and hauling stands what I am, / Stands amused, complacent, compassionating, idle, unitary, / Looks down, is erect, bends an arm on an impalpable certain rest, / Looks with its sidecurved head curious what will come next, / Both in and out of the game, watching and wondering at it. / Backward I see in my own days where I sweated through fog with linguists and contenders, / I have no mockings or arguments....I witness and wait.
Importance
This is the end of the fifth part of "Song of Myself" and acts as a conclusion to Whitman's discussions on his fleeting youth. Previously, Whitman talks about the acceleration of culture when he mentions "the latest news....discoveries, inventions, societies....authors old and new." Because he talks about these things in despairing tone, he is showing his dismay with the passing of time and the aging of his body and mind. By ending the section with this stanza, he shows his desire to return to a time of innocence.
Analysis
Whitman refers to himself as a "what" in the first line, and uses the third person to describe himself in the lines after that. This shows detachment to his current state of being and a desire to think of himself only as a young man with a world of opportunities in front of him. He mentions looking backwards into his life, and that is, presumably, when he was happier. Although he made some mistakes (because they may deserve "mockings" by his current self), he still looks at that time in his life with a sense of nostalgia and happiness. Now, he is standing in the middle of the road and looks forward, curious for the upcoming experiences in his life. This curiosity is stated before he looks backward, so that shows his resistance to the passing of time yet he faces it with a consciousness of inevitability. He can delay all he wants (he is "idle"), but the future will come and he cannot rely on his complacency to progress.
Importance
This is the end of the fifth part of "Song of Myself" and acts as a conclusion to Whitman's discussions on his fleeting youth. Previously, Whitman talks about the acceleration of culture when he mentions "the latest news....discoveries, inventions, societies....authors old and new." Because he talks about these things in despairing tone, he is showing his dismay with the passing of time and the aging of his body and mind. By ending the section with this stanza, he shows his desire to return to a time of innocence.
Analysis
Whitman refers to himself as a "what" in the first line, and uses the third person to describe himself in the lines after that. This shows detachment to his current state of being and a desire to think of himself only as a young man with a world of opportunities in front of him. He mentions looking backwards into his life, and that is, presumably, when he was happier. Although he made some mistakes (because they may deserve "mockings" by his current self), he still looks at that time in his life with a sense of nostalgia and happiness. Now, he is standing in the middle of the road and looks forward, curious for the upcoming experiences in his life. This curiosity is stated before he looks backward, so that shows his resistance to the passing of time yet he faces it with a consciousness of inevitability. He can delay all he wants (he is "idle"), but the future will come and he cannot rely on his complacency to progress.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)