19. WHITMAN'S POEMS
(WHEN LILACS LAST IN THE DOORYARD BLOOM’D
CROSSING THE BROOKLYN FERRY)
for APPSC TGPSC TREIRB JL/DL
=================================
Walter Whitman Jr. (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892)
Biography:
Walt Whitman is a major poet,
essayist, and journalist; novelist and an outstanding personality in the
history of American literature. He is an ideal poet and a prophet for mankind.
He used transcendentalism and realism in his writings and is often called as ‘father of
free verse.’ Ezra Pound called Whitman "America's poet... He is
America." W. D. O'Connor, his contemporary critic called
him as, “Good Gray Poet.” He is called as “America’s bard of democracy.”
Walt Whitman was born in West Hills,
Long Island, New York on May 31, 1819. His father, Walter, was a laborer,
carpenter, and house builder. His mother, Louisa, was a devout Quaker. In 1823,
the family moved to Brooklyn, where Walt had his schooling (1825-30). At age
11, he left formal schooling to go to work. From 1830 to 1836, he worked as a
teacher, a government clerk, and as a journalist on newspapers in Brooklyn
and Manhattan. From 1836 to 1841 he was a schoolteacher in Long Island, despite
the paucity of his own education. He also traveled extensively throughout
America. Between 1841 and 1851 Whitman edited various periodicals and
newspapers.
In 1862 Walt's brother George was
wounded in the Civil War. When Whitman traveled to Virginia to visit him, he
saw large numbers of the wounded in hospitals. The Civil War was a major event
in Whitman's career, making him a dresser of spiritual wounds as well as of
physical ones as he worked as a volunteer in hospitals. Lincoln's assassination
(1865) also moved Whitman deeply.
In 1865 Whitman was fired from his
post in the Department of the Interior in Washington because of the alleged
indecency of Leaves of Grass. He was hired by the Attorney General's office and
remained there until 1873 when he suffered a mild paralytic stroke which left
him a semi-invalid.
In Whitman's last years (1888-92), he
was mostly confined to his room in the house which he had bought in Camden, New
Jersey. He died on March 26, 1892, at the age of 72
Leaves of Grass:
Leaves of Grass symbolizes the
fulfillment of American romanticism as well as a realistic revolt against it. Whitman
so completely identified himself with it: "This
is no book,/Who touches this touches a man." The first
edition (1855) of Leaves of Grass consisted of ninety-five pages. The
author's name did not appear, but his picture was included. By the time the
second edition was published in 1856, the volume consisted of 384 pages, with a
favorable review by Emerson printed on the back cover. For this edition in 1860,
Whitman not only added to the text, he also altered the poems which had
previously been published. It contained 124 new poems. The fourth edition in
1867, was called the "workshop" edition because so much revision had
gone into it. It contained eight new poems. The fifth edition (1871) included
the new poem "Passage to India." The sixth edition, in two volumes,
in 1876. The seventh edition (1881) is widely accepted as an authoritative
edition today.
The last, Ninth Edition, which is also
called the "deathbed edition” because it was completed in the year
of Whitman's death (1892), represents Whitman's final thoughts.
Poetry:
1. The Leaves of Grass 1855- poetry collection, revised until his death in 1892. The edition has 12,
and the last has more than 400 poems.
a. Song of Myself 1855- 52 sections in it represent 52 weeks of an year. The poem, which was
initially titled ‘Poem of Walt Whitman, an American,’ also serves as a
biography of Whitman. Famous line: I celebrate myself, and sing
myself,/And what I assume you shall assume,/For every atom belonging to me as
good belongs to you.
b. I Sing the Body
Electric 1855- Whitman explores the physical body (he first
examines the female and then the male body) at length and celebrates its
importance in forming connections between people, both erotically and
spiritually.
c. Out of the Cradle
Endlessly Rocking 1860- The poem features a boy who sees a couple of
birds nesting. One day the female bird is not to be seen and the male cries out
for her. The bird’s cries create an awakening in the boy and he is able to
translate the male bird’s cries for its lost mate.
d. I Hear America
Singing 1860- Whitman expresses his love of America – its vitality, variety,
and its achievements as a result of the work done by its people. In the poem,
the poet hears “varied carols” of people who make America what it is.
e. A Noiseless
Patient Spider 1868- included in Leaves of Grass in 1891-
describes the spider’s endless effort, symbolizing the speaker’s attempts to
make connections in the universe.
f. I Saw in
Louisiana a Live-Oak Growing 1860- describes
a solitary oak tree that is thriving without companionship or support. This
poem is the most famous of the ‘Calamus’ cluster.
2. Drum-Taps 1865- collection of poetry
a.
Pioneers! O Pioneers! 1865- It’s a tribute to
Americans (as pioneers.), who with their determination and hard work,
transformed wilderness into a great civilization.
b.
Beat! Beat! Drums! 1861- written as a
reaction of the North at the beginning of the American Civil War. The poem
calls for people from all strata of society to react to the drumbeats.
3. Sequel to Drum-Taps: When Lilacs Last in the
Dooryard Bloom'd and other poems 1865- collection of
peoms on American Civil War (1861–1865), including the elegies "When
Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" and "O Captain! My
Captain!"
4. Passage to India 1871- on completion of Suez Canal, intended to be a supplementary to Leaves of
Grass. (E M Foster titled ‘A Passage to India (1924)’ for his novel, after this
poem)
Four poems on
Death of Lincoln:
1.
When Lilacs Last
in the Dooryard Bloom'd 1865- elegy, on the death
of President Abraham Lincoln. Despite the poem being an elegy to Lincoln,
Whitman doesn’t use the name of the President. The poem moves from grief to the
distress that war causes and ends with acceptance of death. Though not one of
Whitman’s favorite, the poem is considered a masterpiece and ranked by critics
as one of the greatest elegies in English language.
2. O Captain My Captain 1865 – on death of Lincoln, refers to Abraham Lincoln as the captain of the
ship, representing America. Included in ‘Sequel to Drum Taps’. The poem also has
several references to the American Civil War; and political and social issues
of the time. Written in the year of Lincoln’s death, became very famous.
3. Hush'd Be the Camps To-Day 1865- dedicated to Abraham Lincoln, written shortly after Lincoln's
assassination.
4. This Dust Was Once the Man 1871- written after 6 years of Lincoln's assassination.
Note:
Ø These four poems were included in subsequent editions of Leaves of Grass.
I
Ø n the 1871 edition, Whitman's four Lincoln poems were listed as a cluster
titled "President Lincoln's
Burial Hymn".
Ø In the 1881 edition, this cluster was renamed "Memories of President Lincoln".
Fiction:
1. Franklin Evans; or The Inebriate: A Tale of
the Times (1842)- a temperance novel
2. The Half-Breed; A Tale of the Western Frontier
1845- is a fictional story,
which was originally published under the name of "Arrow-Tip".
3. Life and Adventures of Jack Engle 1852- Full title: “Life and Adventures of Jack Engle: An Auto-Biography: A
Story of New York at the Present Time in Which the Reader Will Find Some
Familiar Characters.” - a city mystery
novel- serialized the novel, in six installments of New York's The Sunday
Dispatch In 1852.
4. Manly Health and Training 1858- a series of newspaper columns -a 47,000 word series in 1858, under
the pen name Mose Velsor (from mother’s family
name).
5. Democratic Vistas 1871- an early classic work of comparative politics and letters, criticizes
Thomas Carlyle's Shooting Niagara: and after? And other works, comments on
Industrial Revolution, foreshadowed Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier thesis.
6.
Memoranda During
the War (1876)
7.
Specimen Days
(1882)
8.
The Wound
Dresser: Letters written to his mother from the hospitals in Washington during
the Civil War (1898)
FOR COMPLETE MATERIAL
CLICK HERE FOR
JL DL notes for APPSC/TGPSC/TREIRB
CLICK HERE FOR
WHEN LILACS LAST IN THE DOORYARD BLOOM’D
Background/Context
When
Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd (1865) is a long poem (pastoral elegy) by
American poet Walt Whitman on the death of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln. It
was written in the summer of 1865 during a period of profound national mourning
in the aftermath of the president's assassination.
On 14
April 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth while
attending the performance of a play at Ford's Theatre. Lincoln died the
following morning. Whitman was at his mother's home when he heard the news of
the president's death; in his grief he stepped outside the door to the yard, where the lilacs were blooming.
The
poem, written in free verse in 206 lines, uses many of the literary techniques
associated with the pastoral elegy. The poem is divided into 16 sections of varying
lengths, with repeating “trinity” of symbols: lilacs, a drooping star in the western sky (Venus), and the
hermit thrush.
First
published in autumn 1865, "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd",
first published in Sequel to Drum-Taps (1865) along with 42 other poems
from Drum-Taps (1865); It was later absorbed into Leaves of
Grass’s fourth edition, published in 1867.
Narrative structure:
|
Cycle |
Sections |
Narrative
description |
|
I |
Section 1-4 |
Grief over Lincoln’s death introduction of symbols:
Lilacs star, and bird |
|
II |
Section 5-9 |
Funeral procession, Journey of the coffin across the
states, national mourning |
|
III |
Section 10-13 |
Tributes to Lincoln and decorations for the tomb; |
|
IV |
Section 14-16 |
Cosmic understanding of
death, restatement of symbols |
Whitman composed the poem into 16
numbered sections, and he does not label them into larger cycles. However,
based on shifts in tone, narrative, setting, and symbols we can arrange the 16
sections to these cycles for clarity.
Free Verse
Walt Whitman's "When Lilacs Last
in the Dooryard Bloom'd" is an “pastoral elegy” written in free verse,
meaning it doesn't follow a regular rhyme scheme or meter. Instead, Whitman
uses long, flowing lines and natural speech rhythms to create a musical,
meditative quality. While there's no strict meter, Whitman uses repetition,
parallelism, and strong stresses to give the poem its solemn, lyrical power.
Pastoral Elegy
One of the most important features of
the pastoral elegy is the depiction of the deceased and the poet who mourns him
as shepherds. Virgil is the most prominent classical practitioner of the
pastoral elegy; Milton’s “Lycidas” and Shelley’s “Adonais” are the two
best-known examples in the English tradition.
While it does not display all the
conventions of the form, this is nevertheless considered to be a pastoral elegy
form to mourn Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was the “shepherd ” of the
American people during wartime, and his loss left the North in the position of
a flock without a leader. As in traditional pastoral elegies, nature mourns
Lincoln’s death in this poem.
While it includes classic pastoral
features like grieving nature (the drooping star, mourning lilacs) and a
solitary bird's song replacing the traditional shepherd's lament, Whitman
transforms the form through free verse and urban wartime imagery. The poem
maintains the pastoral elegy's focus on finding consolation in nature's cycles,
but replaces religious resurrection with a more universal, naturalistic
acceptance of death. Unlike traditional pastorals set in idealized landscapes,
Whitman incorporates real American places and the collective grief of a nation
at war, making it a modernized pastoral elegy.
SPEAKER
Our speaker sounds like universalized
"I" in first-person omniscient point of view, since he's
talking about life, death, grieving, and celebration and he sweeps the nation's
landscapes. First, we're in a dooryard, then we're in a mysterious swamp, then
we're attending funeral processions, and then we're hanging out with death, a
hermit-bird, and a western star.
SETTING
setting in "When Lilacs Last in
the Dooryard Bloom'd" covers the entire landscape of America. In this
poem, One minute we're in a dooryard, the next we're traveling the prairies,
and in the next we're in a big city somewhere. Occasionally our speaker even
has us in a more mysterious, undefined world, one that's symbolic of the death
and-or the unconscious mind. The time is set during the American Civil War, and
those long funeral processions. When he's not trying to take in the entire
country with his setting details, Whitman's speaker is in and out of the
physical world, looking to come to terms with death.
TITLE
The title points to a specific moment
in time—spring, when lilacs bloom. But it’s also retrospective
("last"), hinting this isn’t just any spring. It’s the spring when
Lincoln died (April 1865, when lilacs would’ve been flowering)
When we think of spring and lilacs, we
immediately imagine rejuvenation, life picking up again after winter, and
perhaps even ideas related to hope and perseverance.
"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard
Bloom'd" can be read in two different ways. You could argue that the word
"last" refers to the final lilacs to bloom for the season, as late
blooming flowers. Or, you could say that "last" relates to the idea
of memory
Short Summary:
"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard
Bloom'd- is an elegy on the death of Abraham Lincoln, though it never
mentions the president by name. Like most elegies, it develops from the
personal (the death of Lincoln and the poet's grief) to the impersonal (the
death of "all of you" and death itself); from an intense feeling of
grief to the thought of reconciliation. The poem, which is one of the finest
Whitman ever wrote, is a dramatization of this feeling of loss. The form is
elegiac but also contains elements found in operatic music, such as the aria
and recitative. The song of the hermit thrush, for example, is an
"aria."
Abraham Lincoln was shot in
Washington, D.C., by Booth on April 14, 1865, and died the following day. The
body was sent by train from Washington to Springfield, Illinois. As it crossed
the continent, it was saluted by the people of America. Whitman has not only
men and women but even natural objects saluting the dead man.
The first cycle of the poem,
comprising sections 1-4, presents the setting in clear perspective. As spring
returns, the lilacs blossom, and the planet Venus "nearly dropp'd in the
western sky," the poet mourns the loss "of him I love." He
mourns the "powerful western fallen star" now covered by "black
murk" in the "tearful night," and he is "powerless"
and "helpless" because the cloud around him "will not free my
soul." He observes a lilac bush, is deeply affected by its perfume, and
believes that "every leaf [is] a miracle." He breaks off a small
branch with "heart-shaped Leaves." A shy, solitary thrush, like a
secluded hermit, sings a song which is an expression of its inmost grief. It
sings "death's outlet song of life."
This first section of the poem
introduces the three principal symbols of the poem — the lilac, the star, and the
bird. They are woven into a poetic and dramatic pattern. The meaning
of Whitman's symbols is neither fixed nor constant. The star, Venus, is
identified with Lincoln, generally, but it also represents the poet's grief for
the dead. Lilacs, which are associated with everreturning spring, are a symbol
of resurrection, while its heartshaped Leaves symbolize love. The purple color
of the lilac, indicating the passion of the Crucifixion, is highly suggestive
of the violence of Lincoln's death. The bird is the symbol of reconciliation
with death and its song is the soul's voice. "Death's outlet song of
life" means that out of death will come renewed life. Death is described
as a "dark mother" or a "strong deliveress," which suggests
that it is a necessary process for rebirth. The emotional drama in the poem is
built around this symbolic framework. The continual recurrence of the spring
season symbolizes the cycle of life and death and rebirth. The words
"ever-returning spring," which occur in line 3 and are repeated in
line 4, emphasize the idea of rebirth and resurrection. The date of Lincoln's
assassination coincided with Easter, the time of Christ's resurrection. These
two elements provide the setting to the poem in time and space.
The second stanza of the poem describes the
poet's intense grief for the dead. Each line begins with "O," an
exclamation which is like the shape of a mouth open in woe.
The second cycle of the poem comprises
sections 5-9. It describes the journey of the coffin through natural scenery
and industrial cities, both representing facets of American life. The thrush's
song in section 4 is a prelude to the journey of the coffin which will pass
"over the breast of the spring" through cities, woods, wheat fields,
and orchards. But "in the midst of life we are in death," as it says
in the Book of Common Prayer, and now the cities are "draped in black"
and the states, like "crape-veil'd women," mourn and salute the dead.
Somber faces, solemn voices, and mournful dirges mark the journey across the
American continent.
To the dead man, the poet offers "my
sprig of lilac," his obituary tribute. The poet brings fresh blossoms not
for Lincoln alone, but for all men. He chants a song "for you 0 sane and
sacred death" and offers flowers to "the coffins all of you 0
death."
The poet now addresses the star
shining in the western sky: "Now I know what you must have meant."
Last month the star seemed as if it "had something to tell" the poet.
Whitman imagines that the star was full of woe "as the night
advanced" until it vanished "in the netherward black of the
night." Whitman calls upon the bird to continue singing. Yet the poet
momentarily lingers on, held by the evening star, "my departing
comrade."
The symbols are retained throughout
this section. The poet bestows, as a mark of affection, a sprig of lilac on the
coffin. The association of death with an object of growing life is significant.
The star confides in the poet — a heavenly body identifies itself with an
earthly being. The star is identified with Lincoln, and the poet is still under
the influence of his personal grief for the dead body of Lincoln, and not yet
able to perceive the spiritual existence of Lincoln after death. The song of
the hermit thrush finally makes the poet aware of the deathless and the
spiritual existence of Lincoln.
In the third cycle of the poem,
sections 10-13, the poet wonders how he shall sing "for the large sweet
soul that has gone." How shall he compose his tribute for the "dead
one there I loved"? With his poem he wishes to "perfume the grave of
him I love." The pictures on the dead president's tomb, he says, should be
of spring and sun and Leaves, a river, hills, and the sky, the city dense with
dwellings, and people at work — in short, "all the scenes of life."
The "body and soul" of America will be in them, the beauties of
Manhattan spires as well as the shores of the Ohio and the Missouri rivers —
all "the varied and ample land." The "gray-brown bird" is
singing "from the swamps" its "loud human song" of woe. The
song has a liberating effect on the poet's soul, although the star still holds
him, as does the mastering odor" of the lilac.
In this cycle the description of
natural objects and phenomena indicates the breadth of Lincoln's vision, and
the "purple" dawn, "delicious" eve, and "welcome"
night suggest the continuous, endless cycle of the day, which, in turn,
symbolizes Lincoln's immortality.
Sections 14-16 comprise a restatement
of the earlier themes and symbols of the poem in a perspective of immortality.
The poet remembers that one day while he sat in the peaceful but
"unconscious scenery of my land," a cloud with a "long black
trail" appeared and enveloped everything. Suddenly he "knew
death." He walked between "the knowledge of death" and "the
thought of death." He fled to the bird, who sang "the carol of
death." The song of the thrush follows this passage. It praises death,
which it describes as "lovely,""soothing," and
"delicate." The "fathomless universe" is adored "for
life and joy" and "sweet love." Death is described as a
"dark mother always gliding near with soft feet." To her, the bird
sings a song of "fullest welcome." Death is a "strong
deliveress" to whom "the body gratefully" nestles.
The thrush's song is the spiritual
ally of the poet. As the bird sings, the poet sees a vision: "And I saw
askant the armies." He sees "battle-corpses" and the
"debris of all the slain soldiers." These dead soldiers are happy in
their resting places, but their parents and relatives continue to suffer
because they have lost them. The suffering is not of the dead, but of the
living.
The coffin has now reached the end of
its journey. It passes the visions," the "song of the hermit
bird," and the "tallying song" of the poet's soul. "Death's
outlet song" is heard, "sinking and fainting," and yet bursting
with joy. The joyful psalm fills the earth and heaven. As the coffin passes
him, the poet salutes it, reminding himself that the lilac blooming in the
dooryard will return each spring. The coffin has reached its resting place in
"the fragrant pines and the cedars dusk and dim." The star, the bird,
and the lilac join with the poet as he bids goodbye to Lincoln, his
"comrade, the dead I loved so well."
The poet's realization of immortality
through the emotional conflict of personal loss is the principal theme of this
great poem, which is a symbolistic dramatization of the poet's grief and his
ultimate reconciliation with the truths of life and death.
THEMES
Death
This poem is an elegy — a meditation on death
and mourning. But Whitman doesn’t depict death as terrifying or final. Instead,
he transforms it into something natural, cyclical, and even beautiful.
Through this, the poem suggests that death is
not an end, but a return to nature, a passage into something eternal and
serene.
Perseverance and Continuity
Despite the personal and national grief, the
world goes on — the lilacs bloom again, the thrush sings, the stars rise and
set.
These natural symbols, especially the
recurring blooming of the lilac, reflect the resilience of life. The American
landscape — with its “bustling cities,” “flowing rivers,” and “swamps of the
South” — also mirrors the perseverance of a nation determined to heal and move
forward after the Civil War and Lincoln’s death.
Theme of Admiration (Tribute to
Lincoln)
The poem is, above all, a profound tribute to
Abraham Lincoln. Though Whitman never mentions him by name. He is the “great
star early droop’d in the western sky,” a cosmic figure whose death shook the
nation. Whitman’s deep respect and affection for Lincoln pulses through every
section — in the solemn funeral procession, in the lilac offering, and in the
reverent tone of the bird’s song.
Theme of Nature as a Healer
Nature is everywhere in this poem — not just
as a setting, but as an active participant in grief and healing. The lilac, the
thrush, the western star, the swamps, clouds, and forests — all mirror and
absorb human sorrow, transforming it into something universal. Through nature’s
cycles, the speaker gradually comes to accept death as a necessary, even
sacred, part of existence. The poem shows how immersing oneself in nature can
offer solace when words and rituals fall short.
Theme of Mourning and National Grief
This isn’t just a private elegy — it’s a
public, national act of mourning. The long, winding funeral procession carrying
Lincoln’s coffin across the country is more than a literal event — it
symbolizes the collective sorrow of a nation. The speaker walks alongside the
procession spiritually, paying homage to a fallen leader, but also witnessing
the unity of grief shared by millions.
Symbol Analysis
LILACS
Lilacs are in the title of the poem
and in almost every section of the poem. They symbolize something bigger than
spring. They represent ideas of hope, fertility, resurrection, perseverance,
and the cycles of life and death. For the speaker, they are also reminders of
the passing Lincoln. The lilacs are part of the "trinity" that the
speaker uses throughout the poem: The lilacs,
star, and bird.
WESTERN FALLEN STAR
That "drooping" western star
represents the speaker's hero Lincoln. The "drooping" western star is
also part of the speaker's "trinity." Its "powerful" light
is a stark reminder of the powerful and great man. Once it's "lost"
in the "black of the night," we also understand that, with its
departure, Lincoln is also symbolically departing this world.
HERMIT-BIRD
Hermit bird is a little swamp thrush.
It's alone, and it can't stop singing. The song they sing together becomes part
of the speaker's soul and therefore is also an essential element to the
speaker's consolation in the face of grief and woe.
the speaker "understands" the bird
and his song. Together they compose a "carol for death" celebrating
the "dark mother(=death)"
DEATH
Whitman personifies death not as a
grim. At end death is personified, as a "Dark mother” and as a
natural and even beautiful force that unifies us all. The speaker and the bird
compose a song just for death. He addresses death as "sane and
sacred." recognizing it as the natural and necessary essence of death. The
speaker holds hands with two sides of death: the "knowledge of death"
and the "thought of death."
THE CIVIL WAR
This elegy was written during the
civil war, when the toll the war has taken on countless lives across the
country. Those "torn and bloody flags" really drive home the cost of
war that will forever be stained upon the nation's history. The "great
cloud darkening the land" and "cities draped in black " is a
pretty clear metaphor for the war. Though the dead are at resting, the mothers,
the wives, the children and the armies left behind are the ones who really
suffer.
FOR COMPLETE MATERIAL
CLICK HERE FOR
JL DL notes for APPSC/TGPSC/TREIRB
CLICK HERE FOR
8. Crossing Brooklyn Ferry (1860) |
Context/Background:
“Crossing Brooklyn Ferry,” like most
of Whitman’s poems. This poem was originally called "Sun-Down Poem" and first appeared in the
1856 edition of Leaves of Grass. It was retitled as "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" in 1860 version of the poem which is
divided into 26 sections with 147 lines. This poem received
its final modifications for the 1881 edition which has 9 sections and 132 lines, but most of the
lines are he same.
This poem seeks to determine the
relationship of human beings to one another across time and space. This sense
of repetition and revisiting reinforces the thematic content of the poem, which
looks at the possibility of continuity within humanity based on common
experiences. Whitman wonders what he means to the crowds of strangers he sees
every day. He assumes that they see the same things he does, and that they
react in the same way, and that this brings them together in a very real sense.
Narrative Structure:
|
Sections |
Narrative Progress/Summary |
|
1-3 |
Observation
& Shared Experience – Whitman describes the ferry ride, the river, and the people,
emphasizing that future generations will see the same sights and feel the
same connections. It connects ‘Body and Soul’ or ‘Life and Death’ similar as
‘Land and water’. Ferry creates a bond between past, present and Future.
(transcends the time). |
|
4-6 |
Doubt
& Spiritual Connection – The speaker questions whether others truly understand him. He
talks about the common emotions, struggles, and desires that connect all
people. He contemplates the shared human experience across time. |
|
7-9 |
Eternal
Unity & Celebration – The poem shifts to a cosmic perspective, recapitulates all the
images. The speaker affirms the unity of all people through time and space.
He expresses a deep spiritual connection with others and celebrates the
continuity of life and human experience. |
Summary
The major image in the poem is the ferry. It symbolizes continual movement,
backward and forward, a universal motion in space and time. The ferry moves on,
from a point of land, through water, to another point of land. Land and water
thus form part of the symbolistic pattern of the poem. Land symbolizes the
physical; water symbolizes the spiritual. The circular flow from the physical
to the spiritual connotes the dual nature of the universe. Dualism, in
philosophy, means that the world is ultimately composed of, or explicable in
terms of, two basic entities, such as mind and matter.
From a moral point of view, it means
that there are two mutually antagonistic principles in the universe — good and
evil. In Whitman's view, both the mind and the spirit are realities and matter
is only a means which enables man to realize this truth. His world is dominated
by a sense of good, and evil has a very subservient place in it. Man, in
Whitman's world, while overcoming the duality of the universe, desires fusion
with the spirit. In this attempt, man tries to transcend the boundaries of
space and time.
The ferry symbolizes this spatial and
temporal movement. It is also associated with the groups of men and women who
ride it, who have ridden it, and who will ride it. The coming together of these
men and women symbolizes the spiritual unity of men in this world.
The poet first addresses the elements
— the tide, the clouds, and the sun — saying, "I see you face to
face." He next observes the crowds of men and women on the ferryboats:
"How curious you are to me" he says, for he thinks of these people in
relation to those who "shall cross from shore to shore years hence."
The poet meditates on the relationships between the various generations of men.
This first section establishes the
setting of the poem. The poet is on the bank, and he observes the ferry as well
as the passengers, whom he expands to symbolize the large united self of
mankind. The tide, the cloud, and the sun become integral characters in this
spiritual drama between the poet and the elements. The poet first responds to
natural objects and then to people with the ultimate aim of bringing about an
imaginative fusion between himself and the reader.
In the second section, the men and
women on the ferryboat become the eternal "impalpable sustenance" of
the poet. He thinks of "the simple, compact, well-join'd scheme" of
the universe and believes himself to be "disintegrated yet part of the
scheme." He thinks again about all the people of the future who will enter
the gates of the ferry and cross from shore to shore."
The poet thinks about his role in
relation to the nature of the universe. To him, the universe seems compact,
harmonious, and well-adjusted. He is part of the multitude of men, part of the
eternal processes of birth, life, and death. Whitman probes into the future and
identifies himself with persons who will cross the river "a hundred years
hence." Thus a link is established between the poet and the
"others" — including future readers.
In section 3, Whitman declares that
neither time nor place really matter, for he is part of this generation and of
many generations hence. He speaks to future generations and tells them that
their experiences are not new: "I too many and many a time cross'd the
river of old,/Watched the Twelfth-month sea-gulls, . . . /Saw the reflection of
the summer sky in the water." He, too, saw the ships arriving, "the
sailors at work," and "the flags of all nations." He, too, saw "the
fires from the foundry chimneys burning high and glaringly into the
night."
This third section reveals the poet's
desire to transcend time, place, and distance in order to establish contact
with people of future generations. His own experience is similar to that of the
reader years from now.
The description of the journey on the
river is very vivid. The movement of the day from morning until midnight is
parallel to the movement of the poet from one side of the river to another and
from the physical to the spiritual.
In section 4, Whitman declares his
deep love for the cities, the river, and the people. This section is
transitional and marks the beginning of the change of the poet's attitude
toward men and objects. For the first time (in this poem) he becomes emotionally
involved in his relationships with other people and things. The reference to
the future is prophetic and anticipates the growth of spiritual kinship between
the poet and the reader.
The poet, in section 5, poses a question about
the relationship between himself and the generations to come. Even if there are
hundreds of years between them, they are united by things which do not change.
He, too, lived in Brooklyn and walked the Manhattan streets. He, too,
"felt the curious abrupt questionings" stir within him. He believes
that his body, his physical existence, has become a ferry uniting him with all
mankind.
Thus section 5 is the central core of
the poem. The poet, in seeking his own physical and spiritual identity,
endeavors to unite his sensibility with that of his reader. His experience
transcends the limits of the Brooklyn ferry and is universalized. His quest now
becomes more intellectual than before; the "curious abrupt
questionings" are no longer emotional. Wishing to suggest the quality of
spiritual unification, Whitman has used the metaphor of a chemical solution:
"The float forever held in solution" is the infinite ocean of
spiritual life which contains the "potential" of all life. The
spiritual solution is the source of one's being. The use of the term
"solution" is significant because it indicates the merging of man's
existence with his spirit. Spiritually, he is united with future generations
and with all of mankind.
In section 6 the poet tells us that he
has been engulfed by the same "dark patches" of doubt which have
engulfed the reader. His best actions have appeared "blank" and
"suspicious." He, too, has known "what it was to be evil"
and he, too, "blabb'd, blush'd, resented, lied, stole, grudg'd,/Had guile,
anger, lust, hot wishes I dared not speak." But life, finally, is what we
make it — "the same old role . . . as great as we like,/Or as small as we
like." The "old knot of contrariety" the poet has experienced refers
to Satan and his evil influence on man, which creates the condition of
contraries, of moral evil and good in human life. The poet suffered from these
evil influences, as have all men. So, the poet implies, do not feel alone
because you have been this way — one must accept both the pure and the impure
elements of life.
In section 7, the poet, addressing his
reader, says: "Closer yet I approach you." The poet is thinking as
much of the reader-yet-unborn as the reader, while he reads, is now thinking of
the poet. And perhaps now, though he cannot be seen, the poet is watching the
reader. The poet is trying to establish a link between himself and his future
readers. The link is not only of location (as on the ferry) but of thought
processes as well. These thought processes will eventually lead to the mystical
fusion between the poet and the reader.
In section 8, Whitman describes the
beauty of the Manhattan harbor, the sunset on the river, the seagulls, and the
twilight. He realizes that the bonds between himself and other people are
subtle but enduring. Between himself and the person who "looks in my
face" is the subtlest bond. The union between himself and others cannot be
understood in ordinary terms, by teaching, or by preaching — it is more
mystical and intuitive. Recalling the scene of the river and the people with
whom he was associated, he evokes the spiritual bond that links man with his
fellow men. The reference to fusion ("which fuses me into you now")
is the basic ideal the poet sought in the beginning. The union with the reader
is mystical and beyond the bounds of rational thought or philosophy.
In section 9, the poet invokes the
river to flow "with the flood-tide," the clouds to shower upon him
and the other passengers, and the "tall masts of Mannahattan" to
stand up. He calls on everything — the bird, the sky, and the water — to keep
on fulfilling their function with splendor, for everything is part of the
universal life flow. The poet desires that the "eternal float of
solution" should suspend itself everywhere. Physical objects, like
"dumb, beautiful ministers," wait for their union with the poet's
soul. Thus, at the end of the poem, Whitman addresses himself to material
objects, which are also part of the life process because they are useful to
man.
This section is significant in that it
uses the language of incantation. The poet invokes the images of his
experiences to suggest the flowing of time. The physical existence of man is
like a ferry plying between the two shores of mortality and immortality. He and
his fancy (his imagination) use objects to express the idea of the search for
the eternal beyond the transient. This search, or the function of fancy, is
exemplified by the ferry ride which moves from a point in the physical world to
a destination in the spiritual world. This journey of the spirit can take place
easily in a universe which is harmonious and well adjusted.
Themes, Motifs and Symbols
DEMOCRACY AS A WAY OF LIFE
Whitman envisioned democracy not just as a
political system but as a way of experiencing the world. In the early
nineteenth century, people still harbored many doubts about whether the United
States could survive as a country and about whether democracy could thrive as a
political system. To allay those fears and to praise democracy, Whitman tried
to be democratic in both life and poetry. He imagined democracy as a way of
interpersonal interaction and as a way for individuals to integrate their
beliefs into their everyday lives. “Song of Myself” notes that democracy must
include all individuals equally, or else it will fail.
In his poetry, Whitman widened the
possibilities of poetic diction by including slang, colloquialisms, and
regional dialects, rather than employing the stiff, erudite language so often
found in nineteenth-century verse. Similarly, he broadened the possibilities of
subject matter by describing myriad people and places. Like William Wordsworth,
Whitman believed that everyday life and everyday people were fit subjects for
poetry. Although much of Whitman’s work does not explicitly discuss politics,
most of it implicitly deals with democracy: it describes communities of people
coming together, and it imagines many voices pouring into a unified whole. For
Whitman, democracy was an idea that could and should permeate the world beyond
politics, making itself felt in the ways we think, speak, work, fight, and even
make art.
THE CYCLE OF GROWTH AND DEATH
Whitman’s poetry reflects the vitality and
growth of the early United States. During the nineteenth century, America
expanded at a tremendous rate, and its growth and potential seemed limitless.
But sectionalism and the violence of the Civil War threatened to break apart
and destroy the boundless possibilities of the United States. As a way of
dealing with both the population growth and the massive deaths during the Civil
War, Whitman focused on the life cycles of individuals: people are born, they
age and reproduce, and they die. Such poems as “When Lilacs Last in the
Dooryard Bloom’d” imagine death as an integral part of life. The speaker of
“When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” realizes that flowers die in the
winter, but they rebloom in the springtime, and he vows to mourn his fallen
friends every year just as new buds are appearing. Describing the life cycle of
nature helped Whitman contextualize the severe injuries and trauma he witnessed
during the Civil War—linking death to life helped give the deaths of so many
soldiers meaning.
THE BEAUTY OF THE INDIVIDUAL
Throughout his poetry, Whitman praised the
individual. He imagined a democratic nation as a unified whole composed of
unique but equal individuals. “Song of Myself” opens in a triumphant paean to
the individual: “I celebrate myself, and sing myself” (1). Elsewhere the
speaker of that exuberant poem identifies himself as Walt Whitman and claims
that, through him, the voices of many will speak. In this way, many individuals
make up the individual democracy, a single entity composed of myriad parts.
Every voice and every part will carry the same weight within the single
democracy—and thus every voice and every individual is equally beautiful.
Despite this pluralist view, Whitman still singled out specific individuals for
praise in his poetry, particularly Abraham Lincoln. In 1865, Lincoln was
assassinated, and Whitman began composing several elegies, including “O
Captain! My Captain!” Although all individuals were beautiful and worthy of
praise, some individuals merited their own poems because of their contributions
to society and democracy.
Motifs
LISTS
Whitman filled his poetry with long lists.
Often a sentence will be broken into many clauses, separated by commas, and
each clause will describe some scene, person, or object. These lists create a
sense of expansiveness in the poem, as they mirror the growth of the United
States. Also, these lists layer images atop one another to reflect the
diversity of American landscapes and people. In “Song of Myself,” for example,
the speaker lists several adjectives to describe Walt Whitman in section 24.
The speaker uses multiple adjectives to demonstrate the complexity of the
individual: true individuals cannot be described using just one or two words.
Later in this section, the speaker also lists the different types of voices who
speak through Whitman. Lists are another way of demonstrating democracy in
action: in lists, all items possess equal weight, and no item is more important
than another item in the list. In a democracy, all individuals possess equal
weight, and no individual is more important than another.
THE HUMAN BODY
Whitman’s poetry revels in its depictions of
the human body and the body’s capacity for physical contact. The speaker of
“Song of Myself” claims that “copulation is no more rank to me than death is”
(521) to demonstrate the naturalness of taking pleasure in the body’s physical
possibilities. With physical contact comes spiritual communion: two touching
bodies form one individual unit of togetherness. Several poems praise the
bodies of both women and men, describing them at work, at play, and interacting.
The speaker of “I Sing the Body Electric” (1855) boldly praises the perfection
of the human form and worships the body because the body houses the soul. This
free expression of sexuality horrified some of Whitman’s early readers, and
Whitman was fired from his job at the Indian Bureau in 1865 because the
secretary of the interior found Leaves of Grass offensive. Whitman’s unabashed
praise of the male form has led many critics to argue that he was homosexual or
bisexual, but the repressive culture of the nineteenth century prevented him
from truly expressing those feelings in his work.
RHYTHM AND INCANTATION
Many of Whitman’s poems rely on rhythm and
repetition to create a captivating, spellbinding quality of incantation. Often,
Whitman begins several lines in a row with the same word or phrase, a literary
device called anaphora. For example, the first four lines of “When I Heard the
Learn’d Astronomer” (1865) each begin with the word when. The long lines of
such poems as “Song of Myself” and “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”
force readers to inhale several bits of text without pausing for breath, and this
breathlessness contributes to the incantatory quality of the poems. Generally,
the anaphora and the rhythm transform the poems into celebratory chants, and
the joyous form and structure reflect the joyousness of the poetic content.
Elsewhere, however, the repetition and rhythm contribute to an elegiac tone, as
in “O Captain! My Captain!” This poem uses short lines and words, such as heart
and father, to mournfully incant an elegy for the assassinated Abraham Lincoln.
Symbols
PLANTS
Throughout Whitman’s poetry, plant life
symbolizes both growth and multiplicity. Rapid, regular plant growth also
stands in for the rapid, regular expansion of the population of the United
States. In “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d,” Whitman uses flowers,
bushes, wheat, trees, and other plant life to signify the possibilities of
regeneration and re-growth after death. As the speaker mourns the loss of
Lincoln, he drops a lilac spray onto the coffin; the act of laying a flower on
the coffin not only honors the person who has died but lends death a measure of
dignity and respect. The title Leaves of Grass highlights another of Whitman’s
themes: the beauty of the individual. Each leaf or blade of grass possesses its
own distinct beauty, and together the blades form a beautiful unified whole, an
idea Whitman explores in the sixth section of “Song of Myself.” Multiple leaves
of grass thus symbolize democracy, another instance of a beautiful whole
composed of individual parts. In 1860, Whitman published an edition of Leaves
of Grass that included a number of poems celebrating love between men. He
titled this section “The Calamus Poems,” after the phallic calamus plant.
THE SELF
Whitman’s interest in the self ties into his
praise of the individual. Whitman links the self to the conception of poetry
throughout his work, envisioning the self as the birthplace of poetry. Most of
his poems are spoken from the first person, using the pronoun I. The speaker of
Whitman’s most famous poem, “Song of Myself,” even assumes the name Walt
Whitman, but nevertheless the speaker remains a fictional creation employed by
the poet Whitman. Although Whitman borrows from his own autobiography for some of
the speaker’s experiences, he also borrows many experiences from popular works
of art, music, and literature. Repeatedly the speaker of this poem exclaims
that he contains everything and everyone, which is a way for Whitman to
reimagine the boundary between the self and the world. By imaging a person
capable of carrying the entire world within him, Whitman can create an
elaborate analogy about the ideal democracy, which would, like the self, be
capable of containing the whole world.
Line by Line- Summary
FOR COMPLETE MATERIAL
CLICK HERE FOR
JL DL notes for APPSC/TGPSC/TREIRB
CLICK HERE FOR
0 comments:
Post a Comment