Wilt Whitman was a prominent American poet from 1819 to 1892. He played a vital role in promoting vision and reality when incorporating views into his work. Whitman was an influential poet in America because of his creativity when composing his poems. In his poetic profession, he became famous because of his first poem titled “Leaves of Grasses,” which advanced his job. Whitman wrote other verses such as Song of the Open Road, One Self I Sing, Spider, A Noiseless Patient, I Hear America Singing and O’ Captain! My Captain! The poetry aspects are essential in learning, and live activities can yield positive outcomes such as job opportunities that impact people’s lives effectively.
“The Song of the Open Road,” poem was printed in 1856, and is one of the longest poems consisting of fifteen stanzas. The first stanza is unique from the other since it contains three lines, while the other stanzas have more than three lines. The verse has a joyous tone and a free verse style; there is no rhyme scheme, and the lines vary in dimensions. The first three lines of the poem, “afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road; Healthy, free, the world before me; the long brown path before me leading wherever I choose,” demonstrates the theme of freedom. The poem encourages people to have self-confidence and exploit their capabilities to excel.
The author demonstrates the theme of optimism by encouraging the people to travel around the world and discover new opportunities, “Allons! Whoever you are, come travel with me!; Travelling with me you, find what never tires. In addition, the poem expresses the theme of joy when people defeat challenges and become victorious as expressed in the verse, “Still here I carry my old, delicious burdens; I am fill’d with them, and I will fill them in return.” According to (Conrad pp.54-86), it articulates that, “Whitman’s poetry gestured toward a future by promoting his literary text to the society.” He also encouraged other poets to adopt literary devices such as styles and structure when composing the poems.
“One’s Self I Sing,” poem was published in 1867, it consists of three distinctive stanzas different in line length. The first stanza has two lines, while the other stanzas have three lines each. In the first stanza, the poet sings about himself regardless of his social condition. The author utters the word “Democratic,” which signifies the representation of the people despite their gender prominence. In stanza two, Whitman revealed the gender equality before the law when he said, “Of physiology from top to toe I sing; Not Physiognomy alone nor brain is worth for the Muse, I say the Form complete is worthier far; the female equally with the Male I sing.” In addition, the last stanza contains an alliteration in the first line, passion, pulse, and power. The poem has a courageous tone, unrhymed lines, and free verse narration for the audience.
“O’ captain! My Captain” poem is an extended metaphor poem composed to relate freedom and victory through the death of the American president and civilians during a civil war. It has a sad tone that expresses peoples’ feelings when they lose their loved ones. The author uses descriptive language such as, “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,” throughout the poem to manifest his respect to the departed people. According to (Zee pp. 641-80), “Whitman had strong feelings towards the occurrences in his poem.”
The poem has one stanza consisting of eight lines with different lengths. The first four lines are longer than the last four, which are shorter and lie in a diagonal format. The poem exposes the victory people get after being freed from captivity during a battle when the author says, “The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting.” In addition, the poem has an AABBCDED rhyming scheme in the first stanza; done, won; exulting, exulting, daring; heart, red; lies, dead.
The verse “I Hear America Singing” expresses the purpose and power of the people. The poet’s agenda was to expose the growth, privilege, and freedom the people enjoy in the American nation. Whitman composed the poem in a free verse style without rhyming or alliteration schemes. It is a one-stanza poem with eleven sentences that vary in dimension and exhibits people’s importance in the American nation. The theme of growth and how people can change their lives by working, “Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be happy and strong; the carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beams.”
Further, Whitman expresses the point of freedom by stating, “The day what belongs to the day-at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly, Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs,” demonstrates the freedom of interacting with other people. The passion and potential individuals hold affects their survival in the nation. Whitman illustrates the concept of dignity in the poem by saying, “Each singing what belongs to him or her and none else.” People need to exploit their talents by working to achieve their desired goals. The entire poem has used repetition and assonance to stress how people are essential in boosting the nation’s economy.
“In a noiseless patient spider” verse, the author describes the spider as a needy creature. The spider moves from a rock heading to the ocean to find help and, it leaves a mark on its environment by weaving its web. It consists of two stanzas containing five lines each and a bold tone that help people to create good relationships. The poem correlates the author’s soul to the spider’s actions concerning the approaches one can use to connect to the world. He is motivating poeple to work hard to be successful, “when the gossamer thread you throw catch somewhere, O my soul,” by making the necessary decisions.
The author has utilized imageries to demonstrate his soul’s desires, for example, “to the bridges you will need to be formed” and “till the gossamer the gossamer thread, you fling hook somewhere,” which attracts the audience’s attention. Whitman’s observations toward the spider’s hopelessness reflect the real world of how people without connectivity face loneliness, “Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them” in their environments. People need to build effective connections and bonds with people around them to become successful. Good relationships with other people create more job opportunities and boost career development.
Whitman’s collection contrast in terms of structure, tone, styles, and time they were published. The formats used to write the poems were incompatible depending on the events, for example, O’ Captain! My Captain! was written during a war whereby the president and civilians departed. The result of the war was a death which the author expresses sad feelings towards the nations by condoling with people. Literary devices help readers to understand the importance of poetry aspects that enhance their language skills.
Work Cited
Conrad, Eric. “The Poet as Printer’s Fist: Walt Whitman’s Indicative Hand.” Nineteenth-Century Literature 74.1 (2019): 54-86. Web.
Zee, Anton Vander. “Inventing Late Whitman.” ESQ: A Journal of Nineteenth-Century American Literature and Culture 63.4 (2017): 641-680. Project MUSE. Web.