The human perception of the world makes the most vivid changes in human minds in the moment of complete unity between the nature of self and the nature of outer. Those who managed to feel this integrity within their beings could never step aside and remain muted. From this very moment, they devote their existence to life, nature, nation, and people. Mostly, their whole life is marked by a constant fight for freedom. Not only do they want to help themselves, but also they try to convey a crucial message of fundamental needs of the society they live in. Their voices “bring hope and prophecy to the generous races of young and old” as the voice of one of the prominent poets in the American literature – Walt Whitman (Harris and Fitzgerald 205).
His story began in the Long Island and spread through America and the rest of the world with the big influence. At the age of 16, he moved to New York City as lots of other people who were looking for better life and embarked on his own path of self-education and overall devotion to his own countrymen. Moreover, he set his heart on the delicate depiction of the present society, its problems, and real nature of people. It was important for him to observe and only after to depict:
Now I will do nothing but listen,
I hear the sound I love, the sound of the human voice,
I hear all sounds running together, combined, fused or following (Whitman)
Consequently, He became “a metaphor for America” and the most astonishing poet of all times (Woodress). In his works, he depicts the spirit of his nation and declares the main principals of democracy, love, and friendship.
However, it is worth mentioning that he did not become famous in one moment. Till the first publication of Leaves of Grass in 1855, his early poetry did not impress much, and all his works were related to different newspapers where he was working. Gradually, his poems were gaining more and more power in the society. Ralph Waldo Emerson was the first one who understood what America received with the birth of this poet. After reading the first edition that Whitman had published himself, he stated: “we have yet had no genius in America” who “knew the value of our incomparable materials” (Woodress). He was delighted with an extraordinary panorama of common in the book of 95 pages. He noticed the intelligence and sympathy for human beings. To tell the truth, it is hard not to agree with Emerson as we can easily find that the poet experienced deeply different aspects of the world which were interrelated. Firstly, he took it as his own existence. After, he was able to show and share it:
I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul,
The pleasures of heaven are with me and the pains of hell are with me,
The first I graft and increase upon myself, the latter I translate into a new tongue (Whitman).
One more example that Whitman did not receive an immediate recognition during his lifetime is that he turned in his poems as an arrogant working man who is surrounded by brothers and sisters. If the poet strips away the flaws of society and refers to prisoners, slaves, thieves, prostitutes, eventually he becomes “the poet of American religion” (Bloom). He impressed people with the nature and unity as he took his art from it (Tranbel 500-501). He believed that nothing could be poisoned by nature. Indeed, the men and women exposed to its genuine beauty and open air were really pure and fragile. Besides, he gives liberty to his verse celebrating the freedom, justice, and democracy. “Every move of him has the free play of the muscle of one who never knew what it was to feel that he stood in the presence of a superior. Every word that falls from his mouth shows silent disdain and defiance of the old theories and forms” (Harris and Fitzgerald 206). Probably, it was hard for people in times when the slavery still existed understood and confide that “the hand of God is the promise of my own” (Whitman). They could not follow him immediately in the stanzas of self-understanding and “talk honestly” when “no one else hears you, and I stay only a minute longer” (Whitman).
Despite the fact that Walt Whitman focused on own vision of simple and wonderful world, he considered to be extraordinary difficult poet. It could be defined by his perception of himself: “I am large – I contain multitudes”. Without a doubt, the poet meant that his soul truly belonged to others, but he was the one who was able to be the God and naked barbarian at the same time. Thus, he agrees that it is a contradiction that is the part of his own self, because he urged people to understand themselves:
You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me,
You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self (Whitman).
Walt Whitman wanted to protect the world, but in reality he helped us to understand that the life and death are equally important, and those who regard the death as inevitable stage of life could not ruin the dream. They perceive themselves as the creators of destiny and demonstrate that they are not afraid of making a mistake. To depict this idea, it is better to quote the part of “Song of Myself” which became one of most cited works of the poet:
No array of terms can say how much I am at peace about God and about death (Whitman).
I would also like to point the special form of his verses that demonstrates the flamboyant style of his owner. Walt Whitman is regarded as the father of free verse. According to Stevenson, his verse is unrhymed and sharp. Nevertheless, Walt Whitman created the songs out of prose, even having abrupt and unpredictable changes. Every word has its own rhythm, and for someone it could be hard to find the melody. The key for answering is in the Walt Whitman. You need to get used to his parallels and multidimensional poetry.
Works Cited
Electric Cereal. “Harold Bloom on Walt Whitman and Jazz” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 19 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
James, Henry. "Mr. Walt Whitman." The Nation 1.20 (16 Nov. 1865): 625-626. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris and Sheila Fitzgerald. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale Research, 1983. Literature Resource Center. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. "Walt Whitman." Familiar Studies of Men and Books. Robert Louis Stevenson. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905. 79-110. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris and Sheila Fitzgerald. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale Research, 1983. Literature Resource Center. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
Tranbel, Horace L. "Walt Whitman's 'Artistic Atheism'." Poet Lore 5.10 (Oct. 1893): 498-505. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris and Sheila Fitzgerald. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale Research, 1983. Literature Resource Center. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman and His Poems." The United States Review 5 (Sept. 1855): 205-212. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris and Sheila Fitzgerald. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale Research, 1983. Literature Resource Center. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself”. Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2014
Woodress, James. "Walt Whitman: Overview." Reference Guide to American Literature. Ed. Jim Kamp. 3rd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
