Walt Whitman is acknowledged as the national poet of America who paved a new way both in verse form and style. He wrote about American people, American landscape and American way of life. He celebrated the individual values, democracy, everyday life, Nature, love and friendship in his poems. His work chanted praises to the body as well as to the soul. He found beauty and reassurance even in death since in his view even death is a stage in the cycle of life. He treats death as a door that opens the passage from one world to another allowing for life to re-start and perpetuate its eternal cycle.
Whitman was
born on 31st may, 1819 in Huntington, Long Island. At the age of
eleven he left school and went to work as an office boy, as a teacher, as
helper in a printing press and later as a journalist. He spent much of his
career in Brooklyn. He started his career as a poet in 1855 by publishing his
first volume of twelve poems as “Leaves of grass.” He described the realistic
and darker aspects of society like war, murder and fear. He encouraged his
readers to strive for their life without falling back on someone. Later he
revised nine times almost till his death in 1892, adding nearly three hundred
poems. During American Civil war, he went to work in Washington D.C. as a nurse
to help wounded soldiers. After a stroke towards the end of his life Whitman
moved to Camden, New jersey where he later died.
Whitman wanted to create an original, distinctly American form and style that would better embody the American voice, identity and ethos to mirror the primary values of American culture. He wrote in free verse because most of his subjects are common man and beauty in common life. In free verse there are no style restrictions. There is lack of rhyme and strict meter. It follows natural cadence and rhythms of the language. It is a verse paragraph with no standard of line length. He chose free verse form as it is a flexible medium to portray the life of common man, and common life. Moreover, it breaks away from conventional verse form and embodies democratic spirit and original approach. According to James Perrin Warren the most important techniques in Whitman’s verse are use of syntactic parallels, repetition and cataloguing.
About Whitman's work, “Leaves of grass” Emerson said, “it was the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom America had contributed.” Whitman was very much influenced by the Civil War and he described his war experiences in “Drum taps” (1865) and in “Sequel to Drum Taps” and also in his prose work “Specimen days” (1882-1883). In his work “Sequel to Drum-Taps” he wrote famous poems like “Pioneers! O Pioneers!”, “When Lilacs last in the Dooryard Bloomed”. In 1871 he wrote three essays entitled “Democratic vistas” where he expressed his views about the role of democracy in establishing a new cultural foundation for America.
In “Song of myself” Whitman emphasized the role of democracy and the oneness of mankind cutting across the artificial barriers of race, religion, colour, status and professions. His poem, “Song of myself” takes the reader on an epic journey through many settings, time periods and viewpoints. This poem delineates Whitman’s ideas about America, democracy, nature, sexuality, the intimate connection between soul and body, the role of friendship and sexuality in a candid and clear way. Whitman was criticized for his frank and outspoken views about sexuality and description of obscene things in this poem and also in his work “Calamus” where he was accused of homosexual leanings. In “Song of myself” Whitman projected his transcendentalist view of the common soul of mankind and the universal self. This poem has fifty-two sections running about seventy pages.
In his poem “Passage to India’ (1870) Whitman describes an imaginary journey to India, the ancient land, where he can feel rejuvenation of his soul and return to the birthplace of mankind. The poet uses his journey as a symbolic exploration of the past, expansion and the future. He also reveals the importance of myths and fables in shaping the future of mankind and guiding him on the right path. In another poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” Whitman interprets the movement of people riding on ferry as the spiritual unity of men in the world. He shows the ferry as a bridge connecting the present and future. He also expresses profound love for cities, rivers and people.
In “Out of the cradle endlessly rocking”(1860) Whitman shows the transformation of a boy into a poet through his experience of love and death. Using the images like bird, boy and sea the poet shows the relationship between Nature, art and suffering. It shows how a boy matures into a poet by listening to the tragic notes of a bird whose mate has been killed. From the noisy waves of the sea, he listened to the voice of death which is a kind of release form stress and strain.
In the poem “I hear America singing”
(1860) the poet presents an idealized vision of American life. The poet moves
from cities to villages covering various aspects and professions of people to
build a portrait of America which includes each individual. It is like the
various notes of music which make up a symphony. The poem celebrates the
self-sufficiency and individualism through” these varied carols.” Lastly the
poet expressed his patriotic feelings and his love for Abraham Lincoln in poems
like “O Captain! My captain”, “When Lilacs last in the Dooryard Bloomed” and
“Hushed be the camps today.”
As a romantic poet, he glorified nature, common man, nationalism and the supernatural element. At the same time, he blended realistic and transcendental aspects in his poetry. Sometimes he very frank and did not care for decency and propriety. His poetry is often described as lyric nationalism. As the greatest poet of democracy, he had faith in the inherent dignity and nobility of common man. In his view all men and women are equal and all professions are equally honourable.
His poetry gives a kaleidoscopic view of American culture and the ideals of that country. He championed the democratic ideals of America and glorified the life of common man and the diverse professions. He fused the traditional as well as the modern scientific developments; he fused the rural and the urban aspects of life and projected a global vision of the future man. He called America as “the centre of equal daughters, equal sons” who are “strong, ample, fair and capable”. He encouraged readers to strive for their life without falling back on others. He added everyday scenes in his poems and emphasized on individualism, reasonable patriotism, love and patriotism.
Whitman
revised his masterpiece “Leaves of grass” considered as the national epic of
America nine times in which he celebrated nature, democracy, love, body. Soul
and friendship. He is treated as successor to Homer, Virgil, Dante and
Shakespeare as he gave a comprehensive view of American life and culture and
elevated the role of the poet to that of
universal bard transcending the boundaries of nation, race, creeds and
religion. Whitman abandoned the metrical tradition of accentual syllabic verse
and adopted the prosody of the English Bible. Harold Bloom called “Leaves of
Grass” as “secular scripture of the United States.” Whitman combined
spontaneous, prosaic rhythms with incantatory repetition he found in the Old
Testament. He tried to show the unity and diversity of the rich and varied
American culture by choosing flexible, free verse.
Whitman widened the possibilities of poetic diction by including slang, colloquialisms, Americanism, foreign phrases and regional dialects instead of using stiff, erudite and conventional language. He broadened the thematic range by describing myriad subjects such as everyday life, democracy, growth of America, celebration of individual, attitude towards life and death. He even included obscene and ugly aspects of life since in his view everything in creation has its own identity and value. He introduced unusual and previously forbidden subjects-sexuality, human body and debris. He emphasized the present things and everyday scenery. The image of the most realistic America is present throughout his poetry. Whitman said,” The proof of a poet is that his country absorbs him as affectionately as he has absorbed it.” Whitman believed,” Poetry is a form of knowledge, the supreme wisdom of mankind.” To him God is both immanent and transcendent. Whitman was a religious sceptic. The human soul is immortal and is in a state of progressive development. As Ezra Pound called Whitman “America’s poet… He is America.”
