Was Walt Whitman the first hippie? His radical ideas make him worthy of this title. Whitman rejected many of the popular ideas of his day and created on his own style, which is know as free verse writing. Whitman wrote during the transcendentalism period, transcendentalism means that there is an underlying connection between all things, such as humans, and nature. Not only did he form his own style, he also formed ideas, about, the lessons that can be taught through nature, the value of the individual self, and the connection that all humans share. Whitman’s creative and innovative mind, made him into the most radical poets of his time. Whitman lived outside the boundaries of the society of his time. In the Norton Bio od Walt whitman
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This idea is known as transcendentalism; which means that the divinity can be seen through all aspects of life. “I heard what was said of the universe, heard it and heard it of several thousand years,”(1044). Whitman is inferring that all things can be heard, and that events that have occurred thousands of years ago can still be witnessed. Also, Whitman believed that people would be able to feel the emotions of others. In “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”, Whitman states, “I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations hence, Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt, Just as any of you is the living crowd, I was one of a crowd,” (Whitman 1058). This furthers the point that emotions and feeling are connected. The quote explains the feelings that humans are all experiencing the beauty in nature. Being part of the crowd, also explains that we are all part of something bigger than we are, therefore we are connected. Continuing Whitman’s thought that all people are unique, in Song of Myself Whitman says, “And these tend inward to me, and I tend outward to them, And such as it is to be of these more or less I am, and of these one and all I weave the song of myself.”(1022). Whitman is saying that all people affect one another, and no person is less than the other. However all of this can be pulled together by nature the source of true
This idea is known as transcendentalism; which means that the divinity can be seen through all aspects of life. “I heard what was said of the universe, heard it and heard it of several thousand years,”(1044). Whitman is inferring that all things can be heard, and that events that have occurred thousands of years ago can still be witnessed. Also, Whitman believed that people would be able to feel the emotions of others. In “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”, Whitman states, “I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations hence, Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt, Just as any of you is the living crowd, I was one of a crowd,” (Whitman 1058). This furthers the point that emotions and feeling are connected. The quote explains the feelings that humans are all experiencing the beauty in nature. Being part of the crowd, also explains that we are all part of something bigger than we are, therefore we are connected. Continuing Whitman’s thought that all people are unique, in Song of Myself Whitman says, “And these tend inward to me, and I tend outward to them, And such as it is to be of these more or less I am, and of these one and all I weave the song of myself.”(1022). Whitman is saying that all people affect one another, and no person is less than the other. However all of this can be pulled together by nature the source of true