How Does Walt Whitman Represent Romanticism

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Walt Whitman is arguably one of the most influential Romantic writers to this day. He incorporated many Romantic principles and characteristics into each of his works. His flawless use of the Romantic ideals of atmosphere, optimism, and sentiment combined with his own personal beliefs and morals truly brought his poems to life. Readers, even today, finish his works feeling inspired to go out and find tranquility within nature, which can be considered one of the main goals of the Romantic Movement as a whole. Walt Whitman best represents Romanticism through his use of vivid imagery, his celebration of a life well-lived, and his use of fervent emotion toward the injustices in America.
Walt Whitman encompasses the Romantic characteristic of atmosphere
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As much as Whitman celebrates life, he is also able to articulate the sadness and struggles of many in our own country. The examples Whitman uses in “I Sit and Look Out” were relatable to his readers at the height of his fame, and are still applicable today. Things such as “the slights and degradations cast by arrogant persons/ upon…the poor, and upon Negroes, and the like,” (“I Sit and Look Out” 8) showed his readers that although one’s own life may be in order, people in the very same area could be suffering immensely. Whitman uses loaded language along with real world examples to pull out emotions from deep inside the reader. A rather large part of Whitman’s use of sentiment, is his use of words with strong emotional connotations. Whitman made it hard for a reader to overlook issues, using statements such as “the mother misused by her children, dying, / neglected, gaunt, desperate” (“I Sit and Look Out” 3). These words incorporated both sentiment and imagery, two huge parts of Whitman’s writing style. Many Romantic writers only speak of the positive side of life, but Whitman is able to contrast the good with the bad not only opening the eyes of the readers to injustices but also showing them to be thankful for their own lives. Two of Whitman’s most famous works “I Hear America Singing” and “I Sit and Look Out” can be compared to each other, showing both the positive and negative sides of America. For the most part, life should be celebrated for “the day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, /… singing with open mouths” (“I Hear American Singing” 10,11). However, even though the standard of living in American is substantially higher than in any other part of the world, there is a surprisingly high amount of poverty and suffering. Whitman calls out to his readers for help with “all the meanness and agony without end” (“I Sit

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