Walt Whitman

Transcendentalist writers used essay form to express their ideas(Edline). Whitman lent…

days in history full of poverty and segregation, some extraordinary writers see the brighter side of things. Walt Whitman was a poet that has a happier outlook on his surroundings, on the other hand Langston Hughes is a poet with bitter hatred, but both poets have hope for a better America in their writing. Both poets are very different but also have a lot in common. Even though Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes were very different from one another they used some of the same literary devices.…

Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson were both highly influential writers in the 20th century. Dickinson portrayed the ideas of realism while Whitman portrayed the ideas of the transcendentalist movement. Whitman spent his youth in New York and became a teacher at the age of 17. He eventually quit his job as a teacher because he believed it absurd to force students to conform to the system of society. Dickinson’s life was quite different. She was an agoraphobic who spent the majority of her time in…

One such example is a poet by the name of Walt Whitman, whose voice travels and echoes in the American mind as casually as a song plays on the radio. Whitman’s style and inherent ability to capture a moment in words, as if the reader were watching a film or staring at a photograph, is uncanny, and his innate ability to create a scenario in which the reader feels both comfortable and familiar is eerily perfect. By using a humanist perspective,…

Leaves of Grass: Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” “Song of Myself,” by Walt Whitman is a meditative poem combining his religious and political ideals. In Whitman’s poetry, symbolism and sermons are used to present important subjects. With the author’s persona, the poem captures the unique blend of national confidence and fear for the future by using grass, a symbol of democracy which grows everywhere. Many historical events were occurring during the period of his life. The imminent Civil War…

part of the scheme” (Whitman. “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.). Walt Whitman was a graceful, yet outlaw poet that pushed the boundaries ink and paper. Whitman’s works were a journey of finding self through the natural world and his relation to the world, along with cleaver wording that test the limits of his time. He asked questions that particularly did not coincide with the time he was writing in, but resinate with anyone who hums through one of his poems. A few works where Whitman really explores…

We all know America as a ‘land of opportunities’. In Walt Whitman’s America, we see a positive view that focuses on equality and freedom thus, represents America as a happy and peaceful place. And in McKay’s America he shows a negative view thus, we see the hate, anger, and discrimination. Both poets present their perspectives of America, but they are very different. By exploring the lives and works of both Walt Whitman and Claude McKay, we understand how America, the same country, can be a…

Walt Whitman conveys the concepts of the “vast similitude” and nonlinear time to show the connection between humans. In “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” and various other poems, poet Walt Whitman portrays the idea of the “vast similitude.” The vast similitude can be defined as the traits shared between people. In addition to the vast similitude, Whitman strategically uses the concept of nonlinear time in his poetry, an idea that the past, present, and future are all connected. The idea of nonlinear…

Whitman Predicting Ginsberg Every piece of poetry examined thus far this semester has had one common underlying thread. Regardless of form, style, or language, every collection of works has served as a vehicle to document history and warn humanity about the future. A fine example of this is the juxtaposition of mid 19th century poet Walt Whitman, and mid 20th century poet Allen Ginsberg. In his poem, Crossing the Brooklyn Ferry, Whitman envisions a hopeful future for America, while subtly…

Slang in America The essay Slang in America, written by the early 1800s American poet named Walt Whitman, was an interesting essay to read. It really made me stretch my mind as to try to comprehend and understand what the 1800s poet was trying to say. Throughout his work he was trying to portray the distinctive American language; which introduces new words and the unique qualities of American life. Whitman believed that our language; the way we talk and write were the most inestimable…