Walt Whitman: Poetic Maverick

Paper Summary:

The writer of this well-researched paper details the personal and historical events, of 19th century America, that impacted Walt Whitman's style of writing. This paper cites various quotes from Whitman's poems that related to personal experiences in his life. One experience that greatly impacted Whitman's writing was the time he spent as a nurse during the Civil War. Whitman typically wrote poetry to express his emotions as well as work through them by attempting to make sense of what was going on around him. This paper discusses how Whitman's poem "Song of Myself" revealed the devastation caused by the war, while also illustrating Whitman's ability to speak for every man.
This paper analyzes how Whitman's writing touches on the human experience in numerous ways. The writer discusses the various themes prevalent throughout Whitman's writings. One major theme that emerges is that of mankind connecting, either with himself, others or nature. Whitman was compelled to challenge the literature of his day. He wanted to write for the common man rather than the intellectual one. The writer contends and explains why connecting with his fellow man was essential to Whitman. One poem that illustrates this aspect of Whitman's personality is "Leaves of Grass." In this particular poem, Whitman reaches out to others as he speaks for them. Whitman's belief was that every man was worthy of freedom, regardless of race or sex.

From the Paper:

"What the review does not consider is how Whitman is able to connect with what is around him. This connection with his soul, nature, the universe, and others is indeed different but that alone does not warrant a bad review. The Saturday Review does acknowledge that that even if "Whitman was as "powerful and new and American and rousing" as some would like to believe, this "does not make him out to be a poet." In addition, the Saturday Review rejects the notion that a poet can be defined "merely because he holds forth in rhapsodical style about one man being as good as another" and claims that this type of definition confuses the "functions of the poet and the stump orator; and generally, when Walt Whitman has any meaning at all, it amounts to no more than this."

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