Thursday, February 24, 2011

Whitman and form

Pick one numbered section from "Song of Myself" that you found most comprehensible and interesting and tell me about its "form." Also, tell me about the "content" of the lines. So, this question asks you to think about two things: what does Whitman say and how does he say it? Do you think his form is a helpful strategy for the conveyance of his point or an obscuring one?

12 comments:

  1. I found section 6 to be the most comprehensible. In it, Whitman introduces the major symbol in the poem, grass, and, after musing with a child over what it really is, finally defines it as both a symbol for divinity (“handkerchief of the Lord”) and a symbol to describe the allusion of death as being nonexistent (“the smallest sprout shows there is really no death”). The repetition in the beginning of the lines is helpful in indicating the confusion of the narrator, as he cannot readily explain what the grass is. The rest of the section is in stanzas, the longer paragraphs offering more mediation while the shorter lines usually end in abrupt declarations. Overall, I think this does help him convey his point effectively because each longer section offers a lengthy meditation on the rest of his assertions, which is helpful to the reader who is trying to interpret what he is saying. They also give the poem a nice rhythm and a flow that is easy to read.

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  2. I found section 16 to be particularly interesting, both because of the form and the content. The section uses "I" to refer to our nation, and the passage functions to speak from the nation's point of view. This is an interesting and effective tactic to personify an area of land that houses a diverse group of people. I found it interesting because not only does Whitman go into detail of what he believes the nation to encompass, but how poignant his words are ("I resist anything better than my own diversity" was a great line to read). I don't think the form is confusing or obscures the point at all, and I believe it's a great way to make the poetry less blatant and otherwise boring to read.

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  3. Section 9 was short. It was comprehensible, but to me it was completely random. Before section 9, Whitman writes about the beginnings of life, a suicide, and maybe what he sees as he walks through a town. Then at section 9 he talks about hauling hay. Helping and then relaxing and enjoying life when the chore is done. The section was simply done. First giving an image of an open barn ready to be filled with hay. Then he talks about a wagon full of the dried grass and the person (I picture a young boy for some reason) was riding atop the hay wagon. Then they get to the barn. The boy now seems to be in the barn rafters and jumps to the new pile of grass hay and rolls around in it.
    The next section goes into more observations again whule traveling and then an encounter with a runaway slave in his home.
    Maybe section 9 was put there to give the reader a break from the journey and fast pace of his poetry and maybe laugh a little.
    Whitman is a confusing writer. He really isn't my cup of tea, but a lot of people seem to really enjoy him.

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  4. I really enjoyed section 3. In this section he is talking about how all history is the history of the present moment. He also shows how beautiful life is and how we should not waste any time thinking about our past, or future. Just live in the moment. to show this he uses examples to show the reader how life can be viewed optimistically. For him, it's not a question of whether the glass is half empty or half full: the glass is under a waterfall.

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  5. I thought section 6 was most comprehensible to me. In this section, Whitman talks about a childish question and the response he is unable to give. The section speaks to differences in perception and how something may exist in several different forms. Whitman writes, " This grass is very dark to be from the white heads of old mothers, Darker than the colorless beards of old men, Dark to come from under the faint red roofs of mouths. O I perceive after all so many uttering tongues, And I perceive they do not come from the roofs of mouths for nothing." He does not answer the question by explaining what the grass is, but answers it by explaining what it is not. This exemplifies Whitman's interest in perception.

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  6. Section 7 was most interesting to me. In it, Whitman discusses death and life being equally lucky; in other words the absence of luck in either event. Whitman then goes on to discuss the things that make him up. The use of language was kind of confusing to me; he refers to himself as mine. This perhaps indicates those qualities that he is taking for himself; those qualities that make him up. This use of language is somewhat helpful if he is trying to convey a modularized sense of himself.

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  7. "Battles, the horrors of fratricidal war, the fever of doubtful news, the fitful events..." (Whitman 7). The form, if I understand your question, is existential in that all these can go on but he won't care all that much. The content of the lines are the things in life from adventures of love to the horrors of war. Whitman just outright says what is on his mind accompanied by what we must think as well. The style leaves little to be conceived.

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  8. I really enjoyed reading section 2 from Song of Myself. It was all about Whitman's observations of the atmosphere which literally surrounds everyone. He compares the houses and towns and people to bottles of perfume that give off each a special smell that contributes to the atmosphere as a whole. He describes its wonder and awesomeness. His form is very important to the particular section. He uses form to help create the same aroma for the reader.

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  9. I found the first section of the poem to be the most comprehensible and the most interesting. The form of the passage is relatively simple, split up in several stanza's of more or less equal length, except for one which contains only two lines. The two line stanza might, also, be the most coded part of the passage dictating something along the lines of fulfillment through the invitation of the soul in loafing about. The other content of the passage is relatively wide spanning, some of it referencing a singularity of being possible through a shared substance of being (atoms), while other parts reference a type of revolution to standard and normalized order, rathering the "unchecked" flow of energy arising from nature. I find that the form of this passage is a "paragraphical" form, and in this helps to seperate out his thoughts, which somewhat helps to clarify his though process.

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  10. I thought that section 12 was comprehensible. He talks about the butcher and the blacksmith's and how they work. The blacksmith's are described as well as their actions used to make their new objects. Their pace is not rushed, but set at one that works best for each individual. The form in which it is described is very poetic and contains a lot of detain for very few words.

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  11. I especially appreciated section 16. In this episode, Whitman conveys well his point of the absence of individuality and presence of cosmic singularity. Some of the verses are universally understood (e.g. "of old and young", "a child as well as a man", "a learner with the simplest and a teacher of the thoughtfullest", etc.), while others are uniquely American in their form (e.g. "one of the Nation of many nations", "a Yankee bound and ready for trade", etc.). By using examples of duality with which the reader can relate, Whitman helps them to understand his view of the world.

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  12. I choose section 12 from Whitman's "Song of Myself". In this section whitman describes himself among butchers and blacksmiths, admiring the simple repitition their jobs entail. One can read an undertone of desire in Whitman's writing throughout the section. The form of the section varies throughout. The section itself follow a general poem form of two sections description, followed by a section of summary, with it's last sentence acting as reflection. There is no simply described rhyming pattern in the section, Whitman instead opting to have the verse flow free. Whitman's lack of adherence to a strict form allows him more precisely capture the tone he was aiming for throughout "Song of Myself", one of an endless train of personal thoughts on all subjects which cross one's mind. In this particular section, the lack of structure doesn't really harm or help the content present. Whitman fit his message into the form, yet there are many other forms in which the message could be presented equally well. One could suggest that a more repetitive structure would have given the section a feel more closely related to its content, but at the same time, that it carries on in the structure of the larger work provides that same sense.

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