That's an example of a resource post.
Remember, the blog assignment for this week:
- Group 1: Post a resource. I'll make it easy for you. You may direct our attention to and comment briefly upon a particular item in the Whitman Archive, if you wish; but you're also welcome to share a new resource.
- Groups 3 & 4: Post a response to a particular poem or section from the assigned Whitman selections. These posts are due by Thursday, September 6.
- Group 2: Comment on one of the primary posts from groups 3 & 4 by Sunday, September 9.
Enjoy the holiday weekend. Go read Whitman by a lake or on the beach. Or on the bus ...
Or else by stealth in some wood for trial,
Or back of a rock in the open air,
(For in any roof'd room of a house I emerge not, nor in company,
And in libraries I lie as one dumb, a gawk, or unborn, or dead) ...
Or back of a rock in the open air,
(For in any roof'd room of a house I emerge not, nor in company,
And in libraries I lie as one dumb, a gawk, or unborn, or dead) ...
In Walt Whitman's "Blades of Grass", Whitman seems to explore the motions of American life of the time. His first chapter of the 1856 version which he titled "The Poem of Walt Whitman-An American" almost seems to document his life in America. In the first few stanzas, he seems to almost try to make the reader jealous with lines such as "I lean and loafe at my ease, observing a spear of summer grass/Houses and rooms are full of perfumes—the shelves are crowded with perfumes,/I breathe the fragrance myself, and know it and like it,/The distillation would intoxicate me also, but I
ReplyDeleteshall not let it/The atmosphere is not a perfume, it has no taste of the distillation, it is odorless."
He seems as though he tries to make the reader jealous with those lines because of the way he describes the location he is in. His words describe a soft atmosphere where everything is colorful and just feels like home. The first line of the quote also suggests that he lives a really easy life because of the way he "leans and loafes at his ease."
What makes me wonder is whether his life was truly as easy as he says or whether he was simply trying to make Europeans jealous of the freedom we earned as Americans? Why else would he add extra emphasis to him being an American by adding "An American" to the chapter title? He also was forced to publish this book himself, which meant he couldn't have had too much money. So how did he live the life that he describes living in his poems?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBy saying, “What is commonest and cheapest and nearest and easiest is me” as Whitman’s passage 255 in Leaves of Grass begins, he is simply self-deprecating and humble. He continues by saying “ Me going in for my chances, spending for vast returns, adorning myself to bestow myself on the first that will take me”. He seems to be showing some feelings of guilt by admitting to self-indulgent behavior. He describes the indulgence as “adorning myself”, which may be his attempt to attract the lovers he desires and attempt to bestow himself upon. These lovers become his “vast returns”, taking the first that will have him.
ReplyDeleteShould we take Whitman’s words so literally as if he is describing his feelings related to sexual conquest, or are they meant to be interpreted more figuratively and of a spiritual nature? Could “going in for my chances” be a reference to him taking risks and having a wholesome lust for life and his “spending”, acts and words of humility? And could he mean that all manner of nature and human beings are beautiful in their “adornment”? Is he describing his “vast returns” to mean his ultimate spiritual reward of ascension to heaven?
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/walt-whitman
ReplyDeleteFrom the homepage of this website:
"The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is an independent literary
organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. It exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience."
The link will direct you to a page that provides a general biography of Whitman as well as texts/audio podcasts of his works. This link is also quite interesting in that it provides articles not only by Whitman, but several that mention/draw reference to him as well (I found African-American writer June Jordan's essay "For the Sake of People's Poetry" to be of particular interest - http://www.poetryfoundation.org/article/178489). The site is edited and published by the Poetry Foundation based in Chicago, IL.