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Walt Whitman Paradox

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Walt Whitman was an American poet and journalist who was alive from 1819 until 1892, being a well noted author of the transcendentalist movement that took over American literature during this time period. He was the second of eight surviving children, and grew up with his father always switching jobs in order to keep the family financially stable. When the financial situation started going south, Whitman’s father pulled him out of school so he could work and try to help the family. At the age of seventeen, Whitman became a teacher, and later a journalist in 1841. After five years, he became the editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, but was fired because his opinions and viewpoints often disagreed with those of his boss and the readers of the paper. He then traveled to New Orleans, feeling the need to leave because of the issue of slavery that was prevalent down in that area. Starting in 1855, and continuing on until his death, Whitman published various editions of his collection of poems, which he titled Leaves of Grass. When the Civil War broke out, Whitman joined the Union cause as a …show more content…

The first words in the eighth and ninth lines contain a paradox. Whitman’s use of “tenderly” and “strong” show the speaker telling that their death will be soft and easy, but the connection they have with the deity and death is strong. The speaker repeats the phrase “Strong is your hold” in lines nine and ten, but what follows each changes the meaning of the repeated phrase. “O mortal flesh” being strong means that the body the soul is trapped in is preventing the soul from leaving the body so they can be with the deity they’re calling upon. If “O love” has the strong hold on the speaker, then the interpretation could mean that the deity is the reason the speaker is looking forward to death, again, connecting to Whitman’s transcendental

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Walt Whitman was an American poet and journalist born on May 31, 1819. Whitman was influenced by transcendentalism, which was an idea emphasizing that to understand nature, one must analyze the reasoning or process behind it. Whitman had done many writings throughout his life that had been inspirations for other poets. For example, in the spring of 1855, Whitman published “Leaves of Grass”, which was a collection of twelve unnamed poems. This writing was enticed by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who thought that the collection of poems were “the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom.”

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685 Words | 3 Pages

Walt Whitman is one of nine children, he grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and Long Island and was faced with many different aspects of society. Growing up he had a great fascination of the atmosphere of Brooklyn which led him to journalism at the age of twenty. In 1855 Walt Whitman self-published a collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass which was expanded and revised through many editions until the ninth “deathbed” edition which was published in 1892. His brother was wounded in Fredericksburg Virginia, shortly after Walt Whitman traveled to see him. Once he saw the aftermath he was compelled to work as a nurse in Washington, D.C. as a volunteer nurse, in this time he wrote many more poems.

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Walter Whitman was an American writer during the nineteenth century. Primarily, he was known for his practical poetry and down to earth style. In his work, he displayed both realistic and philosophical views. His works, are mainly drawn from both the love of his county and his theistic world view. Whitman was greatly influential to American literature and writings.

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168 Words | 1 Pages

Marianne Giesemann’s work is like a part of an underground society that helps those above ground perform better and have a more productive life with the products that she makes. These products that she makes and designs with a group of talented specialists work to help people of different professions perform their job with a higher level of efficiency. Her products can be used by different companies and as long as the language of her products are translated, people of other countries and ethnicity groups can also use them. There are many jobs and professions that depend on how well she and the rest of her team program and design their products as if their products are designed well and work smoothly. It’s like she is working in the shadows

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887 Words | 4 Pages

He says that “The spirit of God is the brother of my own,” meaning that God, the divine creator, the person who stresses, ‘Love thy neighbor,” is his brother, and all people’s brother which indirectly suggests that everyone love each other and take care of each other because we are family. Whitman then goes on, saying that while America is great, life is not perfect, as everyone face challenges and tough times in our lives, “It is not upon you alone the dark patches fall/ The dark threw its patches down upon me also,” (Whitman 12). He discusses the fact that while America is an ideal society where people love each other, life is not so perfect, as the hardships we face are difficult to overcome.

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1633 Words | 7 Pages

Throughout his poem, he constantly talks about the importance of coming together and merging. Whitman says, “I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you” (Whitman 1). On the surface, this quote may appear to illustrate that Whitman thinks highly of himself, but it is more than this. The last part of this quote emphasizes that we are all connected and even though we are all individuals, we should not forget that we are connected to one another. Whitman also says, “Urge and urge and urge, Always the procreant urge of the world.

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914 Words | 4 Pages

One way that Whitman conveys his poetry is through the eyes of the everyday man. In this period of American history, the civil war was ongoing, and his poetry did not shy away from the everyday

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1496 Words | 6 Pages

An iconic figure in the history of American literature, Walt Whitman was born on the 31st May 1819. Today his contribution and works in the poetic world have come to define sentimentalism, ambitions and some key experiences that Americans underwent in the 19th century. Even though he may have been politically inactive, his work had the will to display political views. Having survived through the civil war, he grew much affectionate perception on the nature and complexity of American polity. Whitman’s view of America was that of a culturally diverse society that we currently witness as such this vision was mainly expressed in his poetic works.

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973 Words | 4 Pages

To begin with, Whitman throughout the poem shows a lot about what he believes and what he's opposed to as the states that he is both the body and the soul. By providing the lines he provides, it reflects his individualism as well as gives ideas about the topic of his poem as the title says it clear that it is about himself. Whithmand in the poem relates to the Romantic era as he mentions nature a lot making it obvious of his love for it. Romanticism era shown by Whitman is expressed in the poem as he says ïn the beginning, second stanza ¨I loafe and invite my soul, I learn and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer

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1116 Words | 5 Pages

Whitman, in the end, uses his poems to express his inner feelings that he did not want to share directly to the

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763 Words | 4 Pages

And whether I come to my own to-day, or in ten thousand or ten million years, I can cheerfully take it now, or with equal cheerfulness I can wait” (406-411). Whitman brings light to death. He not only encourages those to embrace death, but to not shy away from it. Bringing individuals face-to-face with reality is where Whitman excelled, his writings were vividly personal, and left nothing to the imagination. Whitman truly inspired those of his time period to face life realities as they

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800 Words | 4 Pages

Walt Whitman is one of the leading mystic poets of death in the field of American poetry. Death is assigned a distinguished space in his poetic universe of Leaves of Grasswhich immensely colours his vision of life. This paper is an attempt to present Whitman’s attitude towards death vis-à-vis global mystic perspective. Reality of Death

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842 Words | 4 Pages

Once a Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "The soul comes from without into the human body, as into a temporary abode, and it goes out of it anew it passes into other habitations… It is the secret of the world that all things subsist and do not die, but only retire a little from sight and afterwards return again. Nothing is dead;… and there they stand looking out of the window, sound and well, in some strange new disguise." As Whitman was influenced by Transcendentalism, he believed in reincarnation which idea is permanent existence. The individual “soul comes into incarnation (birth) and withdraws from incarnation (death), cyclically to gain experience and evolve in consciousness, each time as a new personality” (“Evolution in Consciousness: Karma and Reincarnation” para 6), therefore, through lines 1288-1297 Whitman keep on referring to death and how he is not afraid of death.

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1125 Words | 5 Pages

In this grand poem, Whitman glorifies the unity of all people and life. He embraces the geographical diversity as well as the diversity of culture, work, as well as sexuality or beliefs. Whitman’s influence sets American dreams of freedom, independence, and self-fulfillment, and changes them for larger spiritual meaning. Whitman appreciates hard work as well as being simple and non-egotistical. His major ideas are things such as soul, good health, as well as the love of nature.

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938 Words | 4 Pages

Secondly, Whitman’s use of imagery shows the power of his imagination and the extent of his sensory impressions. Line twenty-two for example brings forth the energy coming from nature and its spiritual affect on the self. In addition, Whitman uses the senses to draw a picture for the reader. Touch for example, is used in “a few light kisses, a few embraces…”(1150). Hearing is used in “the sound of the belch’d words of my voice…”(1150).

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