Walt Whitman was one of the nineteenth century authors to pave the way from contemporary to modernism writings. He introduced new styles and themes while keeping some formality of the traditional style of writings. In his writings, Whitman address important issues in America resulting from the effects of the Civil War. His poem, “A Hand-Mirror”, exemplifies this modern writing style and addresses the flaws in America at this time.
Whitman’s unique writing style is illustrated through the structure and punctuation of his poem, “A Hand-Mirror”. In the first and last lines of the poem, Whitman uses a dash to replace a comma, which adds to the modern structure of the poem. This is an unpopular use of punctuation for contemporary writers but becomes more popular in the modern writing era with writers such as Robert Frost and William Carlos Williams. Along with dashes, Whitman uses an extended sentence as the structure of the poem, the lines and thoughts separated only by commas. These techniques along with the unrhymed lines represents the modernism style of writing Whitman aimed for.
Aside from unique style, Whitman’s poem, “A Hand-Mirror”, is open to interpretation. Starting with the title, I interpret hand-mirror in two ways; the actual hand as a reflection of the self, and the small hand-held mirror. Both of these ideas support the themes of the poem. On one hand the poem addresses the issues of growing old, illustrated in the descriptive metaphors, “No more flashing eye, no more a sonorous voice or springy step”. (line 3) These are characteristics of youthfulness that the character in the poem once possessed but have lost. A few lines down old age is illustrated, “Joints rheumatic, bowels clogged with abomination”. (7) Rheumatoid arthritis and constipation is usually associated with old age which further emphasizes the theme of growing old. The word “abomination” leads to my other interpretation of the poem as a reflection of America at the time.
This poem is written during the time period of the Civil War and it reflects views people now held of America. In this poem America is the figure growing old. The romantic views previously associated with the country are dispelled by the war, people now see chaos and destruction or the ugly side of America. This is illustrated in the description of America (the person), “Blood circulating, dark and poisonous streams, / words babble, hearing and touch callous”. These characteristics describe the effects of the Civil War on America. The dark poisonous blood is symbolic of the corrupt people of America, word babble symbolizes words of little importance, callous hearing and touch represents the desensitization of the people, they are now hard and void of emotion, almost robotic. This selection sums up the effects of the War on America and demonstrates Whitman’s unique writing style.
The over arching theme of this poem, based on the two interpretation offered, is the decay of a person or a body of people over time. The individual holds up his hand that reflects an aged figure void of youthful characteristics once possessed. America holds up the mirror to see its once perfect world now chaotic and corrupt. Whitman allows his poem to fit both interpretations along with others because he wants the reader to take something more than he was actually offering in his poetry. He succeeded.
I generally dislike close readings that interpret the text as something completely other than what the surface language indicates (i.e. a blue bird becomes the symbol of youth and innocence rather than just being a blue bird because sometimes “a cigar is just a cigar”). But your interpretation of Whitman’s poem as the decay of post-war America, I thought, was extremely compelling. I would have never gotten that from the poem (probably because I do tend to look at surface level more often than not unless otherwise provoked). Anyway, good job! Very interesting :]
Thank you, I’m glad you found it compelling! I think about the work in its historical context and try to relate it back to the text. That usually allows for more interpretation.
Great post–I especially appreciate the way you read Whitman’s reflection of a dying body as a reflection of a troubled body politic in the years after the Civil War. I think that is a very important part of the poem.
When you write about Whitman attempting a modernist style of writing, however, you need to be careful. Whitman was certain trying to break out of the poetic modes of his day, and he did so boldly in many poems. But this poem is actually a slightly more tradition Whitman poem, so pressing too hard on what makes it formally experimental is not the best route for this poem. That said, I think what you say about Whitman’s style applies especially to the other poems that we’ve read–so I think what you say is fitting in that broader sense.