Whitman’s final poem in Leaves of Grass, So Long, is an interesting one often regarded as chaotic and unstructured, mimicking the end of a life. Whitman manifested himself so intensely and personified himself so much in his editions of Leaves of Grass that in this final poem, the death of his book translated to his own death. The poem that precedes it however, almost asks as a disclaimer for So Long. This poem, Now Finalé to the Shore is a perfect poem to be placed before So Long As it explains the deviation from format and set topic that exist in So Long. It acts as essentially an outline for what sounds like Whitman’s last-ditch effort to get everything left in his mind out on paper before he goes. The last hurrah. The last look into Whitman’s mind. It is not familiar in tone and structure however it isn’t totally new or like nothing we’ve ever seen from Whitman before. There is the familiar ending in which he addresses his readers directly and intimately and how he wants Leaves of Grass to be carried around with the reader both physically and mentally all the time. As well, the many declarations about America and what progress it would hopefully make is recognizable as well.
Whitman knowingly uses repetition in terms of these themes he keeps bringing up but also in the language he uses to write these poems with. He uses this rhetorical device to emphasize his point and what he wants his readers to focus on. In So Long he repeats phrases such as “I announce” for a long portion of the poem declaring the many things to come after he is gone. However, widening the lens a bit, the entire poem may be an elaborated repetition of Now Finalé to the Shore. This second to last poem provides structure to what is seemingly unstructured mind dump of a farewell. It acts as an outline and can very well be used to split up and organize So Long. Now Finalé to the Shore is a poem of 10 lines each of which relating to different sections of So Long in order of appearance and when organized numerically. Below is the way I have chosen to organize the two, setting them parallel to each other and dividing by line and topic matter.
| Now Finalé to the Shore | So Long | ||||||||||||||||||||
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TO conclude, I announce what comes after me.
I remember I said before my leaves sprang at all, I would raise my voice jocund and strong with reference to con- summations.
When America does what was promis’d, When through these States walk a hundred millions of superb persons, When the rest part away for superb persons and contribute to them, When breeds of the most perfect mothers denote America, Then to me and mine our due fruition.
I have press’d through in my own right, I have sung the body and the soul, war and peace have I sung, and the songs of life and death, And the songs of birth, and shown that there are many births.
I have offer’d my style to every one, I have journey’d with confi- dent step; While my pleasure is yet at the full I whisper So long! And take the young woman’s hand and the young man’s hand for the last time.
I announce natural persons to arise, I announce justice triumphant, I announce uncompromising liberty and equality, I announce the justification of candor and the justification of pride.
I announce that the identity of these States is a single identity only, I announce the Union more and more compact, indissoluble, I announce splendors and majesties to make all the previous poli- tics of the earth insignificant.
I announce adhesiveness, I say it shall be limitless, unloosen’d, I say you shall yet find the friend you were looking for.
I announce a man or woman coming, perhaps you are the one, (So long!) I announce the great individual, fluid as Nature, chaste, affection- ate, compassionate, fully arm’d.
I announce a life that shall be copious, vehement, spiritual, bold, I announce an end that shall lightly and joyfully meet its transla- tion.
I announce myriads of youths, beautiful, gigantic, sweet-blooded, I announce a race of splendid and savage old men.
O thicker and faster—(So long!) O crowding too close upon me, I foresee too much, it means more than I thought, It appears to me I am dying.
Hasten throat and sound your last, Salute me—salute the days once more. Peal the old cry once more.
Screaming electric, the atmosphere using, At random glancing, each as I notice absorbing, Swiftly on, but a little while alighting, Curious envelop’d messages delivering, Sparkles hot, seed ethereal down in the dirt dropping, Myself unknowing, my commission obeying, to question it never daring, To ages and ages yet the growth of the seed leaving, To troops out of the war arising, they the tasks I have set promul- ging, To women certain whispers of myself bequeathing, their affection me more clearly explaining, To young men my problems offering—no dallier I—I the mus cle of their brains trying, So I pass, a little time vocal, visible, contrary,
Afterward a melodious echo, passionately bent for, (death making me really undying,) The best of me then when no longer visible, for toward that I have been incessantly preparing.
What is there more, that I lag and pause and crouch extended with unshut mouth? Is there a single final farewell?
My songs cease, I abandon them, From behind the screen where I hid I advance personally solely to you.
Camerado, this is no book, Who touches this touches a man, (Is it night? are we here together alone?) It is I you hold and who holds you, I spring from the pages into your arms—decease calls me forth.
O how your fingers drowse me, Your breath falls around me like dew, your pulse lulls the tympans of my ears, I feel immerged from head to foot, Delicious, enough.
Enough O deed impromptu and secret, Enough O gliding present—enough O summ’d-up past.
Dear friend whoever you are take this kiss, I give it especially to you, do not forget me, I feel like one who has done work for the day to retire awhile, I receive now again of my many translations, from my avataras as- cending, while others doubtless await me, An unknown sphere more real than I dream’d, more direct, darts awakening rays about me, So long! Remember my words, I may again return, I love you, I depart from materials, I am as one disembodied, triumphant, dead.
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Both poems begin (red) with a declaration of farewell and conclusion. The second short section (yellow) hint at reflection of life and a continuing ending. The longer middle section (green) explores the progress and continuation of life that ensue after Whitman is gone. In Now Finalé To the Shore the motif of a sailor is used voyaging and adventuring on through the world calculating his journey so to return home again. In So Long this sentiment takes shape as the repetitive “I announce” sequence and Whitman’s prescriptions for the future. Which, similarly to the sailor, should be just as well calculated so to no again be driven off course. The following (Blue) section goes deeper into Whitman’s self-reflection of his life, his place, and his relationship with the reader. (“His “I think can be interchangeable with “his publication” in this case.) It all wraps up (purple) with the acknowledgement of death and the final goodbye. In Now Finalé to the Shore it is the image of an old sailor off on an “endless cruise” never to return back to the port. In So Long it is the heartfelt last address to his audience and the hyper aware admission of death and finality.
What a fascinating reading! What I like about this is that it shows how careful Whitman was in his arrangements, such that the second-to-last poem might be read as carefully in its placement as the last one–more so, perhaps, as a preface to or preparation for that longer one. If the briefer poem offers a concise “outline” as you note, the longer “So Long” allows Whitman to expand his primary themes, returning, as near the end, to that sense of intimacy even as the poem itself embraces the journey of what comes after death.
One thing I notice here is that “Now Finale” seems more direct and confident without all the manic hedging. Why do you think Whitman chose to place this before “So Long” rather than after? What does that say about Whitman’s own goals as he plans for the end of Leaves, and for the end of their author? Which iteration did you find most powerful here?
In my blog post this past weekend I also referenced this connectiveness between “Now Finale to the Shore” and “So Long”. We have been discussing in class the relationship between poems in Whitman’s work and how he carefully placed poems in order because of their relationship to each other. With the chart you created above, not only does it creatively highlight the similarities of both poems, but it also definitively shows Whitman’s process for ordering his work. One of the things I mentioned in my post is how “Now Finale” acts as almost an inspiration for what Whitman will go on to do in “So Long”. Seeing this old sailor head off into the horizon allows Whitman to confidently address his farewell to his reader at the end of “So Long”.
Such a clever way of working through these two poems, Elie. It is so interesting to me that Whitman can create such an abstract “mind dump farewell” (like you said), and that we can use his other work to really get a grip on it. I think creative people have certain purposes, and that those purposes come out int he themes and tones of their work. You mentioned in the second paragraph of your close reading that “So Long” is an elaboration of his shorter poem “Finalé.” This idea strikes me because as a writer, I find myself trying and hoping to write a diverse array of content but I often come back to a few major themes like nostalgia for the past or anxiety for the future. Even if the subject matter of what I’m writing differs, my main idea usually comes form one of the places I’ve come from before. From reading so many Whitman poems, I am seeing that more and more. Your color-coded chart is really telling of that phenomenon, even though the “Finalé” poem is seemingly of a nautical theme, you did a good job of showing how it is actually more about life and death as a natural and inescapable dichotomy.