Whitman’s ‘Mirages’ is an interesting and confusing poem as it is purposefully very misleading to the audience. It gives the reader the idea that the entire poem is false because is its title being ‘Mirages,’ a comforting figment of the imagination; something totally made up. However, he then prefaces it by noting that the poem […]
I Am Here like an Old Hulk Driven Up on the Sand: A Newly Discovered Letter by Walt Whitman
Whether it is deciphering a text or researching the historical context surrounding it, readers are always trying to analyze an author’s true intention in their work/s . However, sometimes new discoveries can open our eyes to the mind behind the pages. In the essay, “I Am Here like an Old Hulk Driven Up on the […]
The Dead, but Remembered America in Whitman’s “The Pallid Wreath”
To many readers and scholars, Walt Whitman’s post-war poem “The Pallid Wreath” is a simple poem concerning the concept of death and remembrance that was written in the final years of Whitman’s life. While a lot of Whitman’s poetry deals with the concepts of life and death concerning human beings, much of Whitman’s work also […]
Som P. Sharma’s “Self, Soul, and God in ‘Passage to India'”
In his critical article “Self, Soul, and God in ‘Passage to India,’” Som P. Sharma dissects Whitman’s presentation of his relation to self in “Passage to India” as three separate and simultaneously harmonious parts–self, the soul, and God. He relates this view of self to Hindu metaphysics, a parallel that grounds his critique of the […]
Now Finalé to the Shore’ Validating Structure in ‘So Long’
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 […]
Creating a New Narrative, “Prayer of Columbus”
“Prayer of Columbus” is an interesting and somewhat perplexing poem to me due to the fact that Whitman, like he did at times in “Leaves of Grass”, attempts to write as though he understands those outside of himself in much deeper way. It’s interesting to me that Whitman would write a poem where he is […]
Into the Horizon: Death and the Afterlife in “Now Finale to the Shore”.
With the title of his selection of poetry called, “Songs of Parting,” Whitman founded this collection around goodbyes, so longs, and farewells. With no sense of illness during this time, and thirty years prior to his actual death, it is odd that Whitman grounded many of his poems around death and the afterlife. Regardless […]
Death with Regards to Whitman
In William Scheick’s review of the article “So Long!: Walt Whitman’s Poetry of Death,” by Harold Aspiz, Scheick summarizes and characterizes Aspiz’s view of how Whitman views death. Although the article is written with the intention of reviewing Aspiz, Scheick adds much of his own insight and puts Whitman’s thoughts in a manageable light. First […]
The Two Personas of Walt Whitman as Seen in “So Long!” Molly Epps
As a result of being crowned the “Great American Poet”, Walt Whitman’s poetry voice is not only familiar to Western scholars, but almost instantly recognizable for almost every American English scholar. However, what if we were to assert the claim that when we recognize Whitman’s voice in a piece of writing, we’re actually recognizing two […]
Life and Death in WW’s “Warble for Lilac-time”
The speaker in Walt Whitman’s “Warble for Lilac-time” observes the scenery of a spring day, and is sure to notice the beauty of it. The scents of newly bloomed lilacs, the sky, the birds and their wings. Almost all of the imagery in this poem is focused on nature’s beauty. Unlike much of Whitman’s poetry, […]