Whitman_and_Frost

“American poetry embodies a critical paradox. Each American poet is different and innovative to the extent of being idiosyncratically so and yet each is “essentially” and “consciously” representatively American at the core.” This statement is applicable to all American poets, who have added excellent and reformed poetry, in typical American style, to the field of literature. I have selected two great poets of American Literature. Walt Whitman (the poet of democracy and freedom) and Robert Frost ( the nature poet) to discuss their work. Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was a well known poet, writer and journalist. No writer has been more persistently condemned, and none more persistently and passionately praised, than Walt Whitman has been. He was a self educated man. It was believed that he was the first great poet of America.. He had a grand vision of speaking and explaining about America that’s why he was also known as American national poet. The idea of self is very important in his poetry. The vastness of territory of America, the splendour of natural scenery, the greatness of democratic institutions are the important themes of his poetry. These are the inspirational words from Emerson which Whitman took to heart: "Doubt not, O poet, but persist: Say 'It is in me, and shall out.' Stand there, baulked and dumb, stuttering and stammering, hissed and hooted, stand and strive, until at last, rage draw out of thee that dream-power which every night shows thee is thine own; a power transcending all limit and privacy, and by virtue of which a [poet] is the conductor of the whole river of electricity." Whitman published first edition of “Leaves Of Grass”in 1855 with his own money, which consisted of twelve untitled poems and a preface. It was appreciated by Emerson and later he published multiple editions of leaves of grass. He celebrated the freedom of the individual and praised freedom enjoyed in America. Because the attitude toward individual liberty in America was a break from European attitudes, he felt his poetry needed to break from European models as well. He abandoned traditional verse and wrote free verse poetry. Walt Whitman sought to create a new and distinctly American form of poetry. Whitman tried to be democratic in both life and poetry. He considered it important for the link between man and his beliefs and everyday life. .In “Song of Myself” he emphasized that democracy must include all individuals equally, or else it will fail. Whitman celebrated the body and felt that the body was a gateway to the soul. He was a very innovative poet and somehow considered unsystematic and disorganized but maintained his individuality in poetic forms. For example “Songs Of Myself” was written in rhythmic verse and there wasn’t any conscious consideration on form or technique. One important rhetorical device of Whitman’s poetry is repetitions. He freely used epistrophe like the poems O Captain! O Captain,title of the poem , in “Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking” the lines( “Loud! loud! loud!” and “Blow! Blow! Blow!”),( “The earth good, and the stars good, and their adjuncts all good”) and (“Urge and urge and urge . . . always the procreant urge of the world”) from songs of my self 1855 are the examples. He also used contrasts in his poetry. Like I lines (“I am the poet of the body / and I am the poet of the soul”) from song of myself. Whitman believed that the world keep on changing so he used vivacious images and phrases in his poetry. There are many peculiarities in his language , he used the word “presdidentiad” for presidency, ”pave” for pavement etc. He had a variety in his language like colloquial expressions, technical and commercial terms, and addition of foreign language . These all qualities made his work unique and inspirational. Walt Whitman wrote the poetry that was based on the irregular rhythmic cadence with variations, of phrases, images, and syntactical patterns rather than the conventional use of meter.Whitman and Emerson were the first major poets to write in free verse. Here are some examples of free verse in Whitman’s poetry: I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. I loaf and invite my soul, I lean and loaf at my ease observing a spear of summer grass. (Songs of Myself) After the Sea-Ship—after the whistling winds; After the white-gray sails, taut to their spars and ropes, Below, a myriad, myriad waves, hastening, lifting up their necks, Tending in ceaseless flow toward the track of the ship: Waves of the ocean, bubbling and gurgling, blithely prying, Waves, undulating waves—liquid, uneven, emulous waves, Toward that whirling current, laughing and buoyant, with curves, Where the great Vessel, sailing and tacking, displaced the surface; (After the Sea Ship) In the poem “This Compost” he created rhythm with a flow of thoughts and continuous repetitions rather than using traditional meter. Whitman was innovative and for having declamatory expressions he preferred trochaic meter over the iambic meter. Music was the major source of inspiration and a central metaphor in his work.. Many of his poems contain musical terms, names of musical instrument. He insisted that music was “greater than wealth, greater than buildings, ships, religions, paintings." When he described music in his language, it became metaphysical. Here is an example from Leaves of Grass (1855). "I sing...the body electric, a song of myself, a song of joys, a song of occupations, a song of prudence, a song of the answerer, a song of the broad-axe, a song of the rolling earth, a song of the universal..’’ Whitman used symbols that he observed like the sea, the birds , the lilacs , the calamus plants, the sky.etc. One of the important theme of Whitman’s poetry is the discovery of ownself, the celebration of individuality, each individual should have a freedom, each one’s contribution is of great significance.For example in the poem “I hear America singing” he celebrated the individuals who made America great and the right to individual liberty that made it possible. The democratic nature of Whitman’s poetry is also reflected in this poem as he celebrated mechanics, carpenters, masons, mothers. For Whitman, it is the individual who matters and the individual freedom that allows him to be great as he said in the poem--"Each singing what belongs to her" . In Whitman’s poetry theme of death is not horrifying, in fact it is considered the renewal of life. In his poem “This Compost” he saw death as a part of life, he examined the process of death and rebirth. In his another poem “Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking” he realized that death creates emotions and desireds that drive a poet. Whitman’s transcendental belief is exemplified in the poems “Song of Myself,” “Facing West from California’s Shores,” and “When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer.” In the poem “Song of myself” he started with “I celebrate myself, and sing myself”. The focus is on self and its relation to nature and society. American transcendentalist also accepted that science and technology will bring material success and spiritual progress as well. As for Americans technology is very important so Whitman also celebrated the discoveries of science in his poetry. In harmony with American’s view of nature , Whitman also looked nature from a very different way He wrote earth is being bountiful , nurturing , calm and patient but deep down things are happening and because of the man’s cruelty corruption and wars , earth is paying back the consequences. During the civil war he visited the soldiers , he dressed the wounds and gave solace to the injured. In 1865 he wrote “Drum- Taps”, collection of the poems, based on the experiences of war. Being first great and national poet of America, he possessed all the qualities of an American and a great, innovative poet. He was not praised in his times much because of the innovative style, openness of sex. “ O Captain! My Captain! Was one of the few poems that became popular during his lifetime. But unfortunately the people whom he was writing for – ordinary people- did not read him. He was unrestrained in praising America and American people According to The Longman Anthology of Poetry, Whitman’s “ambition, expansiveness, and embrace of all the high and low features of American life influenced many poets of the twentieth century, including D.H. Lawrence, William Carlos Williams, Hart Crane, and Allen Ginsberg.” Now I will discuss the work of America’s leading twentieth century poet, Robert Frost (Mar. 26, 1874- Jan. 29, 1963). His poetry was a masterpiece. He was an unconventional poet. He was famous for his depictions of the rural life of New England, his command on American colloquial speech and his realistic verse portraying ordinary people in everyday situations. He wrote poems whose philosophical dimensions transcend any region. He was one of the first American poets who in traduced the rhythms of colloquial speech into poetry.He wrote in traditional verse form and considered “free verse writing as playing tennis without net”. So he was following traditions and at the same time innovative, regional, experimental and universal. He was awarded the “Pulitzer Prize” for the best book of the poetry of the year four times. Frost’s most famous poems are “The Death of the Hired Man” ( combines lyric and dramatic poetry in blank verse) “After Apple-Picking” is a free-verse dream poem with philosophical undertones, Mending Wall (demonstrates Frost's simultaneous command of lyrical verse, dramatic conversation, and ironic commentary. The Road Not Taken, Birches and the oft-studied Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening exemplify Frost's ability to join the pastoral and philosophical modes in lyrics of unforgettable beauty. Frost is also known as nature poet. Nature has been always in his poetry but in pastoral sense. His imagery deals with nature, he used nature in his poems to express the feelings of the speaker..He saw the world with different vision. He had a typical American view , he didn’t take nature for granted, he observed both aspects of nature, he also considered it capable of destroying man but he also saw man’s struggle with nature .As he said in the poem "Our Hold on the Planet", There is much in nature against us. But we forget: Take nature altogether since time began, Including human nature, in peace and war, And it must be a little more in favor of man, Say a fraction of one percent at the very least, Or our number living wouldn't be steadily more, Our hold on the planet wouldn't have so increased. Frost always discusses how beautiful nature is or how destructive it can be. He presents nature as ambiguous teacher. He also mentions the over estimations of man from his surroundings in some of his poems. Frost’s poetry connects the natural world and world of human being. We observe interconnection of harsh reality of nature and over estimations of man in his poetry. In Frost’s poetry even in the most cheerful nature sketches, there is always a hint of possible danger. There are reminiscences of Wordsworth , Keats and other romantics in Frost but he has a quite different purpose and different approach from English writer, that showed his American attitude. He starts the poem by observing nature and then moves towards its connection with human situati According to Thompson, "His poetic impulse starts with some psychological concern and finds its way to a material embodiment which usually includes a natural scene" (quoted in Thompson). According to John F. Lynen, "Frost sees in nature a symbol of man's relation to the world. Though he writes about a forest or a wildflower, his real subject is humanity. Frost used nature as a metaphor. One of the important aspects of nature poetry, personification, is found in Frost’s poetry but not in a conventional romantic way. The image is used to convey universal message in one of his first poems “Into My Own” . The poem begins with an image “ those dark trees,/so old and firm they scarcely show the breeze”. He passed a good portion of his life on farms so he used frequently the images of wood and trees. In "Birches" we get an excellent sense of Robert Frost's image of woods and trees. "When I see birches bend to left and right, Across the straighter darker trees". in the poem “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” he mentioned wood imagery and in the poem ” Once by the Pacific “ he talked about water. Water is a sign of being powerful in this poem as it is going to eat away the cliff, nature’s anger is shown in the poem by Frost. Frost wrote about water in some of his poems and showed it powerful. In the poem “The Wood Pile” Frost showed typical romantic attitude, the opening lines express passiveness: Out walking in the frozen swamp one gray day, I paused and said, 'I will turn back from here. No, I will go farther - and we shall see.' The great significance of natural scenes was shown in the poem initially but later on the rise of strict human sphere over the physical sphere was shown. The whole meaning of the poem lies in the difference between nature and man. The contrast between man and nature is the central theme of Frost’s nature poetry. Frost said himself repeatedly, "I am not a nature poet. There is almost always a person in my poems" (quoted in Thompson). This may be hard for some to grasp, as Frost is world renowned for his alleged nature theme. Romanticism occurred in Frost’s poetry made him Non romantic poet in the views of some critics. Robert Frost was a modified romantic poet . He followed the romantic movement but in his own way and with a purpose to show greater reality. So in his poetry we notice transformed romanticism. In a letter to Louis Untermeyer in 1915, Frost referred to Edgar Lee Masters as “too romantic”, by which he meant too “false realistic”(Letters 189). Ambiguity is also observed in Frost’s nature like in the poem “Birches” the delicate balance between the desire to withdraw from the world and love of the earth is symbolized in the boy's game of swinging birch trees. Possibility of hidden danger is also shown in his poems , for example the poem ” Spring Pools” began with the beautiful description of pools and flowers in early spring but suddently the tone changed: The trees that have it in their pent-up buds To darken nature and be summer woods - Let them think twice before they use their powers To blot out and drink up and sweep away These flowery waters and these watery flowers From snow that melted only yesterday. Frost also used birds and birdsongs as symbols in his poetry and birdsongs were considered he voice of nature to communicate with birds. The poems “The Need of Being Versed in Country Things” and “Never Again Would Birds’ Song Be the Same” are the examples. Travelers also appear frequently in Frost’s poems. The theme of death is also shown in some poems of Frost. We observe the discussions od fear and sorrow of death in “Home Burial”, ," the fear of death because of unaccomplished tasks on earth in the poem "After Apple-Picking," and life after death in the poem "Fire and Ice." Frost’s innovation, ambiguity, different, realistic and influential style made him the popular poet. He treated nature in a different way like Americans. He used colloquial speech in his poetry. The poetic and political conservatism of Frost caused him to lose favor with some literary critics, but his reputation as a major poet is secure. He succeeded in realizing his life's ambition: to write "a few poems it will be hard to get rid of." About Frost, President John F. Kennedy said, "He has bequeathed his nation a body of imperishable verse from which Americans will forever gain joy and understanding." References: America’s Poet “ Walt Whitman” by Joel Swerdlow “Robert Frost, Romantic” by Sheldon W Liebman “Frost and American view of nature” byClark Griffith http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/waltwhitman http://www.nothingwavering.org/post/24612/2010-11-15/walt-whitman-the-first-great-american-poet.html http://whitmanarchive.org/criticism/reviews/poems/anc.00345.html http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/walt-whitmans-notebooks-and-poetry-sweep-universe http://www.brighthub.com/education/homework-tips/articles/62541.aspx#ixzz1Iipr9Do7 http://anthologyoi.com/writings/poetry/walt-whitman-and-death.html http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/robertfrost http://www.suite101.com/content/understanding-the-poetry-of-robert-frost-a119292 http://www.academon.com/Analytical-Essay-Death-in-Robert-Frost's-Poems/17027