Individualism, death, and the beauty of nature are the main themes shown in the works of Walt Whitman. Walt Whitman was 19th century poet who wrote Leaves of Grass, Song of Myself, and O Captain! My Captain!.
Walt Whitman was born in West Hills, New York on May 31, 1819. Whitman grew up on a farm with his parents and his many siblings. Whitman’s family gave him his great love for America. At the age of 19, Whitman started his writing career in journalism. After a couple of years, Whitman became an editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, a big newspaper at the time. Later on, Whitman would start his own newsletter, the Brooklyn Freeman.
A couple years later, Whitman began writing his poetry. In 1855, Whitman struck lightning in a bottle with his book Leaves of Grass. Although it didn’t gain much attention at first, it caught the eye of accomplished poets such as Emerson and Thoreau. That served as enough inspiration for Whitman to continue writing poetry. Whitman published many other books and poems before his death on March 26, 1892 in Camden, New Jersey.
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The style Whitman is most known for is free verse. Free verse is defined as “poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter.”, and it is seen in so many of his works that he is often called the “Father of free verse”. Free verse is seen in Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. When Whitman first published Leaves of Grass, free verse wasn’t very commonplace. Whitman went against the norms of poetry at the the time, and that is why he is seen as an influential figure to free verse poetry.
Individualism is a common theme in literature. Individualism is defined as “the belief and practice that every person is unique and self-reliant.” We see individualism in Whitman’s Song of Myself. The first line screams individualism as it reads, “I celebrate myself, and sing myself”. In this line, Whitman is praising himself.
Death is arguably the most common theme in all of literature. The theme of death has been used in so many different ways that there really isn’t an exact definition of it. The life and death cycle is so popular because they are the most commonplace issues in our lives. Death is seen best in Whitman’s O Captain! My Captain! In the poem, Whitman mourns the death of his captain after a long and victorious battle. We see theme of death in his captains actual death and the way the narrator mourns the death of his captain.
Nature’s Beauty was a common theme in poetry while Whitman was alive due to the transcendentalism movement made popular by fellow poets Emerson and Thoreau. The theme stresses the beauty of nature and the goodness of people. The beauty of nature theme is seen in When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d. In the poem, the narrator talk about how flowers die in the winter, and then rebloom in the springtime.
Leaves of Grass was Whitman’s first and arguably best work as a poet. The book is a collection of all of Whitman’s poems throughout his career. The book started of as 12 poems self-published by Whitman, but grew more and more throughout Whitman’s life. The book didn’t gain much popularity in the beginning, but it did reach Ralph Waldo Emerson who wrote:
“DEAR SIR–I am not blind to the worth of the wonderful gift of ‘LEAVES OF GRASS.’ I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed. I am very happy in reading it, as great power makes us happy. It meets the demand I am always making of what seemed the sterile and stingy nature, as if too much handiwork, or too much lymph in the temperament, were making our western wits fat and mean. I give you joy of your free and brave thought. I have great joy in it. I find incomparable things said incomparably well, as they must be. I find the courage of treatment which so delights us, and which large perception only can inspire. I greet you at the beginning of a great career, which yet must have had a long foreground somewhere, for such a start.”
Contrary to Emerson’s opinion on it, a lot of readers found the book to be terrible at first due to some of its progressive messages. “It is impossible to imagine how any man’s fancy could have conceived such a mass of stupid filth, unless he were possessed of the soul of a sentimental donkey that had died of disappointed love” (Griswold 1). Further down the line, the book started being perceived better by the public.
“Today we recognize Leaves of Grass as one of the most important events in the history of literature” (Borges 707). “All of the poems in it show so many different styles and themes of the author. For this reason, Leaves of Grass is one of the most original books of poetry” (Black 1). The book shows the themes of death and individualism all over the place.
“The poet insists he is inseparable from his poems, that he creates himself by writing poems, and that his readers and he become part of each other when the poems are read” (Black 1). This is one of the reasons this book is “widely considered the cornerstone of modern poetry” (Black 1). Whitman shows his true colors in his poems and it’s a big reason why Leaves of Grass accompanies all of his poems.
Since Leaves of Grass includes all of Whitman’s poetry we see all of his themes and styles inside of it. The book is Whitman’s most important because of this. The style mostly used is free verse, especially in his original copy with only his first 12 poems. In a lot of Whitman’s works, we see no rhyme or meter. We also see all of Whitman’s themes in the book.
O Captain! My Captain! is one of Whitman’s most famous poems. The story takes place on a boat, where a crew member reacts to the death of his captain after a victorious battle. The story is meant to symbolize Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. Where Lincoln died soon after the Civil War, the captain dies during the battle.
“The poem serves as an elegy to a beloved president” (Eiselein 1). The poem started by. appearing in newsletters nationwide to remember president Lincoln. “Whitman wrote the poem because he felt it had an emotional and historical purpose” (Eiselein 1).
In O Captain! My Captain!, death is the most prominent theme. The death of the captain is seen especially in the lines “Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.” These lines are repeated three times in the poem to show the shock that the narrator feels when he sees that his captain is dead. It also symbolizes the nations shock after the death of president Lincoln after the Civil War.
O Captain! My Captain! is broken up into three different sections which tell a different part of the Civil War. The first section details the Civil War towards the end of the war as seen when Whitman writes “The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,”. The second section details the very end of the Civil War shown in “Rise up — for you the flag is flung — for you the bugle trills,”. The third section details the death of Lincoln described with “My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,”. All this contributes to Lincoln’s elegy in a way that could appeal to the nation, and it did. “O Captain! My Captain! was Whitman’s most successful attempt to reach a national audience” (Eiselein 1).
“Whitman’s Song of Myself is dominating in both its length, and in its brilliant display of Whitman’s innovative techniques and original themes” (Miller 1). Whitman praises himself for his writing and personality being unique to him. The poem is broken up into many different sections, and each section talks about different subjects pertaining to Whitman himself.
“Song of Myself portrays Whitman’s poetic birth” (Miller 1). The theme of the poem is individualism and the style is free verse. Throughout the whole poem, Whitman talks about himself. Whitman talks about how he is so unique and different in his poetry, which shows the main characteristics of individualism.
Whitman may be known for only his poetry, but he has left behind much more. Whitman is seen as one of the great American poets for his work. He is the “Father of free verse”, and is viewed as a strong influence for American poets. Whitman’s true legacy however is in Leaves of Grass, where Whitman’s heart and soul are given to the reader. Leaves of Grass is considered a masterpiece by some because of its themes, styles, and progressive messages. Whitman is much more than a poet. Whitman was an icon in his craft and an outspoken individual.
Works Cited
- Griswold, Rufus W. ‘Review of Leaves of Grass.’ Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, edited by Laurie Lanzen Harris and Sheila Fitzgerald, vol. 4, Gale, 1983. Literature Criticism Online, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/DTXLSZ226186062/LCO?u=mine50969&sid=LCO&xid=ffd364d5. Originally published in New York Criterion, 10 Nov. 1855.
- Borges, Jorge Luis. “Walt Whitman: Man and Myth.” Critical Inquiry, vol. 1, no. 4, 1975, pp. 707–718., www.jstor.org/stable/1342843.
- Black, Stephen A. “Leaves of Grass” Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, edited by J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings, eds, New York: Garland Publishing, 1998. https://whitmanarchive.org/criticism/current/encyclopedia/entry_29.html
- Eiselein, Gregory. “O Captain! My Captain!” Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, edited by J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings, eds, New York: Garland Publishing, 1998. https://whitmanarchive.org/criticism/current/encyclopedia/entry_40.html
- Miller, James E., Jr. “Song of Myself” Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, edited by J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings, eds, New York: Garland Publishing, 1998. https://whitmanarchive.org/criticism/current/encyclopedia/entry_52.html
