Imagery And Symbolism In Walt Whitman's 'To A Stranger'

One of the most famous works that Walt Whitman published is called Song of Myself. In this poem he celebrates life and himself. He talks about nature, and how much he loves the world. He explains that everything in this world just fits in so perfectly.

Whitman continues this story by writing: “How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself, In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, Look’d up in

It was an autobiography of sorts, a written account of “Whitman openly [expressing] his feelings, raising the eyebrows of people who thought only women should discuss such emotions” (Walt Whitman). This shows that Romanticism embraced emotions, disregarding the gender of who embraced

Walt Whitman, full name Walter, was not a fancy or gaudy man, he had many modest jobs as a young man. He was also quite generous as he rarely kept extra money. He had barely enough to survive, the rest was given to what he considered a better cause. Whitman wrote about what he wanted to, he did not let other people’s opinions about what he wrote sway him in any way. He was a multi-talented man, being successful in areas of writing ranging from journalism to poetry, he had many published works in both genres.

In 1855, he published his much celebrated yet controversial collection of poems, named ‘Leaves of Grass’. Serve as a spokesman, this book highlights Whitman’s strong belief regarding the uniqueness and importance of an individual. His this collection includes famous poems like I Sing the Body Electric (1867), Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking (1860), When Lilac Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d (1865), and Song of Myself (1891-1892) that is regarded as the ‘reflection of his poetic

Walt Whitman, vastly considered as one of the most influential poets of American literature, often expressed his emotions and opinions about key events in American history which occurred during his lifetime. One of such events was the assassination of the nation’s sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln. When news of Abraham Lincoln’s death reached Whitman, he had been preparing a volume of poems called “Drum-Taps.” However Whitman, who “was a great admirer of Lincoln, whom he felt embodied the American virtues of plain-spokenness, courage, and ‘horse-sense’” (Library of Congress), made the decision to switch gears and write a collection of poems concerning the tragedy that was the death of President Lincoln.

The poem expresses how he “swallowed the pain over and over to slumber in the field of her, without wake. Just dreaming,” of how his life would be without her, “… too incomplete.” Through this poem, the author indicates that love is a journey of pain that requires patience and

He makes historical references to slavery, in stanza 15 he says “The quadroon girl is sold at the auction-stand, the drunkard nods by the bar-room stove”. In stanza 38, he makes a philosophical reference to the crucifixion of Jesus Crist, “That I could look with a separate look on my own crucifixion and bloody crowning”. Another historical reference, Whitman makes is to the Mexican-American war in stanza 34, “Tis the tale of the murder in cold blood of four hundred and twelve young men”. In stanzas 41 and 42 he makes references towards world religions, including; Greek myth, Islam, Christianity, Native American Religions, Puritanism, Hinduism, etc. Whitman uses many other references like Emerson, The Alamo, Mount Vernon, and others.

Dear Mrs. Freel, January 31, 2017 Walt Whitman is an American poet and journalist who lived during the mid to late 19th century. He wrote from a different view than the norm during that time period. One of the most famous works of Whitman might be “O Captain! My Captain!” which was a part of the Dead Poet’s Society.

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself “And what I assume you shall assume, “For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” A groan escaped my lips as Mary’s polished voice began to recite the first three lines of Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself. She had almost the entire poem memorized, and would begin to quote certain lines when they pertained to a situation, or when she was just trying to annoy me. She fell in love with the poem when she was in the eighth grade after doing some American poet project for her English class.

" These powerful words allowed Whitman to reflect on what he has gone through in life. For instance, in his original works, Whitman speaks about life in general but in his 1892 version, he captivates readers by being open and honest of what happened in his life (Poetry and Prose). All his work represents leaves as a metaphor for the growth of his journey of life. Originally, Whitman started with twelve poems that reflected is early understandings of life that began his breakthrough in poetry (The Walt Whitman Archive). As a result, Whitman created a compendium containing close to 400 poems that uniquely describe his life, hardships of life, love, mind, body, soul, and spirit.

The poem talks about how Whitman celebrates himself and his love for nature. In the poem, Whitman implies that everyone is equal and that people should not fear but appreciate nature. In the poem, he shows a dislike of self-righteous judgements. At the end of the poem, he talks about being one with nature. This is one of Whitman’s most popular poems and is liked for the statements made in it.

As people immerse themselves into Whitman’s poetry, they are able to identify certain literary techniques and commonalities in the subject matter. Moreover, Whitman’s implementation of nontraditional ideas which many poets during his time were afraid to use gives his work even more specialty. The style by which Whitman addressed his thoughts and feelings assembled his poetry into a gem which the nation had never witnessed before. Whitman’s poetry is representative of the individual self. In most instances, this individual is Whitman himself.

He also says every atom that makes his body are also the ones that make your body. He’s saying that he is just the much the same as anyone as anyone could be. Then he says that the grass can be a hieroglyphic and it’s with white living among black and he gives the same he receives the same. Through all of Whitman's verses he talks about how a individual is no different

He says that he is hungry but actually shopping for images for his poems and dreams of the "enumerations" or numbering or listing of things which Whitman used all the time. Then he states, “I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber, poking among the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery boys. I heard you asking questions of each? Who killed the pork chops? What price bananas?