Archive for September, 2009

Jennifer E. for Sept 29

September 29th, 2009 -- Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

I sing the Body Electric

 

I sing the body electric, 

The armies of those I love engirth me and I engirth them, 

They will not let me off till I go with them, respond to them, 

And corrupt them, and charge them full with the charge

     of the soul. 

Was it doubted that those who corrupt their own bodies 

    conceal themselves?

And if those who defile the living are as bad as they who defile the dead?

And if the body does no do full as much as the soul?

And if the body were not the soul, what is the soul?

 

I chose this section because I love how Whitman links all men and woman as children of Adam. This way Whitman says that no one should convict another. “Those who defile the living are as bad as those who defile the dead?” People who are considered criminals, felons, and most sinful are put in the same category as those who outcasts people and thinks they are better than them.  Whitman even puts himself on a pedestal and say he will “discorrupt them” and make them in other words feel immoral.  This way he will show that no one is better than the other and all men is created equal.

 

 

O my body! I dare desert the likes of you in other men

and women, nor the likes of the parts of you,

I believe the likes of you are to stand or fall with the likes of

      the soul , (and that they are soul,)

I believe the likes of you shall stand or fall with my poems,

and that they are my poems,

Man’s, woman’s, child’s, youth’s, wife’s, husband’s,

mother’s, father’s, young man’s, young woman’s poems,

Head, neck, hair, ears, drop and tympan of the ears,

Eyes, eye-fringes iris of the eye, eyebrows, and the waking

or sleeping of the lids.

 

Then in this part of “Children of Adam”, Whitman uses a lot of imagery describing human beings by describing the beauty of the human physique to compare their equality. This is a more darker and upfront Whitman because he is combining things such as wife and lips and husband and wife. Later, although I did not post it, Whitman goes more indepth by discussing  jaw hinges and to even the throats of people. At the same time, to the readers of the time period this poem can seem very disturbing and inappropriate because not only does he discuss human equality as a whole, he brings in sexuality and physical characteristics to discusss equality. I can not get over how dark this is due to the fact that Whitman has not gone to such a level as to speak about the “unspeakable”. However, Whitman’s message is coming across because he is showing that we all have the same physical features overall , whether it be an eyebrow or fingers, or even lips.

Jennifer E. For Sept 22

September 24th, 2009 -- Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
“Is it wonderful that I should be immortal?
As every one is immortal, I know it is wonderful; but
my eyesight is equally wonderful, and how I was
conceived in my mother’s womb is equally wonderful.
And how I was not palpable once but am now, and was born
on the last day of May 1819, and passed from a babe
in the creeping trance of three summers and three
winters to articulate and walk, are all equally wonderful.
And that I grew six feet high, and that I have become a
man thirty-six years old in 1855, and that I am here
anyhow,are all equally wonderful.”
Whitman continues to be an advocator for freedom and equality. His works from “Leaves of Grass” shows how much he cares for the social issues in his time and speak out. I like these lines because Whitman demonstrates his ever-flowing love for life. He says everyone is immortal and that they should be remembered. Besides that, he says everyone is equal and basically are beautiful in their own way. What is trully interesting from these lines is that he talks about the time in which he could not speak then can speak. Also, it is great to see the poet who loves himself is humble to be alive at age 36.
“I have said that the soul is not more than the body,
And I have said that the body is not more than the soul…
And there is no trade or employment but young man following it,
may become a hero…
The past and present wilt–I have fill’d them, emptied them
And proceed to fill my my next fold of the future…
Do I contradict myself
Very well I contradict myself”
I chose these lines as well because I want to demonstrate the pattern Whitman likes to use in his poetry. Constantly, he likes to use time to show the extremes of the poems by speaking past and future tense to show how much change has occurred. For example if you analyze the first set of lines in this entry Whitman says, “how I was not palpable once but am now” This shows that Whitman had some type of change occur to him. The ability of him being able to speak demonstrates him growing into himself or better yet becoming a man. However, this is seen again as Whitman speaks about a young man, maybe one day turning into a hero. With Whitman, it is always about what could happen and what the future might hold and overall what anyone could be. And better yet, I like how Whitman knows he contradicts himself but that makes him the ‘I don’t care poet’ that he is.

Image Gloss

September 17th, 2009 -- Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

“I saw the marriage of the trapper(fur trader) in the open air in the far west,
the bride was a red girl,
Her father and his friends sat near cross-legged and dumbly smoking,
they had moccasins to their feet and large thick blankets
hanging from their shoulders,
On a bank lounged the trapper, he was drest mostly in skins, his
luxuriant beard and curls protected his neck, he held his bride
by the hand,
She had long eyelashes, her head was bare, her coarse straight locks
descended upon her voluptuous limbs and reach’d to her
feet.

 

I chose this piece because since there were no  highways during this time period trappers traveled across the unwandered parts of the United States and made money/survived by trading with the Indians. I think this is very significant because Whitman speaks about American standards and this time period represents the ability for America to expand its boundaries and find new ways to achieve great things. Besides that, the trapper’s union with the “red” indian girl symbolized somewhat of a peace between the natives and the American; which is something that gives hope.

Jennifer E for Sept 17

September 16th, 2009 -- Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

As I was continuing my reading of Song of Myself I realize how much Whitman is one with nature. His personification of the nature demonstrates his appreciation of natural freedom. Many believe that Whitman is a cocky old man who only cares about himself but I think he just loves himself too much. This way. no one can cloud what he believes in. 

                            “I celebrate myself,

                           And what I assume, you shall assume,

                          For every atom belonging to me as good as it belongs to you

                          I loafe and invite my soul

 

I can not get over the fact that this man who is from a time where people that are different are outcasted. The fact he is writing the things that he is writing proves that he does not care what others say off him. 

                                 “Who need be afraid of the merge?

                            I lift the gauze and look a long time, and silently brush

                           away flies with my hand

 

But regardless, I love how Whitman can put himself on a high pedestal to a low one. He does not think he is better than anyone but at the same time he understands what he is worth. He truly is a poet of democracy. 

                     I am of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise,

                       regardless of others, ever regardful of others,

                      Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man,

                      Stuffed with the stuff that is coarse, and stuffed with the stuff that is fine

 

This quote here demonstrates truly the character of Whitman. He is a friend to all  and considers himself to be part of the best or the worst. 


Jennifer E for Sept 10

September 8th, 2009 -- Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

I do not know even where to being. In school and my early college years I took english and concentrated english genre classes, but did not truly study the rhetoric of Whitman. His writings are very influential and can be applied today and even can be projected to the times of the 1960s.  He is so much more than a poet, he is a “freedom writer”. His wit and eloquence battles the foes of his generation, and embodies his wishes for the furture generations to come. So far my first impressions of whitman is a man who is more than a poet, but truly a man that believes in the so sought after American dream.

I just started my reading and I am in pure shock. The fact that this writing is coming from a time before civil rights astonishes me because it addresses issues of equality and American standards. Continuously Whitman speaks about a new age where “men shall be his own priest” and the “churches built under…shall be the churches of men and women.” Whitman, specifically inserts that mood that he is not only talking about a liberty for men but for women as well.  Historically, men of that time period did not include women as heirs to freedom. Women’s roles were to tend to the children and watch over the house. I believe it is safe to say, knowing that this was written in 1855, that Whitman is a man before his time.  Beyond that, Whitman states that Americans can not over look this natural right of freedom. “No great literature nor any like style of behaviour…can long elude the jealous and passionate instinct of American standards.” What I like mostly is Whitman’s boldness. He has the audacity to state that this is “America’s standards”. By saying that, Whitman is including the entire nation regardless if they agree or not. Other than that, Whitman separates the poor from the wealthy. He says that a true poet knows that a man who put his life at risk did a lot worth mentioning, but a man who lives a long life did nothing worth mentioning. Overall, Whitman erases the mindset of his generation and replaces it “with a superior breed”.

Like Whitman says best:

“An individual is as superb as a nation when he has the qualities which make a superb nation…There is no fear of mistake…The proof of a poet is that his country absorbs him as affectionately as he has absorbed it.”

Song of Myself- Jennifer Estrada 09-10-2009

September 7th, 2009 -- Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

IMG_0990

 

Hi, my name is Jennifer and these are my favorite lines of song of myself

Vivas to those who have fail’d!
And to those whose war-vessels sank in the sea!
And to those themselves who sank in the sea!
And to all generals that lost engagements, and all overcome heroes!
And the numberless unknown heroes equal to the greatest heroes known!
This is the meal equally set, this the meat for natural hunger,
It is for the wicked just same as the righteous, I make appointments
with all,
I will not have a single person slighted or left away,
The kept-woman, sponger, thief, are hereby invited,
The heavy-lipp’d slave is invited, the venerealee is invited;
There shall be no difference between them and the rest.

I chose these lines because they cherish those who made mistakes or who were not always the winners. As you can see, Whitman remembers by saying “vivas” or in Spanish is a word of tribute, for fallen heroes, soldiers, and those that have died in war. This is something that stands out to me because usually people who win are cherished in society. Also, I appreciate being a minority myself, that he believes in equality. It is as though he is a man ahead of his time since he is from the time  before civil rights. Overall, these lines demonstrate his humility and caring for others.

Hello world!

September 3rd, 2009 -- Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Welcome to Looking for Whitman. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Hello Whitman Lovers

September 3rd, 2009 -- Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

I just wanted to to say hi to my fellow bloggers :)

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