Comments on: WASHINGTON’S MONUMENT, FEBRUARY, 1885

By: jillians

jillians — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:51:47 +0000

I cannot figure out how to edit…but it should be noted that my quote was found on page 105 in “Gathering of Forces” which I accidentally left out in the last post.

By: jillians

jillians — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:50:23 +0000

Whitman Walt. “Gathering of Forces” Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1847.

By: jillians

jillians — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:42:52 +0000

VENERABLE:
1. made sacred especially by religious or historical association
2. calling forth respect through age, character, and attainments

By: jillians

jillians — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:48:17 +0000

This poem was originally published in 1885 as “Ah, Not This Granite Dead and Cold” but later as “Washington’s Monument, February, 1885.” Whitman felt as though Washington meant more than just a monument; he was a symbol of American Freedom that could be felt all over the world. Whitman once said after it had been erected that he felt it “meant something in the friendship of nations” and that was his greatest hope. This poem reflects this sentiment as Whitman describes his fondness for Washington. He makes clear though that no monument can truly signify all the characteristics that were Washington’s. The true monument, as Whitman states at the end of the poem, is wherever one finds their toleration for others and freedom for thyself.