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I will not have a single person slighted or left away, The keptwoman and sponger and thief are hereby invited . . . . the heavy-lipped slave is invited . . . . the veneralee is invited, There shall be no difference between them and the rest. (Whitman 44) ~*~*~*~*~ After looking through a couple of variations of “kept woman” […] […] scrofula Did you fear some scrofula out of the unflagging pregnancy? p.48 “Song of Myself”. “Scrofula” (AKA King’s Evil) historically referred to a type of tuberculosis that affects the lymph glands of the neck. Today there is disagreement among medical professionals about its relationship to tuberculosis. The word is adapted from the latin scrofa meaning “female swine”, […] […] “And I know that the spirit of God is the eldest brother of my own, And that all the men ever born are also my brothers . . . . and the women my sisters and lovers, And that a kelson of the creation is love; ” (Whitman 83-86). 1. a. A line of timber […] […] “Whimpering and truckling fold with powders for invalids …conformity goes to the fourth-removed, I cock my hat as I please indoors or out” Truckling is defined by Merriam Webster as a verb meaning “to act in a subservient manner”. Here Whitman is throwing a challenge out to an unknown competitor. Within these short three lines […] […] My ties and ballasts leave me . . . . I travel . . . . I sail . . . . my elbows rest in the sea-gaps, I skirt the sierras . . . . my palms cover continents, I am afoot with my vision. By the city’s quadrangular houses . . . . in […] […] The spinning-girl retreats and advances to the hum of the big wheel (pg 39) The OED defines a wheel as a circular frame or disc arranged to revolve on an axle and used to facilitate the motion of a vehicle or for various mechanical purposes. When reading Whitman’s line, I am thinking of the wheel […] […] Lithographing Kronos, Zeus his son, and Hercules his grandson, Buying drafts of Osiris, Isis, Belus, Brahma, Buddha, In my portfolio placing Manito loose, Allah on a leaf, the crucifix engraved, With Odin and the hideous-faced Mexitli and every idol and image, Taking them all for what they are worth and not a cent more, Admitting […] […] “The camera and plate are prepared, the lady must sit for her daguerreotype, …” (41) ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ daguerreotype, n 1. One of the earliest photographic processes, first published by Daguerre of Paris in 1839, in which the impression was taken upon a silver plate sensitized by iodine, and then developed by exposure to the vapour of mercury. b. The […] […] Whitman uses the term hieroglyphic once in “Song of Myself” in a section where he is examining the blade of grass. The Merriam Webster Dictionary presents two distinct definitions for the term: “Of, relating to, or being a system of writing, such as that of ancient Egypt, in which pictorial symbols are used to represent […] […] “The pilot seizes the king-pin, he heaves down with a strong arm.” Page 39 The cultural meaning of this statement in Whitman’s time would be referring to the operation of a ship. The pilot is the person driving the ship and the king-pin is the device he uses to steer it. Whitman wrote […] […] |