November 12th, 2009:

So for those who aren’t familiar with No Shave November, it is the celebration of Awesomeness that is Gentleman Beardery. All who can grow beards are invited to celebrate, be they grizzly or grizzle-impaired. And while celebrating for leisure is fully acceptable, members are encouraged to make the most out of No Shave November by dedicating their beard to a cause, or getting sponsored for their beard growth. It is with that in mind that I dedicate this No Shave November beard to the Looking For Whitman Project.

Grow Forth.

So now when people ask me why I haven’t shaved in forever, or make mention of my amazing feat of bearditude, I’ll regale them of the tale of the Looking For Whitman Project.

This, of course, makes total sense seeing how Whitman totally rocked the beard and is probably the beardiest poet in American history.

LINKS!

Beards.org

No Shave November, the month between Octobeard and MaBeGroMo.

The Beard FAQ

Music to Grow Beards By

The Good Sir Dyers Attempts to Grow All 35 Recognized Beard Types

I chose to look at the poem My 71st Year. I liked this one a lot because Whitman seems to bring the War theme of his poetry full circle with his life. He describes himself as living three score and ten, which is seventy years. In saying that it seems to have a formal, military-like feel to it. He goes on to lament the things he’s experienced in his life, but I found it curious that he mentions “chances, changes, losses and sorrows”. Already the poem has a melancholy feel to it. It seems as though the sadness that accompanies war is also parallel with his life. He does not mention triumphs or victories; only “changes, losses, and sorrows”

This tone continues in the next line with him mentioning his parents deaths and the war. The one thing that might be positive in this line he turns into a negative by saying the “tearing passions of me”. This made me feel as though he were pulled apart by his passions and the things that made his poetry great. His passions are what set him apart from the norm and it seems here as though he were regretting that because society felt it was perverse.

In the next few lines he compares himself to a soldier, which obviously brings that war theme home. He’s comparing his life to a soldiers journey home from war. He is weak and tired, yet he still answers to his role call and salutes his officer. I really liked the last line because it gave the poem a last feeling of optimism. I felt as though he were regretting his life’s work in the beginning of the poem. However, in this last line, when he “salutes”, it feels like he is proud of his life and what he has done with it.

I chose to look at the poem My 71st Year. I liked this one a lot because Whitman seems to bring the War theme of his poetry full circle with his life. He describes himself as living three score and ten, which is seventy years. In saying that it seems to have a formal, military-like feel to it. He goes on to lament the things he’s experienced in his life, but I found it curious that he mentions “chances, changes, losses and sorrows”. Already the poem has a melancholy feel to it. It seems as though the sadness that accompanies war is also parallel with his life. He does not mention triumphs or victories; only “changes, losses, and sorrows”

This tone continues in the next line with him mentioning his parents deaths and the war. The one thing that might be positive in this line he turns into a negative by saying the “tearing passions of me”. This made me feel as though he were pulled apart by his passions and the things that made his poetry great. His passions are what set him apart from the norm and it seems here as though he were regretting that because society felt it was perverse.

In the next few lines he compares himself to a soldier, which obviously brings that war theme home. He’s comparing his life to a soldiers journey home from war. He is weak and tired, yet he still answers to his role call and salutes his officer. I really liked the last line because it gave the poem a last feeling of optimism. I felt as though he were regretting his life’s work in the beginning of the poem. However, in this last line, when he “salutes”, it feels like he is proud of his life and what he has done with it.

After having discussed the phrenological term “adhesiveness” this Saturday during our class, used to refer to the attachment between men, the word “comrade” caught my attention while I was reading “In Paths Untrodden” from the “Calamus” cluster. “Adhesiveness” and “comrade” evoke at first “sticky or gluey” and “a companion or a member of the Communist Party”, respectively, however both bearing a hidden connotation. Notably, taking into consideration that “Calamus” takes its name from an herb with pointy, narrow leaves which shape is suggestive of an erect phallus, that the poems in the “Calamus” cluster are held together by the sentiment of “male bonding” or “manly attachment”, that the title of this poem is very suggestive (“paths untrodden”), we start seeing the word “comrade” in a different light. Isn’t it beautiful to reveal layer by layer all what words comprise? I looked up the word “comrade” and this is what I found:

1. Middle French camarade group of soldiers sleeping in one room, roommate, companion;

2. One that shares the same sleeping quarters as another;

2.a. One that shares the same fortunes or experiences as another: intimate friend;

2.b. Companion

2.c. Comrade-in-arms (his fallen comrades)

3. Communist

I was intrigued by an image denoting something military, obedient to rules and commands, a strict pro-regime system,  but also denoting love, intimacy, devotion, affection and sharing, all along paths untrodden, forbidden, disdained and unaccepted.

WORKS CITED:

“comrade” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary Unabridged. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster Inc., 1993.

Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass: First and “Death-Bed” Editions. New York: Barnes& Noble Books, 2004.