O DROPS of me! trickle, slow drops,

O DROPS of me! trickle, slow drops,

This poem first grabbed my attention with Whitman’s use of Not at the beginning of each line, and ending the poem with a line that starts with the powerful word Need. While reading it (and re-reading it numerous times) I stumbled upon a word which we mentioned several times in our class session. Adhesiveness is referred in this poem as the pulse of the poets life. Being that he did not know how to give name to his feelings he borrowed a word from phrenology denoting same-sex friendships.

I went to the Merriam-Webster’s Online dictionary and found the term adhesiveness which, of course, has to do more with adhesive tape than with same-sex love.

This is a very powerful poem in which Whitman shows his dissatisfaction with the American non-tolerant society and his difficulty to express his new-found way of loving people.

P.S. I am not quite sure why there isn’t a copy of the manuscript page of this poem in the Barrett Manuscripts. If anyone manages to find one, be sure to “link me”. Thanks.

This poem first grabbed my attention with Whitman’s use of Not at the beginning of each line, and ending the poem with a line that starts with the powerful word Need. While reading it (and re-reading it numerous times) I stumbled upon a word which we mentioned several times in our class session. Adhesiveness is referred in this poem as the pulse of the poets life. Being that he did not know how to give name to his feelings he borrowed a word from phrenology denoting same-sex friendships.

I went to the Merriam-Webster’s Online dictionary and found the term adhesiveness which, of course, has to do more with adhesive tape than with same-sex love.

This is a very powerful poem in which Whitman shows his dissatisfaction with the American non-tolerant society and his difficulty to express his new-found way of loving people.

P.S. I am not quite sure why there isn’t a copy of the manuscript page of this poem in the Barrett Manuscripts. If anyone manages to find one, be sure to “link me”. Thanks.

According to the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, the live oak is any of several American evergreen oaks noted for its extremely hard tough durable wood. You could say that it’s a powerful symbol of strength and you wouldn’t be mistaken. But if I asked someone from Texas what live oak means to him, I would probably get an answer: “Beer!”

Since most people from Serbia are not acquainted to the finest beers of the North American continent, an average Serbian would just shrug his shoulders to the same question. What was interesting for me was the fact that it is not like any oak I have ever seen around here. Its massive structure is impressing, but what is even more interesting is the moss growing on the trees giving them a striking appearance.

(Ancient live oak trees in Georgia)

“I saw in Louisiana a live-oak growing,

All alone stood it and the moss hung down from the branches,

Without any companion it grew there uttering joyous leaves of dark green,

And its look, rude, unbending, lusty, made me think of myself,

But I wonder’d how it could utter joyous leaves standing alone there without its lover near—for I knew I could not.

And I broke off a twig with a certain number of leaves upon it, and twined around it a little moss,

And brought it away—and I have placed it in sight in my room,

It is not needed to remind me as of my own dear friends,

(For I believe lately I think of little else than of them,)

Yet it remains to me a curious token—it makes me think of manly love;

For all that, and though the live-oak glistens there in Louisiana solitary in a wide flat space,

Uttering joyous leaves all its life without a friend, a lover near,

I know very well I could not.”

(Calamus, 1860)

Whitman speaks of a tree that is alone, solitary, isolated in Louisiana without a lover near.  There lies a different, more homoerotic aspect behind the lines, besides mere solitude. He mentions that the oak reminds him of manly love, of a person who is waiting for his lover and even the branches look rude and lusty to him. Indicative enough…

According to the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, the live oak is any of several American evergreen oaks noted for its extremely hard tough durable wood. You could say that it’s a powerful symbol of strength and you wouldn’t be mistaken. But if I asked someone from Texas what live oak means to him, I would probably get an answer: “Beer!”

Since most people from Serbia are not acquainted to the finest beers of the North American continent, an average Serbian would just shrug his shoulders to the same question. What was interesting for me was the fact that it is not like any oak I have ever seen around here. Its massive structure is impressing, but what is even more interesting is the moss growing on the trees giving them a striking appearance.

(Ancient live oak trees in Georgia)

“I saw in Louisiana a live-oak growing,

All alone stood it and the moss hung down from the branches,

Without any companion it grew there uttering joyous leaves of dark green,

And its look, rude, unbending, lusty, made me think of myself,

But I wonder’d how it could utter joyous leaves standing alone there without its lover near—for I knew I could not.

And I broke off a twig with a certain number of leaves upon it, and twined around it a little moss,

And brought it away—and I have placed it in sight in my room,

It is not needed to remind me as of my own dear friends,

(For I believe lately I think of little else than of them,)

Yet it remains to me a curious token—it makes me think of manly love;

For all that, and though the live-oak glistens there in Louisiana solitary in a wide flat space,

Uttering joyous leaves all its life without a friend, a lover near,

I know very well I could not.”

(Calamus, 1860)

Whitman speaks of a tree that is alone, solitary, isolated in Louisiana without a lover near.  There lies a different, more homoerotic aspect behind the lines, besides mere solitude. He mentions that the oak reminds him of manly love, of a person who is waiting for his lover and even the branches look rude and lusty to him. Indicative enough…

According to the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, the live oak is any of several American evergreen oaks noted for its extremely hard tough durable wood. You could say that it’s a powerful symbol of strength and you wouldn’t be mistaken. But if I asked someone from Texas what live oak means to him, I would probably get an answer: “Beer!”

Since most people from Serbia are not acquainted to the finest beers of the North American continent, an average Serbian would just shrug his shoulders to the same question. What was interesting for me was the fact that it is not like any oak I have ever seen around here. Its massive structure is impressing, but what is even more interesting is the moss growing on the trees giving them a striking appearance.

(Ancient live oak trees in Georgia)

“I saw in Louisiana a live-oak growing,

All alone stood it and the moss hung down from the branches,

Without any companion it grew there uttering joyous leaves of dark green,

And its look, rude, unbending, lusty, made me think of myself,

But I wonder’d how it could utter joyous leaves standing alone there without its lover near—for I knew I could not.

And I broke off a twig with a certain number of leaves upon it, and twined around it a little moss,

And brought it away—and I have placed it in sight in my room,

It is not needed to remind me as of my own dear friends,

(For I believe lately I think of little else than of them,)

Yet it remains to me a curious token—it makes me think of manly love;

For all that, and though the live-oak glistens there in Louisiana solitary in a wide flat space,

Uttering joyous leaves all its life without a friend, a lover near,

I know very well I could not.”

(Calamus, 1860)

Whitman speaks of a tree that is alone, solitary, isolated in Louisiana without a lover near.  There lies a different, more homoerotic aspect behind the lines, besides mere solitude. He mentions that the oak reminds him of manly love, of a person who is waiting for his lover and even the branches look rude and lusty to him. Indicative enough…

According to the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, the live oak is any of several American evergreen oaks noted for its extremely hard tough durable wood. You could say that it’s a powerful symbol of strength and you wouldn’t be mistaken. But if I asked someone from Texas what live oak means to him, I would probably get an answer: “Beer!”

Since most people from Serbia are not acquainted to the finest beers of the North American continent, an average Serbian would just shrug his shoulders to the same question. What was interesting for me was the fact that it is not like any oak I have ever seen around here. Its massive structure is impressing, but what is even more interesting is the moss growing on the trees giving them a striking appearance.

(Ancient live oak trees in Georgia)

“I saw in Louisiana a live-oak growing,

All alone stood it and the moss hung down from the branches,

Without any companion it grew there uttering joyous leaves of dark green,

And its look, rude, unbending, lusty, made me think of myself,

But I wonder’d how it could utter joyous leaves standing alone there without its lover near—for I knew I could not.

And I broke off a twig with a certain number of leaves upon it, and twined around it a little moss,

And brought it away—and I have placed it in sight in my room,

It is not needed to remind me as of my own dear friends,

(For I believe lately I think of little else than of them,)

Yet it remains to me a curious token—it makes me think of manly love;

For all that, and though the live-oak glistens there in Louisiana solitary in a wide flat space,

Uttering joyous leaves all its life without a friend, a lover near,

I know very well I could not.”

(Calamus, 1860)

Whitman speaks of a tree that is alone, solitary, isolated in Louisiana without a lover near.  There lies a different, more homoerotic aspect behind the lines, besides mere solitude. He mentions that the oak reminds him of manly love, of a person who is waiting for his lover and even the branches look rude and lusty to him. Indicative enough…

IN paths untrodden, 

In the growth by margins of pond-waters, 

Escaped from the life that exhibits itself, 

From all the standards hitherto published—from

         the pleasures, profits, conformities,

(Calamus, 1860)

Here, of all words I have highlighted one that is by no means unusual or unknown to me, and it was completely in its place to me when I first read the poem. Indeed, the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English provides the following definition of the word margin:

Margin – technical or literary – the edge of something, especially an area of land or water

This definition of the word margin fits the context of the poem perfectly and gives no reason to ponder over the possibility of some deeper, hidden meaning of the word. Still, something was a bit awkward about that particular choice of words that made me push my way a little deeper in the word itself. Therefore, I wondered, apart from the very clear and appropriate denotation of the word in question, which connotation of the same word can be applied to the same context to produce just as legitimate interpretation, and several ideas emerged.

Firstly, the word margin can have a very strong negative connotation as in social marginalization, and if read this way, the poem acquires a new level of reading which made sense, especially if we consider that the passage is from the Calamus 1, the first (introductory?) poem of the Calamus cluster, which was more than radical at the time it was published in 1860. Given that some poems of the Calamus are somewhat radical even today, 150 years later, it is justified to claim that Whitman himself was well aware that his poetry will be marginalized, that it will not be accepted nor understood for generations to come. Indeed, later throughout the Calamus poems, there exist several instances in which Whitman “speaks” of and to generations to come, and puts his faith in them (us?) to really read his poetry with much less prejudice and much more open-mindedness. I have tried to imagine what was it like for someone to write the poetry such as the Leaves of Grass in the mid nineteenth century, and I could not find a way how that someone could not be marginalized, how they could be properly understood by more than a dozen equally talented and equally misunderstood people.

Furthermore, thinking about this negative idea of margin, one another possibility came to my mind which is related with the previously discussed interpretation of the word. One of the basic meanings of the word margin is the blank space on one side of the paper where one can take notes. Now, if we expand and deepen this definition to fit the entire body of works of Walt Whitman, we might claim that the use of the word margin here indicates Whitman’s realization that when a new kind of poetry is to be born, and especially if it springs from a philosophical and moral system radically different from the existing one, it has no other place available to be written on than on margins of literature. And only after the supporting social and cultural systems change, the new poetry will be allowed to shift from margins to a more central position in literature. So could it be that Whitman was aware that his poetry will inevitably have to spend its share of time on the margin, but still carried on knowing that one day, just as inevitably, it will be appreciated by the multitudes?

These two interpretations of the word margin might be my reading in into the poem, but I still would like to provide one other proof of my readings of the poem. Namely, one other word used in the poem supports my readings – the word standards. These can be standards of what is considered good or appropriate by a society, supporting my first interpretation, but can also stand as the centre, as opposed to the margin, which is then consistent with my second interpretation. Then again, I could be completely wrong.

IN paths untrodden, 

In the growth by margins of pond-waters, 

Escaped from the life that exhibits itself, 

From all the standards hitherto published—from

         the pleasures, profits, conformities,

(Calamus, 1860)

Here, of all words I have highlighted one that is by no means unusual or unknown to me, and it was completely in its place to me when I first read the poem. Indeed, the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English provides the following definition of the word margin:

Margin – technical or literary – the edge of something, especially an area of land or water

This definition of the word margin fits the context of the poem perfectly and gives no reason to ponder over the possibility of some deeper, hidden meaning of the word. Still, something was a bit awkward about that particular choice of words that made me push my way a little deeper in the word itself. Therefore, I wondered, apart from the very clear and appropriate denotation of the word in question, which connotation of the same word can be applied to the same context to produce just as legitimate interpretation, and several ideas emerged.

Firstly, the word margin can have a very strong negative connotation as in social marginalization, and if read this way, the poem acquires a new level of reading which made sense, especially if we consider that the passage is from the Calamus 1, the first (introductory?) poem of the Calamus cluster, which was more than radical at the time it was published in 1860. Given that some poems of the Calamus are somewhat radical even today, 150 years later, it is justified to claim that Whitman himself was well aware that his poetry will be marginalized, that it will not be accepted nor understood for generations to come. Indeed, later throughout the Calamus poems, there exist several instances in which Whitman “speaks” of and to generations to come, and puts his faith in them (us?) to really read his poetry with much less prejudice and much more open-mindedness. I have tried to imagine what was it like for someone to write the poetry such as the Leaves of Grass in the mid nineteenth century, and I could not find a way how that someone could not be marginalized, how they could be properly understood by more than a dozen equally talented and equally misunderstood people.

Furthermore, thinking about this negative idea of margin, one another possibility came to my mind which is related with the previously discussed interpretation of the word. One of the basic meanings of the word margin is the blank space on one side of the paper where one can take notes. Now, if we expand and deepen this definition to fit the entire body of works of Walt Whitman, we might claim that the use of the word margin here indicates Whitman’s realization that when a new kind of poetry is to be born, and especially if it springs from a philosophical and moral system radically different from the existing one, it has no other place available to be written on than on margins of literature. And only after the supporting social and cultural systems change, the new poetry will be allowed to shift from margins to a more central position in literature. So could it be that Whitman was aware that his poetry will inevitably have to spend its share of time on the margin, but still carried on knowing that one day, just as inevitably, it will be appreciated by the multitudes?

These two interpretations of the word margin might be my reading in into the poem, but I still would like to provide one other proof of my readings of the poem. Namely, one other word used in the poem supports my readings – the word standards. These can be standards of what is considered good or appropriate by a society, supporting my first interpretation, but can also stand as the centre, as opposed to the margin, which is then consistent with my second interpretation. Then again, I could be completely wrong.

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.

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.

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” on the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), I was not successful. However, when I typed in “kept,” here is what showed up:

kept, ppl. a.

In various senses derived from KEEP v.; spec.    

1. a. Maintained or supported by a paramour. Also of a man or boy maintained or supported in a homosexual relationship.
b. Financially supported by, and in consequence under the private control of, interested persons.

 So what exactly is a kept woman?

According to thefreedictionary.com, a kept woman is “an adulterous woman; a woman who has an ongoing extramarital sexual relationship with a man” (”kept woman”). In other words, this individual is someone who smooches off another financially (most likely through a sexual relationship). Therefore, this goes back to definition b of the OED.

~*~*~*~*~

Most interestingly enough, I thought this was perfect for one of the readings we had to do for our class: “Woman as a Theme in Whitman’s Writing“. This article by Sherry Ceniza speaks about the different voices that spoke out during Whitman’s time through 19th century women’s perspectives. Some praised Whitman’s representation of women of “the new woman, the democratic woman” in his writings (Ceniza 797); however, a few criticized him for his “lack of representation of woman working outside the home” (Ceniza 798). Still,the author claims that during Whitman’s time, “[t]hough Whitman’s representation of women in his writing is not consistently in touch with contemporary feminism, it must be put into its historical perspective;” “it is difficult to view Whitman’s literary representation of women as anything but positive” (Ceniza 797). So far, my take on this is neutral. Though I agree with Ceniza in some aspects, on the other note, I can’t say wholeheartedly that Whitman wasn’t biased towards women in every line of his works. Often times, he does portray women with a condescending overtone using specific diction or descriptions of women. For instance, in the Children of Adam poems, “A Woman Waits for Me,” Whitman makes women sound like some sort of baby-machines.

 Then, going back to my image gloss of a kept woman, Whitman is saying that even kept women are valued as equals. “There shall be no difference between them and the rest”. But if you think about it, what made me curious was his linking of kept women with spongers, thiefs, and heavy-lipped slaves. Maybe I am reading too much into it, but what may have been Whitman’s intention of grouping these individuals together?

Here are some interesting things I found on the web:

Want to become a kept woman? Transform Me!

 

“kept woman.”  The Free Dictionary.  Princeton University, Farlex Inc.  2003-2008  <http://www.thefreedictionary.com/kept+woman>.

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” on the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), I was not successful. However, when I typed in “kept,” here is what showed up:

kept, ppl. a.

In various senses derived from KEEP v.; spec.    

1. a. Maintained or supported by a paramour. Also of a man or boy maintained or supported in a homosexual relationship.
b. Financially supported by, and in consequence under the private control of, interested persons.

 So what exactly is a kept woman?

According to thefreedictionary.com, a kept woman is “an adulterous woman; a woman who has an ongoing extramarital sexual relationship with a man” (”kept woman”). In other words, this individual is someone who smooches off another financially (most likely through a sexual relationship). Therefore, this goes back to definition b of the OED.

~*~*~*~*~

Most interestingly enough, I thought this was perfect for one of the readings we had to do for our class: “Woman as a Theme in Whitman’s Writing“. This article by Sherry Ceniza speaks about the different voices that spoke out during Whitman’s time through 19th century women’s perspectives. Some praised Whitman’s representation of women of “the new woman, the democratic woman” in his writings (Ceniza 797); however, a few criticized him for his “lack of representation of woman working outside the home” (Ceniza 798). Still,the author claims that during Whitman’s time, “[t]hough Whitman’s representation of women in his writing is not consistently in touch with contemporary feminism, it must be put into its historical perspective;” “it is difficult to view Whitman’s literary representation of women as anything but positive” (Ceniza 797). So far, my take on this is neutral. Though I agree with Ceniza in some aspects, on the other note, I can’t say wholeheartedly that Whitman wasn’t biased towards women in every line of his works. Often times, he does portray women with a condescending overtone using specific diction or descriptions of women. For instance, in the Children of Adam poems, “A Woman Waits for Me,” Whitman makes women sound like some sort of baby-machines.

 Then, going back to my image gloss of a kept woman, Whitman is saying that even kept women are valued as equals. “There shall be no difference between them and the rest”. But if you think about it, what made me curious was his linking of kept women with spongers, thiefs, and heavy-lipped slaves. Maybe I am reading too much into it, but what may have been Whitman’s intention of grouping these individuals together?

Here are some interesting things I found on the web:

Want to become a kept woman? Transform Me!

 

“kept woman.”  The Free Dictionary.  Princeton University, Farlex Inc.  2003-2008  <http://www.thefreedictionary.com/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”,  which was once thought to be the origin of the disease. In medieval times, scrofula was called the “King’s Evil.” It was believed that the touch of the King of France or England could the cure the disease. Scrofula was common in Whitman’s time but very rare today due to the near eradication of tuberculosis.

This is one of Whitman’s nastier lines and a welcome contrast to his universal warm and fuzzy side (he would have the loved “E”-popping rave culture of the early 1990s). It’s a rhetorical question in the vein of the Joker asking,  “have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?”  Its context in the poem is interesting and brings up more questions than answers. Did the mother fear getting scrofula or giving birth to scrofula? By scrofula, does he mean the disease or the sow from which it supposedly came?  Whitman’s having a little fun with this vagueness. I think this is an example of him being the poet of wickedness that he referred to earlier on the same page. But it fits into his universal vision—who we are and what we give birth to is all the same.

WORKS CITED

“scrofula” Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2009 <http://dictionary.oed.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/>.

Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself (1855).” Whitman Poetry & Prose. Library of America, 1996. 48.

Image : Absolute Astronomy collection, photographer, date unknown <http://images.absoluteastronomy.com/images/encyclopediaimages/s/sc/scrofula.jpg >.

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”,  which was once thought to be the origin of the disease. In medieval times, scrofula was called the “King’s Evil.” It was believed that the touch of the King of France or England could the cure the disease. Scrofula was common in Whitman’s time but very rare today due to the near eradication of tuberculosis.

This is one of Whitman’s nastier lines and a welcome contrast to his universal warm and fuzzy side (he would have the loved “E”-popping rave culture of the early 1990s). It’s a rhetorical question in the vein of the Joker asking,  “have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?”  Its context in the poem is interesting and brings up more questions than answers. Did the mother fear getting scrofula or giving birth to scrofula? By scrofula, does he mean the disease or the sow from which it supposedly came?  Whitman’s having a little fun with this vagueness. I think this is an example of him being the poet of wickedness that he referred to earlier on the same page. But it fits into his universal vision—who we are and what we give birth to is all the same.

WORKS CITED

“scrofula” Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2009 <http://dictionary.oed.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/>.

Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself (1855).” Whitman Poetry & Prose. Library of America, 1996. 48.

Image : Absolute Astronomy collection, photographer, date unknown <http://images.absoluteastronomy.com/images/encyclopediaimages/s/sc/scrofula.jpg >.

Walt Whitman may have confused many of his readers the first few times they’ve read his poems.  Considering his work was never meant to be read fast. I feel as if it was meant to be read slow and comprehensive. In “Song of Myself” he constantly switches roles between an advice giver, a very demanding person and a confused individual. Many times in the poem he makes himself feel higher than all gods possible. In the 19Th century the Church was the most powerful source. However, when Whitman was being the “advice giver” he told his reader and himself that they have to look at themselves as something higher than that. He took quite a risk writing those lined above in his poems but that was how he was able to get his message across. I chose this image because its a photo of a church in the 19Th century in Brooklyn Heights where Whitman grew up.

Walt Whitman may have confused many of his readers the first few times they’ve read his poems.  Considering his work was never meant to be read fast. I feel as if it was meant to be read slow and comprehensive. In “Song of Myself” he constantly switches roles between an advice giver, a very demanding person and a confused individual. Many times in the poem he makes himself feel higher than all gods possible. In the 19Th century the Church was the most powerful source. However, when Whitman was being the “advice giver” he told his reader and himself that they have to look at themselves as something higher than that. He took quite a risk writing those lined above in his poems but that was how he was able to get his message across. I chose this image because its a photo of a church in the 19Th century in Brooklyn Heights where Whitman grew up.

 “Only three guns were in use,

One was directed by the captain himself against the enemy’s

       mainmast,

Two well-served with grape and canister silenced his

       Musketry and cleared his decks.” (68)

 Walt makes many mentions of firearms and weaponry of his time in the mid-1800s. Arcane terms like “firelock” and “carbine” come to mind immediately. But I focus here on the sequence where Walt puts himself in the midst of naval battle and his brave little captain who, after a cannonade from the enemy puts their ship in shambles, stands tall and “serene” to return fire. The heroic unlikelihood of only three guns taking down another ship is glorious, and it helps to know what is meant by “grape and canister”.

Encyclopedia Britannica defines grapeshot as a “cannon charge consisting of small round balls, usually of lead or iron, and used primarily as an antipersonnel weapon. Typically, the small iron balls were held in clusters of three by iron rings and combined in three tiers by cast-iron plates and a central connecting rod. This assembly, which reminded gunners of a cluster of grapes (hence the name), broke up when the gun was fired, spread out in flight like a shotgun charge, and sprayed the target area. Grapeshot was widely used in wars of the 18th and 19th centuries at short range against massed troops.”

In Echoes of Glory: Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy, canister shot is described as “made for both smoothbore and rifled artillery…[it] consisted of a thin iron can containing lead or iron balls packed in sawdust. Unfailingly lethal at 350 yards or less, canister shot sprayed from the muzzle of a cannon like a monstrous shotgun blast.” Echoes of Glory also mentions that grapeshot had “larger iron balls [than canister shot] encased in cloth or in an iron frame” and “was used infrequently on the battlefield, but saw some action along the seacoast in larger-caliber guns—24-pounders and up.”

 So what we have are two short-range but horrifically deadly types of ammunition, indicating the fighting that took place between these combatant ships was chaotic and close. While—we’ll say for the sake of it—Walt’s ship was taking a beating with the enemy’s “eighteen-pound shots under the water,/On our lower gun-deck two large pieces had burst at the/ first fire, killing all around and blowing up overhead”. To me, this indicates the enemy’s artillery using a more conventional means of explosive ammunition.

 So with that, I’m going to go out on a limb. I think the scattered, spread out nature of canister and grape shot is analogous to Song of Myself as a work. In the 1850s readers of poetry would have been bombarded with conventional poetic structure: rhythm, rhyme, cadence, syllables, lines, feet, etc. Here was a clear-cut, direct hit of poetic typicality. But then enter Walt. Armed with a ferocious piece of work that appears chaotic, strewn across pages and pages with nary an anapest or tetrameter to be found, Song of Myself, too, is shot from a cannon and hits every single person within range with overwhelming force and devestation.

 “Only three guns were in use,

One was directed by the captain himself against the enemy’s

       mainmast,

Two well-served with grape and canister silenced his

       Musketry and cleared his decks.” (68)

 Walt makes many mentions of firearms and weaponry of his time in the mid-1800s. Arcane terms like “firelock” and “carbine” come to mind immediately. But I focus here on the sequence where Walt puts himself in the midst of naval battle and his brave little captain who, after a cannonade from the enemy puts their ship in shambles, stands tall and “serene” to return fire. The heroic unlikelihood of only three guns taking down another ship is glorious, and it helps to know what is meant by “grape and canister”.

Encyclopedia Britannica defines grapeshot as a “cannon charge consisting of small round balls, usually of lead or iron, and used primarily as an antipersonnel weapon. Typically, the small iron balls were held in clusters of three by iron rings and combined in three tiers by cast-iron plates and a central connecting rod. This assembly, which reminded gunners of a cluster of grapes (hence the name), broke up when the gun was fired, spread out in flight like a shotgun charge, and sprayed the target area. Grapeshot was widely used in wars of the 18th and 19th centuries at short range against massed troops.”

In Echoes of Glory: Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy, canister shot is described as “made for both smoothbore and rifled artillery…[it] consisted of a thin iron can containing lead or iron balls packed in sawdust. Unfailingly lethal at 350 yards or less, canister shot sprayed from the muzzle of a cannon like a monstrous shotgun blast.” Echoes of Glory also mentions that grapeshot had “larger iron balls [than canister shot] encased in cloth or in an iron frame” and “was used infrequently on the battlefield, but saw some action along the seacoast in larger-caliber guns—24-pounders and up.”

 So what we have are two short-range but horrifically deadly types of ammunition, indicating the fighting that took place between these combatant ships was chaotic and close. While—we’ll say for the sake of it—Walt’s ship was taking a beating with the enemy’s “eighteen-pound shots under the water,/On our lower gun-deck two large pieces had burst at the/ first fire, killing all around and blowing up overhead”. To me, this indicates the enemy’s artillery using a more conventional means of explosive ammunition.

 So with that, I’m going to go out on a limb. I think the scattered, spread out nature of canister and grape shot is analogous to Song of Myself as a work. In the 1850s readers of poetry would have been bombarded with conventional poetic structure: rhythm, rhyme, cadence, syllables, lines, feet, etc. Here was a clear-cut, direct hit of poetic typicality. But then enter Walt. Armed with a ferocious piece of work that appears chaotic, strewn across pages and pages with nary an anapest or tetrameter to be found, Song of Myself, too, is shot from a cannon and hits every single person within range with overwhelming force and devestation.

A male wood-duck or wood-drake

My tread scares the wood-drake and wood-duck on my distant and daylong ramble,
They rise together, they slowly circle around.
….I believe in those winged purposes,
And acknowledge the red yellow and white playing within me,
And consider the green and violet and the tufted crown intentional;

–Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (1855) p. 38

In the history of literature, birds often act as stand-ins for the figure of the poet. Whitman’s use of a wood-duck instead of a dove or raven marks an important choice for the tenor of his poem.

If a raven represents the mournful, misunderstood poet of Poe, Whitman’s wood-duck is the perfect representative for the liberated American.  Wood-ducks are present all over America’s lakes, rivers and wetlands, breeding in great numbers in Louisiana, Kentucky and the deep south.  Females and the general species are labeled wood-ducks, but the male of the species is nicknamed a wood-drake.  Whitman’s pair of male and female echoes the perfection of sexual union that he carries throughout the entirety of the poem.

Not only is the wood-duck important in its ubiquity, but the bright myriad of colors of the male’s plumage hearkens to the variety that exists in the American republic.  Whitman stresses that America encompasses men and women of many colors, all of which are equal under democratic rule.

Below is a caption from the Audubon Society’s website on the habit of wood-ducks:

On the ground the Wood Duck runs nimbly and with more grace than most other birds of its tribe. On reaching the shore of a pond or stream, it immediately shakes its tail sidewise, looks around, and proceeds in search of food. It moves on the larger branches of trees with the same apparent ease; and, while looking at thirty or forty of these birds perched on a single sycamore on the bank of a secluded bayou, I have conceived the sight as pleasing as any that I have ever enjoyed.

The closeness and apparent camaraderie of these birds lends them to occupy an ideal place in Whitman’s poetry–another symbol to break with European tradition and invent a distinctly American flavor to add to literary convention.

Cited Works

The Audubon Society.  The Wood Duck, Summer Duck.  http://www.audubon.org/bird/BoA/F39_G4g.html

my embouchures the loudest and gayest music to them (368).

In this line, Whitman uses a word I am unfamiliar with—embouchures.
By using context clues, I figured out that it must have something to do with music because almost every word in the line refers to music in some way.  As I read Whitman, or anyone else who uses an unfamiliar word, I go straight to the OED.  The following is the definitions taken directly from the OED:

1. The mouth of a river or creek. Also transf. the opening out of a valley into a plain.

1792 Fortn. Ramble xvi. 114 We reached the embouchure of the fall. 1812Examiner 14 Sept. 580/2 Near to the embouchier of Berezina. 1830 LYELL Princ. Geol. I. 238 The city Foah..so late as the beginning of the fifteenth century, was on this embouchure. 1856 STANLEY Sinai & Pal. II. i. 71 Huge cones of white clay and sand..guarding the embouchure of the valleys. 1868 G. DUFF Pol. Surv. 100It lies..at the embouchure of several rivers.

2. Music. ‘The part of a musical instrument applied to the mouth’ (Grove).

1834 M. SOMERVILLE Connex. Phys. S. xvii. (1849) 169 The embouchure of a flute. 1873 W. LEES Acoustics I. iii. 27 The air..is made to play upon the thin edge of the pipe at the embouchure C.

3. Music. ‘The disposition of the lips, tongue and other organs necessary for producing a musical tone’ (Grove).

1760 GOLDSM. Cit. W. xc, You see..I have got the ambusheer already [on the German flute]. 1879 GROVE Dict. Mus. I. 536 The second octave is produced by a stronger pressure of wind and an alteration of embouchure.

The first definition of the word has nothing to do with music, and did nothing to illuminate the line because it doesn’t fit any of the context clues—and makes no sense in the line.  The second and third definitions, however, are perfect for the line, making the line much clearer—“By blowing through a musical instrument, or whistling, I am going to create loud and happy music.”  If we extend this line to the others in the stanza, we get a musical send off for the dead, triumphant music in spite of their failings.

Here is a picture of someone using an embouchure to create music—“the loudest and gayest” perhaps:

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 placed inside a ship along the floor-timbers and parallel with the keel, to which it is bolted, so as to fasten the floor-timbers and the keel together; a similar bar or combination of iron plates in iron vessels.

b. With qualifying terms: assistant kelson or keelson = side-kelson; bilge-k., an additional strengthening beam placed fore-and-aft in the bilge of a vessel, parallel to the kelson; boiler-k., a bilge- or cross-kelson supporting the boilers of a steamer (Hamersly Naval Encycl. 1881); box-k., a kelson whose section is box-shaped; cross-k., a beam placed across the kelson to support the boilers or engines of a steamer (Webster, 1864); engine-k., a side- or cross-kelson supporting the engines in a steamer (Hamersly, 1881); false k., an additional beam placed longitudinally above the kelson in order to strengthen it

1942 R. H. LONGE in R. A. Beaumont Aeronaut. Engin. xviii. 486/1 The keelson..is the backbone of the hull [of a flying-boat], and runs the full length of the hull, from the stem or bow, to the stern-post.

This word, kelson, what does it mean, I wondered to myself as I read “Song of Myself” for the very first time a few weeks ago. I wondered, though I admittedly failed (then, anyway) to consult a dictionary or even steal a quick peak at Wikipedia’s definition. I was giving special attention to this stanza because it was one (among several others) that I was considering to use with my image gloss at the time. The three lines preceding the line in which the esoteric “kelson” appeared were particularly interesting to me, in a spiritual way; I mean, specifically the talk about all men being my brothers all all women my sisters, God, creation, love… these lines appealed to my theosophical&mystical tendencies. I felt that, in these lines, Whitman was professing a belief in concepts like The Universal Brotherhood of Man and man’s relationship with the divine-and God’s relationship to the creation and men, for that matter… Ahh, but kelson… what did it mean to say that “a kelson of the creation is love?” as Whitman sings. Well, as it turns out, kelson, refers to a kind of foundational “backbone” of a ship, a “line of timber,” a “strengthening beam…” I discovered that the kelson provided longitudinal support as well as base-support (parallel with the keel). Furthermore, the essential function of a kelson appears to be to bind the longitudinal keel with the wooden boards of the boat-> the outer, transverse, shell, if you will. When applying these details to the line of the poem in which the term “kelson” appears, the formerly obscured meaning of the line comes to light. “A kelson of the creation is love.” If we are to accept God as the catalyst/initiator of The Creation (as Whitman indirectly does) then “a kelson,” or foundational backbone/ connecting beam, of His Creation is love. Said in another way, the answer to the question of Creation, the beam which supports, explains, and motivates it is in fact, Love, or specifically, God’s love for men.

**Update: After reading some of James E. Miller Jr.’s “Song of Myself as Inverted Mystical Experience,” my initial intimations seem to be confirmed (or, at least Miller’s on my side ) ! Miller’s fascinating interpretation classifies the poem into 5 phases of a Mystical Experience, from the awakening of self to union (with the Transcendent) and finally, emergence from the mystical state. Towards the end of the poem, Whitman again makes mention of “the creation,” in the line “To it the creation is the friend whose embracing awakes me.” Miller seems to suggest that Whitman, upon awakening from his transcendent/mystical experience, struggles and ultimately cannot put into words or define the exact nature of his experience (or of his newly-acquired transcendent wisdom/understanding). However, I think there is a clue in the earlier lines where “the creation” is first mentioned. As we know, it is God who is responsible for “the Creation” and so, if we replace Whitman’s inexpressible “It” with what God is-namely, the Infinite, the Ultimate, the inexhaustible- then we may have a clearer idea of what Whitman came to understand as a result of his mystical experience.

Works Cited

“Kelson” Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2009 <http://dictionary.oed.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/>.

Miller Jr., James E. A Critical Guide to Leaves of Grass. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1957.

Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself (1855).” Whitman Poetry & Prose. Library of America, 1996. 59.

Image 1: Composition Gallery Walt Whitman Photograph <http://www.compositiongallery.com/show/image/48/large/walt-whitman-photograph.jpg>.

Image 2: “Elfyn Photograph” Tom Regan (Boatbuilder, Owner Grapevine Point Boat Works) <http://www.grapeviewpointboatworks.com/images/elfyn/garboard.jpg>.

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 Whitman shows a brash independence for himself. He’s challenging not only cowardice but those that follow suit who become conformists. Saying “conformity goes to the fourth-removed” is almost a warning to people to be wary of following suit with people. The last line is Whitman’s very own declaration when he says “I cock my hat as I please indoors or out” shows that he’s not afraid of what other people think of him but even suggests he’s willing to defy standard courtesies like removing your hat when indoors, which in his day would have been considered insulting. If anything though that line helps to align him with his ‘rough’ image and the working class of America.

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 Whitman shows a brash independence for himself. He’s challenging not only cowardice but those that follow suit who become conformists. Saying “conformity goes to the fourth-removed” is almost a warning to people to be wary of following suit with people. The last line is Whitman’s very own declaration when he says “I cock my hat as I please indoors or out” shows that he’s not afraid of what other people think of him but even suggests he’s willing to defy standard courtesies like removing your hat when indoors, which in his day would have been considered insulting. If anything though that line helps to align him with his ‘rough’ image and the working class of America.

“Odin, the Wanderer” (1886) by Georg von Rosen.

“With Odin, and the hideous-faced Mexitli, and all idols and images, Honestly taking from them all for what they are worth, and not a cent more, Admitting they were alive and did the work of their day…”  (Whitman, 74)

Odin, who strangely looks a bit like Whitman himself, is the cheif god in Norse paganism.  “The Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl says the Norse god Odin is based on a real chieftain who led a band of warriors from his kingdom in southern Russia to Sweden almost 2,000 years ago” (Gibbs, 16).  In this section of the poem Whitman names many different Gods from different religions around the world.  Some of them are well known and others, like Odin, are not. 

Throughout “Leaves of Grass” Whitman catalogues different things.  John B. Mason, in his article “Walt Whitman’s Catalogues: Rhetorical Means for Two Journeys in ‘Song of Myself’” claims that Whitman uses catalogues to manipulate the reader’s involvement.  In this particular passage, Mason claims that Whitman intentionally blurs the images, so that the reader barely has time to respond to the images.  Mason says, “The alliteration helps to blur the names, and the personality of the individual God is robbed by the poet’s treatment of the gods as postage stamps in an album.  The reader is to see the God who is unnameable” (Mason, 44). 

Manipulation or not, Whitman is using these images in a catalogue, or a blur, to help the reader see a God who is unnameable.   Whitman juxtaposes well known religious figures with little known ones, such as Odin, to show that the significance is not in which God one worships, but that we all worship one type of God or another, and all of these Gods represent the same thing, a spiritual connection to the universe.  Whitman says that with these Gods we should “[take] them all for what they are worth, and not a cent more, [admit] they were alive and did the work of their day…” (Whitman 74).  Whitman uses different Gods from different time periods and coutries to show that each culture in each time period ascribes power to a god or an “idol”, simply as a representation, giving the people something to worship, but all of them representing a power in nature, the divinity of the universe. 

http://aesthetictraditionalist.wordpress.com/2008/12/04/the-old-gent/

Gibbs, Walter (NYT). “World Briefing | Europe: Norway: New Theory On Norse God.” New York Times (30 Nov. 2001): 16. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 16 Sep. 2009 https://login.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=29003216&site=ehost-live.

Mason, John B. “Walt Whitman’s Catalogues: Rhetorical Means for Two Journeys in “Song of Myself”.” American Literature 45.1 (Mar. 1973): 34. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 16 Sep. 2009 https://login.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=10052974&site=ehost-live.

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.

Prospecting, n. (from Oxford English Dictionary)

1. Mining. The action or practice of exploring a region in search of mineral deposits (esp. gold) or oil; the experimental working of a mine or reef.

1848 W. COLTON Jrnl. 18 Oct. in Three Years Calif. (1850) xxi. 292 Half their time is consumed in what they call prospecting; that is, looking up new deposits [of gold]. 1857 J. D. BORTHWICK Three Years California vi. 124 We abandoned it [sc. our claim], and went ‘prospecting’.

2. In extended use: the action of exploring or searching; the action of looking about for something.

1886 Proc. Royal Geogr. Soc. 8 633 We deemed it wise to anchor the Peace and do some prospecting in the rowing-boat..before we ventured further.

__________________________________________________________

Whitman’s evocation of the prospecting and gold-digging in this section of “Song of Myself” serves a dual purpose. Whitman, at the time of writing this 1855 version of “Song of Myself” despised materialism – and so it would seem, Whitman would disagree with the idea of prospecting for gold. Yet, whether Whitman realized it or not, prospecting brought great expansion and possibility to America – and, ultimately, he may have regarded the movement as a positive one.

During the industry and technology booms of postwar America, Whitman became fascinated with technology’s potential to create the cultural unity he had always sought (Reynolds, Ch. 15). Often, the technology of his poems served as a metaphor for “eventual poetic and religious fruition (Reynolds 499).

As such, his notion of “prospecting” here in “Song of Myself” (nearly 20 years earlier than his affirmations of technology) can also act as a metaphor for Whitman’s purpose. In the context of the poem, “Prospecting…gold-digging…girdling the trees of a new purchase…” is contained within a long laundry list of the “vistas” following his newly-found freedom of movement and vision, “My ties and ballast leave me….I travel…./I am afoot with my vision”. While “prospecting” is a part of his vision, it could also be assumed that he is not watching the “prospecting,” but participating in it. In the line directly before this, Whitman’s “I” is “hoeing my onion-patch…” not watching someone else hoe an onion-patch.

If we deduce, then, that Whitman is prospecting – is he prospecting for gold? I’d argue not. The second definition offered by the Oxford English Dictionary, however, suits Whitman’s “Song of Myself” perfectly: “the action of exploring or searching; the action of looking about for something.” What Whitman is digging and exploring for is not gold, but himself in his vision of the world around him – the bits of “gold” that his vision may afford him so that he may better and more fully understand himself. The digging is into his soul. He is afoot, he is (a work) in progress.

"Prospecting" Blythe

A quick note on David Gilmore Blythe’s painting above: The painting is dated 1861-1863, and it turns out that Blythe shared more than one similarity with Whitman. Claire Perry in her book Young America: Childhood in 19th Century Art and Culture discusses that Blythe was one of the first Americans to use the “street child” as a subject – a trail-blazer much as Whitman was. What is also particularly “Whitman-ian” about it, is that in presenting the street child in the way he does, he’s rebelling against the typical English model that most American artists of the time were following. The English model would have presented the child as a charming beggar, whereas Blythe’s is very real, very lost, and very alone. Blythe, like Whitman, “confronted the viewer and challenged middle-class complacency” (117). While I originally chose this poem, entitled “Prospecting,” for it’s “crossroads” imagery that I felt fit Whitman’s message, it is clear that it has greater resonance than I imagined.

_____________________________________Works Referenced_________

“Gold” Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2009 <http://dictionary.oed.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/>.

“Mining.” Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2009 <http://dictionary.oed.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/>.

“Prospecting.” Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2009 <http://dictionary.oed.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/>.

Reynolds, David S. Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography. New York: Vintage Books, 1995.

Perry, Claire. Young America: Childhood in 19th Century Art and Culture. viewed through Google Books.

Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself (1855).” Whitman Poetry & Prose. Library of America, 1996. 59.

Image 1: Alaska State Library photograph PCA 44-3-15 Sourdough in stream panning for gold (Skinner)

Image 2: “Prospecting,” David Gilmour Blythe (American sculptor & painter 1815-1865 <http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/156245/1/Prospecting.jpg>

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.

Prospecting, n. (from Oxford English Dictionary)

1. Mining. The action or practice of exploring a region in search of mineral deposits (esp. gold) or oil; the experimental working of a mine or reef.

1848 W. COLTON Jrnl. 18 Oct. in Three Years Calif. (1850) xxi. 292 Half their time is consumed in what they call prospecting; that is, looking up new deposits [of gold]. 1857 J. D. BORTHWICK Three Years California vi. 124 We abandoned it [sc. our claim], and went ‘prospecting’.

2. In extended use: the action of exploring or searching; the action of looking about for something.

1886 Proc. Royal Geogr. Soc. 8 633 We deemed it wise to anchor the Peace and do some prospecting in the rowing-boat..before we ventured further.

__________________________________________________________

Whitman’s evocation of the prospecting and gold-digging in this section of “Song of Myself” serves a dual purpose. Whitman, at the time of writing this 1855 version of “Song of Myself” despised materialism – and so it would seem, Whitman would disagree with the idea of prospecting for gold. Yet, whether Whitman realized it or not, prospecting brought great expansion and possibility to America – and, ultimately, he may have regarded the movement as a positive one.

During the industry and technology booms of postwar America, Whitman became fascinated with technology’s potential to create the cultural unity he had always sought (Reynolds, Ch. 15). Often, the technology of his poems served as a metaphor for “eventual poetic and religious fruition (Reynolds 499).

As such, his notion of “prospecting” here in “Song of Myself” (nearly 20 years earlier than his affirmations of technology) can also act as a metaphor for Whitman’s purpose. In the context of the poem, “Prospecting…gold-digging…girdling the trees of a new purchase…” is contained within a long laundry list of the “vistas” following his newly-found freedom of movement and vision, “My ties and ballast leave me….I travel…./I am afoot with my vision”. While “prospecting” is a part of his vision, it could also be assumed that he is not watching the “prospecting,” but participating in it. In the line directly before this, Whitman’s “I” is “hoeing my onion-patch…” not watching someone else hoe an onion-patch.

If we deduce, then, that Whitman is prospecting – is he prospecting for gold? I’d argue not. The second definition offered by the Oxford English Dictionary, however, suits Whitman’s “Song of Myself” perfectly: “the action of exploring or searching; the action of looking about for something.” What Whitman is digging and exploring for is not gold, but himself in his vision of the world around him – the bits of “gold” that his vision may afford him so that he may better and more fully understand himself. The digging is into his soul. He is afoot, he is (a work) in progress.

"Prospecting" Blythe

A quick note on David Gilmore Blythe’s painting above: The painting is dated 1861-1863, and it turns out that Blythe shared more than one similarity with Whitman. Claire Perry in her book Young America: Childhood in 19th Century Art and Culture discusses that Blythe was one of the first Americans to use the “street child” as a subject – a trail-blazer much as Whitman was. What is also particularly “Whitman-ian” about it, is that in presenting the street child in the way he does, he’s rebelling against the typical English model that most American artists of the time were following. The English model would have presented the child as a charming beggar, whereas Blythe’s is very real, very lost, and very alone. Blythe, like Whitman, “confronted the viewer and challenged middle-class complacency” (117). While I originally chose this poem, entitled “Prospecting,” for it’s “crossroads” imagery that I felt fit Whitman’s message, it is clear that it has greater resonance than I imagined.

_____________________________________Works Referenced_________

“Gold” Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2009 <http://dictionary.oed.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/>.

“Mining.” Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2009 <http://dictionary.oed.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/>.

“Prospecting.” Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2009 <http://dictionary.oed.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/>.

Reynolds, David S. Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography. New York: Vintage Books, 1995.

Perry, Claire. Young America: Childhood in 19th Century Art and Culture. viewed through Google Books.

Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself (1855).” Whitman Poetry & Prose. Library of America, 1996. 59.

Image 1: Alaska State Library photograph PCA 44-3-15 Sourdough in stream panning for gold (Skinner)

Image 2: “Prospecting,” David Gilmour Blythe (American sculptor & painter 1815-1865 <http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/156245/1/Prospecting.jpg>

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 in the context of the Industrial Revolution, which was ongoing from Whitman’s childhood through several editions of Leaves of Grass.

The Industrial Revolution affected most areas of nineteenth-century American life, and the wheel was an integral part of many innovations. Wheels were an essential component in most modes of transportation at a time when the railroad was expanding and the first automobiles were beginning to appear. In the textile industry, wheels were used as gears on spinning mules and looms.

Wheels were also used in steam engines to power factories and mills as well as the machines inside of them.

Follow this link to see a steam engine at work:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Steam_engine_in_action.gif

According to Reynolds, Whitman composed several “technology poems” and poems about the machine age (521). This line from Song of Myself is bookended by:

The deacons are ordained with crossed hands at the altar

and

The farmer stops by the bars of a Sunday and looks at the oats and rye

The fact that the spinning girl and her wheel are placed in a series of images of everyday people in their typical occupations is an acknowledgement of industry’s rightful and fundamental place in Whitman’s culture and poetry.

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 in the context of the Industrial Revolution, which was ongoing from Whitman’s childhood through several editions of Leaves of Grass.

The Industrial Revolution affected most areas of nineteenth-century American life, and the wheel was an integral part of many innovations. Wheels were an essential component in most modes of transportation at a time when the railroad was expanding and the first automobiles were beginning to appear. In the textile industry, wheels were used as gears on spinning mules and looms.

Wheels were also used in steam engines to power factories and mills as well as the machines inside of them.

Follow this link to see a steam engine at work:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Steam_engine_in_action.gif

According to Reynolds, Whitman composed several “technology poems” and poems about the machine age (521). This line from Song of Myself is bookended by:

The deacons are ordained with crossed hands at the altar

and

The farmer stops by the bars of a Sunday and looks at the oats and rye

The fact that the spinning girl and her wheel are placed in a series of images of everyday people in their typical occupations is an acknowledgement of industry’s rightful and fundamental place in Whitman’s culture and poetry.

The 1855 Portrait of Walt Whitman (Daguerrotype Reproduced by Lithography) by Mathew B. Brady

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 they were alive and did the work of their days,
(They bore mites as for unfledg’d birds who have now to rise and fly
and sing for themselves,)
Accepting the rough deific sketches to fill out better in myself,
bestowing them freely on each man and woman I see,

(“Song of Myself” 41.9–19, p 73–4 in the Library of America edition of Walt Whitman: Poetry and Prose, 1996)

As is illustrated throughout the David S. Reynolds cultural biography of Walt Whitman, printing and the publishing business was a significant factor in Whitman’s life, and in the lives of many people. He states, “Printing and distribution techniques improved immensely over the early decades of the nineteenth century” (Reynolds 45). For this reason, my image gloss is focusing on the word “lithographing” or, more specifically, lithography. From the Greek, lithography literally means to write on stone, which is quite descriptive of the process itself. Lithography is a form of printing that originally utilized stone in order to make prints, but later moved to metal plates, which were more economical. Invented by Alois Senefelder in 1798 in Austria (Jung para 2), lithography works through a method of ink-repulsion. Using an oil/ink resistant medium, such as gum arabic, wax, or other pliable substances, the image is drawn onto the stone or plate by the artist. Once the medium to repel the ink has set, the artist uses a large roller to spread ink onto the stone. The ink will only remain where there is a clear surface, free from the repelling medium. From here, the stone or plate is pressed to the paper and a print is created. Often the print was created in several stages in order to add depth to the image. While this process may seem primitive, “by1848 the process had been refined to the point that it was possible to print 10,000 sheers per hour” (Jung para 2). Lithography was/is considered an art in itself since it is not merely a matter of taking an image and Xeroxing it, but the image had to be recreated by hand. For this reason, mainly graphic images were printed using the lithographic process. Reynolds explains to the reader that “This [lithography] was how the famous 1855 portrait of Whitman would be produced” (Reynolds 282).

The fact that lithography was used to recreate images lends an interesting interpretation to this particular passage from “Song of Myself.” In creating lithographic images of these old gods and goddesses and gods of current religions, the speaker—the “I” as it is referred to in most articles—is making these images of intangible, ethereal beings, tangible and reproducible. In doing this, the speaker brings them down to the level of humanity and makes them available to everyone, “bestowing them freely on each man and woman [they] see” (Whitman 41.19). Essentially, the speaker of the poem takes the awe and fear out of faith and makes it something to be dealt with on a human level.

Lithographic Printing Press

Works Cited

Brady, Mathew B. “Portrait of Walt Whitman.” 1855. 15 Sep 2009. < http://www.usc.edu/schools/annenberg/asc…;

Jung, Marshall. “History of Lithography.” 19 Dec 2003. cartage.org, Web. 15 Sep 2009. <http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/arts/graphicartists/Printmakingmethods/Planographicmethods/HistoryLithography/history.htm>.

Reynolds, David S. Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1996. Print.

Siǵl, G. “Lithoġraphische Schnellpresse.” Web. 15 Sep 2009. <http://www.jaapkruijff.net/uk/litho/machine.gif>

Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself.” Walt Whitman: Poetry and Prose. Ed. Justin Kaplan. New York, NY: The Library of America, 1996. Print.

The 1855 Portrait of Walt Whitman (Daguerrotype Reproduced by Lithography) by Mathew B. Brady

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 they were alive and did the work of their days,
(They bore mites as for unfledg’d birds who have now to rise and fly
and sing for themselves,)
Accepting the rough deific sketches to fill out better in myself,
bestowing them freely on each man and woman I see,

(“Song of Myself” 41.9–19, p 73–4 in the Library of America edition of Walt Whitman: Poetry and Prose, 1996)

As is illustrated throughout the David S. Reynolds cultural biography of Walt Whitman, printing and the publishing business was a significant factor in Whitman’s life, and in the lives of many people. He states, “Printing and distribution techniques improved immensely over the early decades of the nineteenth century” (Reynolds 45). For this reason, my image gloss is focusing on the word “lithographing” or, more specifically, lithography. From the Greek, lithography literally means to write on stone, which is quite descriptive of the process itself. Lithography is a form of printing that originally utilized stone in order to make prints, but later moved to metal plates, which were more economical. Invented by Alois Senefelder in 1798 in Austria (Jung para 2), lithography works through a method of ink-repulsion. Using an oil/ink resistant medium, such as gum arabic, wax, or other pliable substances, the image is drawn onto the stone or plate by the artist. Once the medium to repel the ink has set, the artist uses a large roller to spread ink onto the stone. The ink will only remain where there is a clear surface, free from the repelling medium. From here, the stone or plate is pressed to the paper and a print is created. Often the print was created in several stages in order to add depth to the image. While this process may seem primitive, “by1848 the process had been refined to the point that it was possible to print 10,000 sheers per hour” (Jung para 2). Lithography was/is considered an art in itself since it is not merely a matter of taking an image and Xeroxing it, but the image had to be recreated by hand. For this reason, mainly graphic images were printed using the lithographic process. Reynolds explains to the reader that “This [lithography] was how the famous 1855 portrait of Whitman would be produced” (Reynolds 282).

The fact that lithography was used to recreate images lends an interesting interpretation to this particular passage from “Song of Myself.” In creating lithographic images of these old gods and goddesses and gods of current religions, the speaker—the “I” as it is referred to in most articles—is making these images of intangible, ethereal beings, tangible and reproducible. In doing this, the speaker brings them down to the level of humanity and makes them available to everyone, “bestowing them freely on each man and woman [they] see” (Whitman 41.19). Essentially, the speaker of the poem takes the awe and fear out of faith and makes it something to be dealt with on a human level.

Lithographic Printing Press

Works Cited

Brady, Mathew B. “Portrait of Walt Whitman.” 1855. 15 Sep 2009. < http://www.usc.edu/schools/annenberg/asc/projects/comm544/library/images/477bg.jpg>

Jung, Marshall. “History of Lithography.” 19 Dec 2003. cartage.org, Web. 15 Sep 2009. <http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/arts/graphicartists/Printmakingmethods/Planographicmethods/HistoryLithography/history.htm>.

Reynolds, David S. Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1996. Print.

Siǵl, G. “Lithoġraphische Schnellpresse.” Web. 15 Sep 2009. <http://www.jaapkruijff.net/uk/litho/machine.gif>

Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself.” Walt Whitman: Poetry and Prose. Ed. Justin Kaplan. New York, NY: The Library of America, 1996. Print.

The 1855 Portrait of Walt Whitman (Daguerrotype Reproduced by Lithography) by Mathew B. Brady

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 they were alive and did the work of their days,
(They bore mites as for unfledg’d birds who have now to rise and fly
and sing for themselves,)
Accepting the rough deific sketches to fill out better in myself,
bestowing them freely on each man and woman I see,

(“Song of Myself” 41.9–19, p 73–4 in the Library of America edition of Walt Whitman: Poetry and Prose, 1996)

As is illustrated throughout the David S. Reynolds cultural biography of Walt Whitman, printing and the publishing business was a significant factor in Whitman’s life, and in the lives of many people. He states, “Printing and distribution techniques improved immensely over the early decades of the nineteenth century” (Reynolds 45). For this reason, my image gloss is focusing on the word “lithographing” or, more specifically, lithography. From the Greek, lithography literally means to write on stone, which is quite descriptive of the process itself. Lithography is a form of printing that originally utilized stone in order to make prints, but later moved to metal plates, which were more economical. Invented by Alois Senefelder in 1798 in Austria (Jung para 2), lithography works through a method of ink-repulsion. Using an oil/ink resistant medium, such as gum arabic, wax, or other pliable substances, the image is drawn onto the stone or plate by the artist. Once the medium to repel the ink has set, the artist uses a large roller to spread ink onto the stone. The ink will only remain where there is a clear surface, free from the repelling medium. From here, the stone or plate is pressed to the paper and a print is created. Often the print was created in several stages in order to add depth to the image. While this process may seem primitive, “by1848 the process had been refined to the point that it was possible to print 10,000 sheers per hour” (Jung para 2). Lithography was/is considered an art in itself since it is not merely a matter of taking an image and Xeroxing it, but the image had to be recreated by hand. For this reason, mainly graphic images were printed using the lithographic process. Reynolds explains to the reader that “This [lithography] was how the famous 1855 portrait of Whitman would be produced” (Reynolds 282).

The fact that lithography was used to recreate images lends an interesting interpretation to this particular passage from “Song of Myself.” In creating lithographic images of these old gods and goddesses and gods of current religions, the speaker—the “I” as it is referred to in most articles—is making these images of intangible, ethereal beings, tangible and reproducible. In doing this, the speaker brings them down to the level of humanity and makes them available to everyone, “bestowing them freely on each man and woman [they] see” (Whitman 41.19). Essentially, the speaker of the poem takes the awe and fear out of faith and makes it something to be dealt with on a human level.

Lithographic Printing Press

Works Cited

Brady, Mathew B. “Portrait of Walt Whitman.” 1855. 15 Sep 2009. < http://www.usc.edu/schools/annenberg/asc/projects/comm544/library/images/477bg.jpg>

Jung, Marshall. “History of Lithography.” 19 Dec 2003. cartage.org, Web. 15 Sep 2009. <http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/arts/graphicartists/Printmakingmethods/Planographicmethods/HistoryLithography/history.htm>.

Reynolds, David S. Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1996. Print.

Siǵl, G. “Lithoġraphische Schnellpresse.” Web. 15 Sep 2009. <http://www.jaapkruijff.net/uk/litho/machine.gif>

Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself.” Walt Whitman: Poetry and Prose. Ed. Justin Kaplan. New York, NY: The Library of America, 1996. Print.

“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 apparatus used for this process (obs.). c. A portrait produced by this process.

2. fig. An exact representation or description. Obs. (since the daguerreotype itself has yielded to improved photographic processes).

“daguerreotype, n.” The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press. 4 Apr. 2000 <http://ezproxy.tcnj.edu:2147/cgi/entry/50057115?query_type=word&queryword=daguerreotype&first=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&result_place=1&search_id=mkHB-zED4RI-3607&hilite=50057115>.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In Whitman’s Song of Myself, daguerreotype immediately caught my eye. I knew it had to be some sort of mechanism related to the camera or photography, but what interested me was how Whitman illustrated the lady with connection to the word. He says how “the lady must sit for her daguerreotype” (41). It sounded almost.. exotic, mysterious, medical, even. It sounds like she’s ready for some sort of exquisite operation ready to be performed on her. Then I remember reading in Reynold’s A Cultural Biography, how during the 1800s of Whitman’s time, there was a revolution in everything–this included forms of art and music. Though in the time of “deteriorating social conditions,” where he saw “ugly materialism and corruption” these new forms of art offered a “rationale for an organic ar based on natural rhythms and free forms” (280).

So what exactly is a daguerreotype?
First introduced by a Frenchman, Louis Jacques-Mande Daguerre 1839, this newly invented representation of reality and everyday human beings became the popular form of photography. By 1839 in New York, this type of photography was on fire.

With the birth of the daguerreotype..
“artists could no longer flatter their subjects by making them appear beautiful or intelligent ” (Reynolds 281).

(now divert your eye to the nude woman below: her natural form of beauty shines right through)

"The Well-Taken Photograph" (Reynolds 280)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Daguerreotype in the 21st century???

While surfing Youtube, I found this really interesting! It’s only 1:25 seconds. Take a look!

David Aguirre Hoffmann uses 21st century media to recreate the feeling of a daguerreotype! : )

[a http://www.pixelsketchbook.com/?page_id=… /a]

note: can’t get the link to work..and the woman and video refuse to be centered..
so not friendly with computers : ( darn..

]]> http://whitmancamden.lookingforwhitman.org/2009/09/15/jennica%e2%80%99s-image-gloss-on-%e2%80%9cdaguerreotype%e2%80%9d/ Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:24:41 +0000 http://181.148

“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 apparatus used for this process (obs.). c. A portrait produced by this process.

2. fig. An exact representation or description. Obs. (since the daguerreotype itself has yielded to improved photographic processes).

“daguerreotype, n.” The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press. 4 Apr. 2000 <http://ezproxy.tcnj.edu:2147/cgi/entry/50057115?query_type=word&queryword=daguerreotype&first=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&result_place=1&search_id=mkHB-zED4RI-3607&hilite=50057115>.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In Whitman’s Song of Myself, daguerreotype immediately caught my eye. I knew it had to be some sort of mechanism related to the camera or photography, but what interested me was how Whitman illustrated the lady with connection to the word. He says how “the lady must sit for her daguerreotype” (41). It sounded almost.. exotic, mysterious, medical, even. It sounds like she’s ready for some sort of exquisite operation ready to be performed on her. Then I remember reading in Reynold’s A Cultural Biography, how during the 1800s of Whitman’s time, there was a revolution in everything–this included forms of art and music. Though in the time of “deteriorating social conditions,” where he saw “ugly materialism and corruption” these new forms of art offered a “rationale for an organic ar based on natural rhythms and free forms” (280).

So what exactly is a daguerreotype?
First introduced by a Frenchman, Louis Jacques-Mande Daguerre 1839, this newly invented representation of reality and everyday human beings became the popular form of photography. By 1839 in New York, this type of photography was on fire.

With the birth of the daguerreotype..
“artists could no longer flatter their subjects by making them appear beautiful or intelligent ” (Reynolds 281).

(now divert your eye to the nude woman below: her natural form of beauty shines right through)

"The Well-Taken Photograph" (Reynolds 280)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Daguerreotype in the 21st century???

While surfing Youtube, I found this really interesting! It’s only 1:25 seconds. Take a look!

David Aguirre Hoffmann uses 21st century media to recreate the feeling of a daguerreotype! : )

[a http://www.pixelsketchbook.com/?page_id=… /a]

note: can’t get the link to work..and the woman and video refuse to be centered..
so not friendly with computers : ( darn..

]]> http://whitmancamden.lookingforwhitman.org/2009/09/15/christine%e2%80%99s-imagegloss-for-917/ Wed, 16 Sep 2009 03:05:27 +0000 http://181.147 The word that I chose to research: august. The few lines that surround this word are found on page 46 and they are as follows:

“I know I am august,

I do not trouble my spirit to vindicate itself or be understood,

I see that the elementary laws never apologize,

I reckon I behave no prouder than the level I plant my house by after all.”

The first bit of research I did was looking up the OED’s definition for “august” to see how many different uses of the word there are.  As a noun, “August” is simply the 8th month of the year, which at this point I cannot relate to the context in which the word is set within “Song of Myself.” However, the OED gives definitions for “august” as a verb and as an adjective. As a verb, it means “to ripen, bring to fruition”; as an adjective, it means majestic, stately, solemnly grand, amoung many others. The closest definition that Merriam-Webster gives is most related to OED’s adjective definition.

  My next step in research was taking a look at the life and history of Caesar Augustus (Roman Emporer) to see if there was any relation to his character or political life that had any kind of relevance to Whitman and his life. The most interesting point I came across was the section of the  page was “The Augustan Age”, which stated that Augustus was the empire’s “‘patron of the arts.” This section also mentioned how the Augustan era produced some of Rome’s most influencial writers.

The last piece of my research endeavors was looking for a video clip of a movie that came out a couple of years ago called “August Rush,” about a young, orphaned boy who uses his musical talents to find his birth parents. When I listened to this piece, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to become encapsulated with the music, which then reminded me of Whitman. He always did his best to be surrounded by and engrossed with nature. (see YouTube)

How it all comes together?

As I mentioned earlier, I do not quite see how August as a month relates to Whitman’s “Song of Myself,” nor do I wish to connect the two. Therefore, keeping in mind Whitman’s longing for individualism and originality, similar to Evan’s longing for his birth parents in “August’s Rush,” I seem to be drawn to the idea that the purpose for Whitman’s use of the word “august” is most likely the adjective, rather than the verb, both suggested by the OED. Although an argument could be made for the verb in that Whitman believed he constantly “ripened” his senses to his surroundings and therefore “bore the fruits” of his labor out and about in Philadelphia, NYC, DC, and Camden, I still wish to side with the adjective definition. As the definition states that it is “majestic, stately, etc,” I get the sense  from Whitman that he believes himself to be as close to God (majestic) as anybody and is so self-centered in ways that he knows who he is and, again, is pointing out his trademarks (or flaws, as some may see them) on purpose for the reader. This attitude definitely echoed throughout the remainder of the poem.

<<————-     …Now that’s what you call “august” !

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 meaning or sounds or a combination of meaning and sound” and “Difficult to read or decipher.” Both definitions seem to indicate the grass is symbolic to Whitman, yet he is unable to overcome the mystery surrounding the grass and the ultimate definition remains illusive.

Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. New York, NY: Barnes and Noble, Inc., 1993.

http://iamjwal.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/egyptian-hieroglyphics-louvre.jpg JWAL: JWAL Blog Website, 2009.

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 meaning or sounds or a combination of meaning and sound” and “Difficult to read or decipher.” Both definitions seem to indicate the grass is symbolic to Whitman, yet he is unable to overcome the mystery surrounding the grass and the ultimate definition remains illusive.

Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. New York, NY: Barnes and Noble, Inc., 1993.

http://iamjwal.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/egyptian-hieroglyphics-louvre.jpg JWAL: JWAL Blog Website, 2009.

“The jour printer with gray head and gaunt jaws works at his case,
He turns his quid of tobacco, his eyes get blurred with the manuscript;” (39)

In this context, jour is used as “a colloquial abbreviation of journeyman” (Wordnik). A journeyman can be described as “one who has fully served an apprenticeship in a trade or craft and is a qualified worker in another’s employ,” thus able to earn “a full day’s pay for his work” (Wordnik).

At first I had assumed that the use of “jour” in the line I selected from “Song of Myself” referred simply to the French word for “day,” perhaps signifying a printer of a daily publication. But the discovery that its use is more likely an abbreviation for “journeyman” is interesting, as Whitman himself “worked as a journeyman printer for several New York newspapers, before ultimately becoming a journalist and editor in his own right” (Lehigh University).

The inclusion of this subtle self-image in one of the many visual catalogues in this poem resonates with his egalitarian assertions, that he is the everyman, the same as the carpenter, children, pilot, and deacons described on the same page.

The image above is sourced from Discovery Press, which offers additional insight into Whitman’s own career as a journeyman printer. “It was common for a journeyman printer to be called to temporary duty as a newswriter or reporter,” which often led to a growing career editing, publishing, and journalism, as was also the case with Whitman’s contemporary, Samuel Clemens.

“The jour printer with gray head and gaunt jaws works at his case,
He turns his quid of tobacco, his eyes get blurred with the manuscript;” (39)

In this context, jour is used as “a colloquial abbreviation of journeyman” (Wordnik). A journeyman can be described as “one who has fully served an apprenticeship in a trade or craft and is a qualified worker in another’s employ,” thus able to earn “a full day’s pay for his work” (Wordnik).

At first I had assumed that the use of “jour” in the line I selected from “Song of Myself” referred simply to the French word for “day,” perhaps signifying a printer of a daily publication. But the discovery that its use is more likely an abbreviation for “journeyman” is interesting, as Whitman himself “worked as a journeyman printer for several New York newspapers, before ultimately becoming a journalist and editor in his own right” (Lehigh University).

The inclusion of this subtle self-image in one of the many visual catalogues in this poem resonates with his egalitarian assertions, that he is the everyman, the same as the carpenter, children, pilot, and deacons described on the same page.

The image above is sourced from Discovery Press, which offers additional insight into Whitman’s own career as a journeyman printer. “It was common for a journeyman printer to be called to temporary duty as a newswriter or reporter,” which often led to a growing career editing, publishing, and journalism, as was also the case with Whitman’s contemporary, Samuel Clemens.

The Atlantic Collins 1850-58

“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 this over 100 years before I was born and 150 years before I read it. Coming from the cultural background of the 20th and 21st centuries, the image that immediately flashed in my mind when I read this line was not of one steering an old ship, but a pilot of an airplane who was thwarting an attack from a terrorist attempting to highjack the plane.  The airplane was invented in 1903, over 50 years after Whitman wrote this line in Song of Myself.  If Whitman were writing this line today what do you think it would say?

King-pin is defined as:

1.  Bowling:  headpin, the pin at the center; number five pin

2. Informal.  the person of chief importance in a corporation, movement, undertaking, etc.

3. Informal. chief element of any system, plan or the like.

4. a kingbolt

5. either of the pins that are a part of the mechanism for turning the front wheels in some automotive steering system.

Origin:  1795 – 1805; King + pin   Dictionary.com Unabridged 

Modern Day Commercial Airplane by Boeing

The Atlantic Collins 1850-58

“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 this over 100 years before I was born and 150 years before I read it. Coming from the cultural background of the 20th and 21st centuries, the image that immediately flashed in my mind when I read this line was not of one steering an old ship, but a pilot of an airplane who was thwarting an attack from a terrorist attempting to highjack the plane.  The airplane was invented in 1903, over 50 years after Whitman wrote this line in Song of Myself.  If Whitman were writing this line today what do you think it would say?

King-pin is defined as:

1.  Bowling:  headpin, the pin at the center; number five pin

2. Informal.  the person of chief importance in a corporation, movement, undertaking, etc.

3. Informal. chief element of any system, plan or the like.

4. a kingbolt

5. either of the pins that are a part of the mechanism for turning the front wheels in some automotive steering system.

Origin:  1795 – 1805; King + pin   Dictionary.com Unabridged 

Modern Day Commercial Airplane by Boeing

The Atlantic Collins 1850-58

“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 this over 100 years before I was born and 150 years before I read it. Coming from the cultural background of the 20th and 21st centuries, the image that immediately flashed in my mind when I read this line was not of one steering an old ship, but a pilot of an airplane who was thwarting an attack from a terrorist attempting to highjack the plane.  The airplane was invented in 1903, over 50 years after Whitman wrote this line in Song of Myself.  If Whitman were writing this line today what do you think it would say?

King-pin is defined as:

1.  Bowling:  headpin, the pin at the center; number five pin

2. Informal.  the person of chief importance in a corporation, movement, undertaking, etc.

3. Informal. chief element of any system, plan or the like.

4. a kingbolt

5. either of the pins that are a part of the mechanism for turning the front wheels in some automotive steering system.

Origin:  1795 – 1805; King + pin   Dictionary.com Unabridged 

Modern Day Commercial Airplane by Boeing

During my research I discovered Mexitli is revered as the Aztecs greatest leader and considered the God of War. Its rumored that the Aztec people became known as Mexicans in his honor. The name Mexitli is derived from the Nahuatl words Metztli which means the moon and xictli which means naval and most likely child. So Mexitli was considered the son of the moon.

Within its context Whitman goes through a list of many gods and famous religious figures in an attempt to humanize them to the reader. He claims to be “bringing help to the sick” by doing so. Whitman feels that idolizing these men has put the common man down. Its obvious how well informed of history and religion Whitman is in this list as he states he has devoted time to magnify and study each for our benefit.  Whitman gives these idols their dues for what they have done and accomplished but refuses to give them anymore. He feels its important to humanize them so we can see their accomplishments are still achievable.

As to why Whitman refers to Mexitli as a “hideous faced” being baffles me. However I know earlier in the text he has used other derogative terms such as “kanuck” refering to Canadians and “cuffs” which refers to African Americans. Attached is a picture of the Aztec God Mexitli engraving onto stone. It may just be poor craftmanship but he does kind of look hideous.

Disorderly fleshy and sensual….eating drinking and

breeding,

No sentimentalist….no stander above men and women or

apart from them….no more modest than immodest.

I chose to focus on Walt Whitman as a “rough”/ a “rowdy”. Reynolds defines them as, “a distinct class of gang members and street loungers who roved through Manhattan’s poorer districts and often instigated riots”.

I, like Whitman, am “intrigued yet disturbed” by the contemporary street gangs. I want desperately to understand their culture yet fear the social problems that cause gang membership to exist and flourish. Reynolds writes, “In a time of rapid urbanization and economic dislocation, gangs provided certain of the urban poor with a sense of identity and an outlet for violent impulses” (105).

In searching for gang related material, I found this Snoop Dogg video. What would Whitman think when considering his commentary on the African American language saying that it, “has the hints of a future theory of the modification of all words of the English language, for musical purposes, for a native grand opera in America” (Reynolds 320)?? Bet he would love it!

Snoop Dogg: Drop It Like It’s Hot

Disorderly fleshy and sensual….eating drinking and

breeding,

No sentimentalist….no stander above men and women or

apart from them….no more modest than immodest.

I chose to focus on Walt Whitman as a “rough”/ a “rowdy”. Reynolds defines them as, “a distinct class of gang members and street loungers who roved through Manhattan’s poorer districts and often instigated riots”.

I, like Whitman, am “intrigued yet disturbed” by the contemporary street gangs. I want desperately to understand their culture yet fear the social problems that cause gang membership to exist and flourish. Reynolds writes, “In a time of rapid urbanization and economic dislocation, gangs provided certain of the urban poor with a sense of identity and an outlet for violent impulses” (105).

In searching for gang related material, I found this Snoop Dogg video. What would Whitman think when considering his commentary on the African American language saying that it, “has the hints of a future theory of the modification of all words of the English language, for musical purposes, for a native grand opera in America” (Reynolds 320)?? Bet he would love it!

Snoop Dogg: Drop It Like It’s Hot

Four Boys In A Church Choir. Photographer: H. Armstrong / Roberts Collection: Retrofile

“The pure contralto sings in the organloft” (39)

According to OED, “contralto” is a musical noun that means “the part next above the alto, sung by the highest male or lowest female voice” (OED 1a). A contralto is a voice of certain “pitch or compass” (OED 1b) and can describe a solo singer’s range or a select part in a vocal choir. The speaker’s references to choir, voices, and song are hardly surprising within the poem’s context, because Whitman himself had a great appreciation for the musical arts, including the theater. The poem’s title, “Song of Myself,” makes an explicit connection to music, calling the poem a “song” rather than a written work. David S. Reynolds also claims “music was such an all-pervasive force for him [Whitman] that he saw himself less as a poet than as a singer or a bard” (176), and Reynolds’ research indicates that Whitman chose the “contralto” to further illustrate his own beliefs on the importance, beauty, and overwhelming power of music.

When studied against the poem’s context, the “contralto” is almost godlike in its surpassing qualities. For instance, the line’s “contralto” has no specified gender and there are no gender-specific pronouns such as “he” or “she” to describe the singer.  Since “contralto” is a musical range both a male and a female artist can sing, the speaker subtly suggests that music crosses gender barriers. Genders are muddled further due to the fact that the “contralto’s” range aptly describes “high” (feminine) male voices and “low” (masculine) female voices. This portrayal shows “contralto” as profound character that exists beyond basic limitations.

In this poetic line, Whitman also describes the “contralto” as “pure,” further hinting at the singer’s unrestrained perfection. When describing sounds, “pure” means “not discordant or harsh, [but rather] perfectly in tune, clear and even in tone; produced by a vibration of a single frequency; with no overtones or harmonies” (OED 1c).  The singer’s clear tune provides a vivid musical image, an image that personifies an untainted sound. This representation illuminates the “contralto’s” abilities to sing above an unearthly, undefined level, and further encourages the notion that the singer cannot be defined using conventional barriers (such as gender).

Poetic line citation is from Whitman: Poetry and Prose. Library of America College Editions. New York, NY. 1982.

Reynolds, David S. Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography. First Vintage Books Edition, March 1996.

Four Boys In A Church Choir. Photographer: H. Armstrong / Roberts Collection: Retrofile

“The pure contralto sings in the organloft” (39)

According to OED, “contralto” is a musical noun that means “the part next above the alto, sung by the highest male or lowest female voice” (OED 1a). A contralto is a voice of certain “pitch or compass” (OED 1b) and can describe a solo singer’s range or a select part in a vocal choir. The speaker’s references to choir, voices, and song are hardly surprising within the poem’s context, because Whitman himself had a great appreciation for the musical arts, including the theater. The poem’s title, “Song of Myself,” makes an explicit connection to music, calling the poem a “song” rather than a written work. David S. Reynolds also claims “music was such an all-pervasive force for him [Whitman] that he saw himself less as a poet than as a singer or a bard” (176), and Reynolds’ research indicates that Whitman chose the “contralto” to further illustrate his own beliefs on the importance, beauty, and overwhelming power of music.

When studied against the poem’s context, the “contralto” is almost godlike in its surpassing qualities. For instance, the line’s “contralto” has no specified gender and there are no gender-specific pronouns such as “he” or “she” to describe the singer.  Since “contralto” is a musical range both a male and a female artist can sing, the speaker subtly suggests that music crosses gender barriers. Genders are muddled further due to the fact that the “contralto’s” range aptly describes “high” (feminine) male voices and “low” (masculine) female voices. This portrayal shows “contralto” as profound character that exists beyond basic limitations.

In this poetic line, Whitman also describes the “contralto” as “pure,” further hinting at the singer’s unrestrained perfection. When describing sounds, “pure” means “not discordant or harsh, [but rather] perfectly in tune, clear and even in tone; produced by a vibration of a single frequency; with no overtones or harmonies” (OED 1c).  The singer’s clear tune provides a vivid musical image, an image that personifies an untainted sound. This representation illuminates the “contralto’s” abilities to sing above an unearthly, undefined level, and further encourages the notion that the singer cannot be defined using conventional barriers (such as gender).

Poetic line citation is from Whitman: Poetry and Prose. Library of America College Editions. New York, NY. 1982.

Reynolds, David S. Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography. First Vintage Books Edition, March 1996.

Whitman writes, “Through me the afflatus surges and surges. . . . through me the current and index” (Whitman 50).  But what is the afflatus? Merriam Webster’s Dictionary Online defines it as follows:

• Main Entry: af·fla·tus
• Pronunciation: \ə-ˈflā-təs, a-\
• Function: noun
• Etymology: Latin, act of blowing or breathing on, from afflare to blow on, from ad- + flare to blow — more at blow
• Date: 1660

: a divine imparting of knowledge or power : inspiration (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/afflatus)

The term afflatus was coined by Cicero and is most frequently translated as inspiration, but Cicero wanted to make the concept of inspiration, the gathering of an idea, tactile; he likened a poet’s collecting of ideas to a gust of wind.  Author T. V. F Brogan in the New Princeton Encyclopedia  of Poetry and Poetics writes:

Literally, “inspiration,” like “afflatus,” means “to be blown into” by a divine wind. As “inspiration” came to mean simply the gathering of a new idea, Cicero reiterated the idea of a rush of unexpected breath, a powerful force that would render the poet helpless and unaware of its origin. In English, “afflatus” is used for this literal form of inspiration. It generally refers not to the usual sudden originality, but to the staggering and stunning blow of a new idea, an idea that the recipient may be unable to explain. In Romantic literature and criticism, in particular, the usage of “afflatus” was revived for the mystical form of poetic inspiration tied to “genius”. . . (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afflatus) When I first saw that this post meant divine inspiration I immediately thought of the Romantics, Coleridge and Wordsworth, and apparently I was right to think of them as fans of afflatus because the rest of the wiki post confirmed my thoughts.

To me, when Whitman talks of the afflatus surging through him I think of it as energy flowing through him bodily and then through his knowledge base (what he calls his index )and finally the physical and mental paths converge and form the words of his poems. The thoughts of energies joining and forming something new also remind me of T.S. Eliot’s catalyst in ” Tradition and the Individual Talent.”

Finally, in other news afflatus is also the name of two bands one from Canada and one from India. I know nothing about them, but have posted a link to each of their ebsites for your viewing and maybe (if they’re good) musical pleasure. http://www.myspace.com/afflatusrocks and http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/Afflatus. Enjoy!

“The quadroon girl is sold at the sand…”

During the 19th century in the south, the word quadroon was used to describe African American slaves who were racially mixed. This was basically what they called an offspring of a biracial couple. The couple had to be one where at least one parent was white and the other black or both parents were black and white. The definition of a quadroon is a person who is one-quarter black. Knowing the meaning of this word reminds you that slavery did in fact go on during this period of time and Whitman includes this in his work.

“The quadroon girl is sold at the sand…”

During the 19th century in the south, the word quadroon was used to describe African American slaves who were racially mixed. This was basically what they called an offspring of a biracial couple. The couple had to be one where at least one parent was white and the other black or both parents were black and white. The definition of a quadroon is a person who is one-quarter black. Knowing the meaning of this word reminds you that slavery did in fact go on during this period of time and Whitman includes this in his work.

Sep 15th  Oatakan (image gloss)

“I pass death with the dying, and birth with the new-washed babe

…and am not contained between my hat and boots,

And peruse manifold objects, no two alike and every one good.

The earth good, and the stars good, and their adjuncts all good.

I am not an earth nor an adjunct of earth,

I am the mate and companion of people, all just as immortal and fathomless as myself

They do not know how immortal, but I know.”

American Heritage Dictionary (2)

Fathomless:

1. adjective Too deep to be fathomed or measured.
2. adjective Too obscure or complicated to be understood.

The word fathomless means “too deep to fathom” and with respect to the universe, this can be applied both to its physical depth, as well as to the difficulty in understanding its properties.

(www.fathomless.net)

  Since, I am struggling to understand his words and put them together to find out meaning of his lines ; (fathomless) is the perfect word to call Walt Whitman as well as he calls himself. I think in these lines he is trying to explain his existence  in a unique way. He tells about objects like  not one thing looks like another, however they complete each other.  Furthermore, he defines himself as being immortal and fathomless. In my opinion, he is not afraid to die and he accepts being complicated to be understood.

      The picture is US, Fantastic Pit in Georgia’s Ellison’s Cave, which I thought incredibly deep (fathomless) adjuncts with Whitman’s thoughts and work.

This passage from “Song of Myself” concludes the stanza that begins: “I am of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise” (42).  In other words, Whitman, or the “I” of the poem, attempts to identify himself as one who is of all genders, races, and social classes.  After reading this particular list of people Whitman claims to be, the term “fancy-man” struck me as unusual and worthy of a little investigating. 

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, fancy-man has two meanings:
     1. a man who is fancied, a sweetheart
     2. a man who lives upon the earnings of a prostitute

Both definitions were prevalent in the 19^th century, and each contributes a different, but potentially significant meaning to this passage.

Whitman may, of course, apply the first meaning of fancy-man in this context.  This is certainly a plausible conclusion, for according to biographer David S. Reynolds, “In his own time, the most common insinuation made about [Whitman’s] private life was that he was a womanizer.” (197).  Therefore, Whitman may simply be identifying with men who receive exuberant admiration from women.  Some might recognize that Whitman seems to repeat himself (following “lover” with “fancy-man”) in these two lines.  However, Whitman does use approximate synonyms elsewhere in this section of the poem (for example, prisoner and rowdy).  Perhaps it is the repetition of a similar word that emphasizes Whitman’s connection with this particular kind of man.

On the other hand, working with the second meaning of the term is, quite frankly, more interesting.  If Whitman intends to define “fancy-man” as a man who prostitutes himself, then the word’s placement in these lines seems to make more sense.  By situating the term between “prisoner” and “rowdy”, Whitman then places the fancy-man in a class of those who notoriously break the law and are of a lower class.  Furthermore, Reynolds provides evidence of Whitman’s attempts to reform the ways of female prostitutes in his poetry.  It does not seem a stretch, therefore, that Whitman might be attempting to do the same for male prostitutes.

While the term “fancy-man” does not appear anywhere else in “Song of Myself,” references to prostitution do.  Whitman sympathizes with the prostitute, calling her “Miserable” and later grouping her with “deformed persons,…diseased and despairing,…thieves and dwarfs,” (41, 50).  It is not, therefore, out of the question to assume that Whitman’s early reference to a “fancy-man” is another attempt at reforming or uplifting those who make a living through prostitution, be they male or female.

Actors like Humphrey Bogart gain the reputation of the first definition of "fancy-man," that is, a man who is fancied or considered a sweetheart.

Contemporary movies like 1980's "American Gigolo" portray male characters who make a living from "escort" services. They may thus be considered "fancy-men," for their engagement in prostitution as an occupation.

“I saw the marriage of the trapper 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” (p. 37).

I chose this passage because I was curious to know if it was common for trappers of the time to marry Native American women. Upon researching the matter I found that trappers often did because the women could translate between the white men and tribes, help with trapping and curing furs, and ward off raids. The part of the passage that most caught my eye was the line “the other hand held firmly the wrist of the red girl”. This brought to mind images of the white man’s possessive qualities as “his father and his friends sat near by cross legged and dumbly smoking”. In my research I found that while these marriages were not taboo, they were frowned upon. This may explain “dumbly” smoking. It’s as if the father and other men of the tribe wish to say more but do not.