Where's Whitman?

Do you guess I have some intricate purpose?
Well I have, for the Fourth-month showers have, and the mica on the side of a rock has.
Do you take it I would astonish?
Does the daylight astonish? does the early redstart twittering through the woods?
Do I astonish more than they?
This hour I tell things in confidence,
I might not tell everybody, but I will tell you.

MICA– [Latin mīca, grain (perhaps influenced by micāre, to flash).]

• Any of a group of chemically and physically related aluminum silicate minerals, common in igneous and metamorphic rocks, characteristically splitting into flexible sheets used in insulation and electrical equipment.
• Micas are significant rock forming minerals being found in all three rock types: igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary. Because thin flakes of mica are generally flexible and brittle, it is surprising how resistant and durable mica crystals can be in withstanding high temperatures and pressures in metamorphic regimes as well as the punishment of erosional environments.
• The term “mica” is so familiar to the general public that it is often considered a mineral in itself.  The Mica Group is actually a rather large group of minerals with over 30 members.

Tags: Image Gloss

My image gloss is taken from page 45.  I chose a set of lines that both spoke to me and included a word I wasn’t entirely familiar with in the selection.

I picked my image gloss not just because I wanted to know what ‘mica’ was, but also because I really loved the passage.  After looking up the definition of mica (it says the definition is familiar, and I may have learned about this in my freshman Geo-Science class [apologies to my teacher Mr. Waters], but yeah…I had to look it up.) I felt further connected to my selected piece. 

Whitman begins by asking, “Do you guess I have some intricate purpose?” and then using the mica to a rock for his example illustrates the idea that everything and everyone has a purpose.  Besides Geologists, I would suspect (even if they know the definition) most people don’t know the purpose of mica to a rock, but that doesn’t mean the purpose doesn’t exist.  Likewise, while we may not know what something or someones purpose in our own lives, everything and everyone does have its place.  Generally, within time, we realize this importance.  I think Whitman makes comparisons to nature to help himself (and his reader) personalize the ideas.     

In addition to the first two lines, I also love the last line.  Whitman perfectly juxtaposed the last line as two contrasting thoughts within one thought, “I might not tell everybody, but I will tell you.”  By telling “just us” in his published book, he is telling everyone; however he write this in such a way that makes the reader feel as though they really are the only one whom he writes to in confidence. 

In all my years as an English major, I have had very little opportunity to study Whitman and I know very little about his work.  So far, I am really intrigued.  It is clear that Whitman does not care about conventional thought or what people think of his writing.  I respect that he writes openlyand freely, but most importantly, I appreciate that he writes  for himself.  I often had thought to myself, “Why are we reading this?” when it comes to certain material, but with Whitman I get it.  He is relatable still to readers and I am looking forward to feeling more connected to his work through readings and the community blogging.   After all, everything has an intricate purpose, right?

I exist as I am, that is enough,

If no other in the world be aware I sit content,

And if each and all be aware I sit content.

One world is aware, and by far the largest to me, and that is myself,

And whether I come to my own today or in ten thousand or ten million years,

I can cheerfully take it now, or with equal cheerfulness I can wait.

Tags: Frontispiece