Tweet-a-week: Frances Wright

Frances Wright (or Fanny) was a very accomplished woman and a radical thinker. Born in Scotland, both of Wright's parents died young leaving her as an orphan with a large inheritance and in the care of her Aunt that lived in England. As she grew up, she returned to Scotland only to eventually emigrate to the States at 23 to form the "Nashoba Commune" in Tennessee, a utopian-type society where Wright attempts to recruit slaves and other abolitionists to work towards freedom for the slaves. However, it only lasted for three years due to financial troubles, leading Wright to simply free them after the commune falls apart.

Along with being an abolitionist, Wright was also a feminist who wanted more rights for women. In many respects, Wright was a dedicated social reformer who wrote and gave lectures on behalf of change. Her radical ideas, writing and lectures were well known throughout the nation, not excluding Whitman who was a fan and attended her lectures. Whitman's attention to Wright and her female contemporaries undoubtedly had a major impact on his own views and poetry. Particularly in "Song for Occupations", Whitman emphasizes the equality between men and women and I can't help but think that Wright at least contributed to his standpoint (as well as other radical ideas such as equality for slaves and the working class).

A Song for Occupations, and then some.

The 1855 version of "Song of Occupation" is very much a continuance of "Song of Myself". Important themes that are presented is that communal living and loving (as seen in the Oneida community):

"If you are a workman or workwoman I stand as nigh as the nighest that works in the same shop,

If you bestow gifts on your brother or dearest friend, I demand as good as your brother or dearest friend,

If your lover or husband or wife is welcome by day or night, I must be personally as welcome;

The material is a prevalent theme as well. In the above quotation, you have Whitman announcing that all items and people belong to each other and not to any one particular person. In that sense, all people are equal (including women to men as Whitman points out later in the poem). Following that logic, Whitman must discuss the very clearly marked hierarchy of the social classes. And typical of him, he simply does away with him, saying that such distinctions are unimportant because they are simply adjuncts to our lives. These differences, which Whitman considers small, such as religion, occupation, clothing, and even words themselves, are but material things that are only ornaments to the person and not the person themselves. "When the psalm sings instead of the singer" is when Whitman will treasure the psalm as much as the singer.

Materials and concepts are unimportant. They are things that people neither need nor will make them happy. Instead, Whitman proposes something else.

I bring what you much need, yet always have,

I bring not money or amours or dress or eating . . . . but I bring as good;

And send no agent or medium . . . . and offer no representative of value—but offer the value itself.

Whitman is saying that he is not giving you anything in the poem, he is simply reminding us of what we all already know but have chosen to overlook. That value is the value of being a living human being, which everyone has, but seems to have forgotten somewhere along the ages was ever valuable in the first place. More depressing is that this human value seems to be beneath that of vague concepts and materials (as Marx and Engels stated, "The creators have bowed down before their creations). This innate human value is "unrateable" as Whitman emphasizes, which is why everyone is equal in his eyes.

This is what I believe, Whitman is trying to explain in "Song of Myself", this freedom that he has after the discovery of this innate human value that can't be explained in words. The words themselves are inadequate, but because Whitman trusts the reader, as a fellow human being, to have similar experiences as he does (or can at least imagine it), the words can hopefully draw out an experience similar to what he wants the reader to feel (because it can't be understood with thought, only felt).

The 1856 version of this poem is titled "Poem of the Daily Work of The Workmen and Workwomen of These States". This title takes on a more official tone and is clearly labelled a poem. The punctuation is cleaned up and other than a few inserted and changed words here or there, it is not significantly different from the 1855 version. It is also addressed very specifically to the working class.

In 1860, the title of the poem changes to "Chants Democratic". It is no longer labelled as a poem but a chant, which is getting closer to a song, but perhaps a song of a mob. One of the most prominent changes that I noticed was that Whitman started addressing his audience in his poems before certain stanzas such as "American masses!" and "Workmen and Women!", which makes the poem seem like a call to action, or perhaps Whitman wants to make sure the readers know who he is referring to when speaking.

Although the title no longer calls itself a poem, the stanzas are now numbered! I suppose this is when Whitman figured he was a important enough poet to have numbers on his stanzas for people to easily refer to if they want to talk about it. Although it does make it easier for me to refer to because in this version, Whitman added an entirely new stanza, #32, the second to last, where he professes how much he loves America because of the American people living in it.

Another spectacular change is that Whitman completely removed the lines about the minority ethnic groups that appeared in the poem, the lines starting with ""Iroquois eating the war-flesh..." Why he did this is anybody's guess. Perhaps he wanted to narrow the audience down to the White working class, who, I guess, he might assume, would be the only people reading his poems. I'm not certain.

Now in 1871, the poem changes title to "Carol of Occupations". This is closer to being a song, but it is still somewhat confined to the Christmas tradition. Definitely, it is not as impressive as a chant. It is also pretty excluding of people who do not participate in caroling. There are several changes in this version of the poem. First off, there is a new stanza, #5, in which Whitman inserts his poem title and specifically mentions the labor of engines, trades, and fields. He says, "I find the developments,/And find the eternal meanings", which is a rater presumptuous assertion. Another interesting change is that the "Offspring of those not rich" is changed to "Offspring of ignorant and poor". Very interesting indeed. Also, what's with that "camerado". What is a camerado? Stanzas 24-32 were arranged to come after the stanza that usually marks the end of the poem. I suppose Whitman was reordering what he found the most important.

In 1881 is when Whitman comes to the title "A Song for Occupations", which is also the same title for the 1891 version. Now, a song is more universal than a chant or a carol and especially a poem. The stanzas are no longer numbered, which is only appropriate because it is now a "song". In comparing these two poems to the original one, the changes are drastic aesthetically, but in actuality, the message of the poem remains pretty much unchanged. Whitman is still concerned about the equality about labor forces and worries about how people put more value in objects and ideas more than individual human lives. At the end, he always makes that clear statement: "I intend to reach them my hand, and make as much of them as I do of men and women like you," in reference to these materials and concepts if they could actually accomplish the same feats as humans can. The bottom line is that Whitman believes in the people first a foremost.

In reading all these versions of these poems, I could really see the minute details of Whitman's struggle as a poet and have come to appreciate Whitman's continuous efforts to portray such a simple yet profound message to his readers.

SD: BIRDS AND BIRDS AND BIRDS

Click here for the entry: HERE

This Specimen Days entry is essentially a long list of birds that Whitman sees during this interval of time during spring. He writes that it is remarkable how many different species there are and how beautiful it is when all these different types of birds are all chirping at the same time.

And the mockingbird in the swamp never studied the gamut, yet trills pretty well to me,

And the look of the bay mare shames silliness out of me.

The wild gander leads his flock through the cool night,

Ya-honk! he says, and sounds it down to me like an invitation;

The pert may suppose it meaningless, but I listen closer,

I find its purpose and place up there toward the November sky.

These lines really emphasize that admiration. Their complex simplicity, or should I say, freedom from the shackles of something like a human consciousness, is what makes animals majestic and inspiring in their own right. Man is always wondering at the point of his existence, and Whitman turns to birds to know that there really is no purpose in finding a purpose because the purpose was always there to begin with... or else we wouldn't really be alive now would we?

Tweet-a-Week: Bowery B'hoys

The Bowery B'hoys (a slang term that dubbed the working class class males based in New York) were known for being fun-loving but rowdy boys that were often seen around the city. The Bowery B'hoys loved entertainment, so unsurprisingly, Barnum's American Museum was a favorite attraction of theirs. Naturally Whitman would have been conscious of the existence of the Bowery B'hoys. Critics suggest that Whitman was inspired by the b'hoy culture and had drawn references from that culture into his poetry. Undoubtedly, Whitman does share some of the happy-go-lucky party nature of the b'hoys. However, to say that Whitman himself was a b'hoy would be a mistake.

1855 vs. 1860

The most notable difference is that there is no more "Song of Myself" or at least there is no mention of it.

The opening stanzas themselves mark the drastic shift between the 1855 version and the 1860 version. In the 1860 version:

Elemental drifts!
O I wish I could impress others as you and the waves have just been impressing me.

versus the first stanza of the 1855 edition:

I celebrate myself
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

Whitman is no longer the one who will impart knowledge upon his readers. Instead, in his 1860 stanza, Whitman is the one who takes on the role of the student instead of the teacher. Where did Whitman's egotistic narcissism go? In the span of five years, Whitman seemed to have taken a slice of humble pie with his poetry.

The most noticeable change is that the countless descriptions of people that were evident in "Song of Myself" have now been replaced by scenes of nature. In "Song of Myself" Whitman describes himself as being one with every other person in the world and the shift from man to nature would make one assume that he is now "one with nature", but that is not the case. In the first stanza of the 1860, Whitman says "Oh I wish I could impress others as you and the waves have just been impressing me." This marks a definite distinction between Whitman, the reader, and the natural world.

A motif that appears in the 1860 version is Whitman's "eternal self". Like in "Song of Myself", Whitman says "I am deathless" in "Song of Myself. He is apparently talking about himself existing in the poetry as well as in the making of other human beings. But in the 1860 version, the "eternal self" seems to represent something similar to that of a soul. "Alone, held by the eternal self of me that threatens to get the better of me, and stifle me" does not seem to be representing the self as part of the collective other, but an entity that is separate and individual. Ironically, it is precisely because of this "eternal self" that agitates Whitman and reminds him of his own mortal limitations.

O baffled, balked,

Bent to the very earth, here preceeding what follows,

Oppressed with myself that I have dared to open my mouth,

Aware now, that, amid all the blab whose echoes recoil upon me, I have not once had the least idea who or what I am,

But that before all my insolent poems the real ME still stands untouched, untold, altogether unreached,

Withdrawn far, mocking me with mock-congratulatory signs and bows,

With peals of distant ironical laughter at every word I have written or shall write,

Stirking me with insults till I fall helpless upon the sand.

O I percieve I have not understood anything -not a single object - and that no man ever can

.

If one was not convinced that Whitman took a slice of humble pie, and a particularly large one (maybe even the entire pie itself), then these lines say it all. Whitman's shaken confidence in himself might be a result tensions that led up to the Civil War, which started in 1861. His hopes in "fixing" the world through poetry was undoubtedly naive to begin with and Whitman, by 1860, understood this very well.

The notes from the Blue Book also show other interesting changes to Whitman's style. In the 1855 version, Whitman was very much for the common man, such as his earthy author portrait expressed. However, in 1860, the change is bewilderingly different. The pictures pretty much speak for itself.

vs.

In 1860 Whitman has taken on a more "refined" look more appropriate to the poet while in 1855, he looks nothing like a poet. The notes found in the 1860 version also reflect this sentimentality. Along with notes on the classical literature such as the Aeneid and Paradise, there is also mention of the old and new testament from the Bible. No longer is the poem for the common man, but those who are well educated, a.k.a the wealthy elite.

Tweet-a-Week: Oneida Community

The Oneida Community is one of the utopian communities that sprang up during the nineteenth century. It’s founder, John Humphrey Noyes created the community after a brand of Christianity known as the Perfectionist. In this religion monogamy was considered a sin and Noyes, under his supervision, commanded that everyone must continually switch partners. Undoubtedly, this was controversial as the community often taught children the joys of sex at a young age, partnering young adults in their preteens with older partners that would be considered a senior by any standard. All the men and women were married to each other and children were raised by the entire community.

The concept behind the Oneida Community is radical, even by today’s standards, perfect for our perfectly radical Whitman. The community boasts religious transcendence through love and sex, all themes that interest Whitman to a large extent. In “Song of Myself” there are countless moments where sex, reproductive organs, and reproduction are alluded to. As noted in class, Whitman seems a bit obsessed with the idea of procreation and he also never fails to express his love or potential love to everyone on the planet.

Whitman would have been familiar with its existence since the Oneida Community was based in New York. The controversy of the establishment itself made it a wide known subject to many that were living during the time.

SD: Inauguration Ball

INAUGURATION BALL

March 6. -- I have been up to look at the dance and supper-rooms, for the inauguration ball at the Patent office; and I could not help thinking, what a different scene they presented to my view a while since, fill'd with a crowded mass of the worst wounded of the war, brought in from second Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburgh. To-night, beautiful women, perfumes, the violins' sweetness, the polka and the waltz; then the amputation, the blue face, the groan, the glassy eye of the dying, the clotted rag, the odor of wounds and blood, and many a mother's son amid strangers, passing away untended there, (for the crowd of the badly hurt was great, and much for nurse to do, and much for surgeon.)

This entry is essentially focused around the severe contrast in usage of the rooms for the inauguration ball. Rooms that used to be filled with the injured, ill, and dying were not filled with dancing and music. Both are realities, one ugly and one beautiful, that occupy the same space like the two sides of a coin. To replace the wounded men are beautiful women; the screams and groans of the injured with violins; the odor of disease and death with perfume; the helpless stillness of the overcrowded rooms with waltzing and the polka.

In these contrasting ironies, there appears to be some contempt in Whitman's tone towards the abrupt change. When considering "Song of Myself", Whitman speaks of perfumes in the opening. Perfumes are artificial scents that cover up the natural smells that humans emit. So perhaps Whitman saw the inauguration ball as an insult to what the men had to endure. Whitman purposely describes the injured soldiers as "many a great mother's son amid strangers" to conjure up feelings of guilt for those who taken an impersonal stance against the suffering of the soldiers but show immense enthusiasm for a dance.

Youtubing Whitman

Reading is from page 14.
No actual video, sorry.

Whitman and Contemporaries

Round 1: Whitman vs. Elizabeth Oakes Smith

The first difference to notice is the form. Smith writes in a sonnet form with 14 lines with a rhyme scheme of ababcdcdefefgg, which is typical of a Shakespearean (Elizabethan/English) sonnet. Whitman's poems are done in free verse. The difference is important because these two forms essentially sit on opposite sides of the spectrum ("antipodes" as Whitman would say). The sonnet is a high-brow poetic form that is incredibly strict in its form whereas Whitman is free from following these rules and expresses himself freely without it. However, that is not to say Whitman's poetry is not sophisticated or any easier than crafting a sonnet.

As with sonnets, the couplet at the end is important to the reading of the poem. "I ask it not, not lofty flight be mine;/I would not soar like thee, in loneliness to pine!". Although at first glance, this seems to be an argument against Whitman, it is perhaps aligned with Whitman's views. Whitman, in his poem, does take on that transcendent all-seeing, omniscient perspective that could be similar to that of the bird in Smith's poem, but perhaps, if you look at it in a different way, they are arguing for the same things. Perhaps Smith is saying that she would prefer not to be the bird, forever looking down on Earth or looking up at the sky. In other words, Smith wants to be a participant of life, rather than an observer. However, this begs to question whether if Whitman can be an objective observer of the scene but also a part of it at the same time. In his poem, Whitman watches as well as, at times, become his subject. Whether he can truly see from both the bird's objective perspective as well as the subjective ones of the non-flying entities below, is up for debate.

Round 2: Whitman vs. Anne C. Lynch

Once again, the form is the most distinguishing factor between Whitman's poem and Lynch's "An Imitation". Lynch writes her poem in heroic couplets, an extremely classic form reminiscent of Pope. However, the fact that the poem is named "An Imitation" sets the poems apart from the rest. Interestingly enough, "Excelsior" is also the name of a poem by Whitman. However, upon reading Whitman's version, Lynch's poem does not seem to me, to have imitated him.

The poem reads like a romantic narrative, quite different from "Song of Myself". The poem starts with the narrator recounting a dream where she seems to be under the spell by the word "Excelsior" and journeys through a stormy mountain. Unlike Whitman's poem, there is a definite "drive" in Lynch's. At the very least, there is a beginning and an end where the narrator wants to reach.

SD: Wounds and Diseases

WOUNDS AND DISEASES

The war is over, but the hospitals are fuller than ever, from former and current cases. A large majority of the wounds are in the arms and legs. But there is every kind of wound, in every part of the body. I should say of the sick, from my observation, that the prevailing maladies are typhoid fever and the camp fevers generally, diarrhoea, catarrhal affections and bronchitis, rheumatism and pneumonia. These forms of sickness lead; all the rest follow. There are twice as many sick as there are wounded. The deaths range from seven to ten per cent. of those under treatment.

Whitman points out in this entry that the casualties of war, those who are dying because of the war are not dying from wounds as much as they are dying from diseases that are often result from war. It is ironic that the armies are killing themselves faster than they can kill each other.

Death is occasionally mentioned in "Song of Myself".

Has any one supposed it lucky to be born?

I hasten to inform him or her it is just as lucky to die, and I know it.

I pass death with the dying...

With the agony and suffering of hanging on to the thin strings of life, it is not surprise that Whitman believes death to be just as lucky as being born. Life, although beautiful and wonderful, is also full of suffering and pain. There are, of course, many more instances of death from battle or from sickness that crops up in "Song of Myself", too many to mention here. However, Whitman is sympathetic towards those who are wounded: "Agonies are one of my changes of garments;/ I do not ask the wounded person how he feels.... I myself become the wounded person" (27). Whitman wants to avoid all this meaningless death and suffering.

Another important stanza on how Whitman views death:

Were mankind murderous or jealous upon you my brother or my sister?

I am sorry for you....they are not murderous or jealous upon me;

All has been gentle with me......I keep no account with lamentation;

What have I to do with lamentation?

Here Whitman is preaching against lamentation. He denies that mankind has treated him unkindly. If they had, he has probably already forgiven them since he "keep[s] no account with lamentation". To not dwell on the wrongs others have committed you is the best way to keep yourself from committing wrongs upon others.

Tweet-A-Week: Barnum's American Museum

Barnum's American Museum was a five-story attraction that held a wide-ranging amount of spectacles from different backgrounds and aspects of the world. It was a mesh of reality and fantasy, attractions for the imagination and that which is stranger than fiction. Whitman lived and worked on the same street as this museum that was open six days a week and fifteen hours a day. Due to its humongous popularity for those from every walk of life, Whitman, from a singular spot on the globe, was exposed to a large variety of people and ideas. Barnum's American museum was "the premier attraction of New York City". Whitman was recorded of having visited the museum at least twice and actually interviewed Barnum. However, what seemed to have interested Whitman was not so much what was inside the museum as much as it was the people who came and went.

It is not surprising in the least that Whitman much preferred watching people over the attractions in the museum. After reading "Song of Myself", it is evident that Whitman is much more interested in human kind in his or her natural form rather than the artificially created exhibits where the living things within are kept behind cages to be gawked at rather than observed in their natural habitat. When reading "Song of Myself", I noticed that there were many stanzas which simply listed various scenarios and people, which ties in nicely with Whitman's interest in "people-watching". However, even though Whitman does not explicitly talk about any of the attractions at the museum, it hardly means he was not influenced by them.

There are many instances in "Song of Myself" where Whitman travels back and forth in time and across countries. When visiting the 3-D tour of the museum, in the first room there are countless paintings hung on the wall, many featuring scenes from nature which could have contributed to Whitman's poetry. Whitman's varied vocabulary as well as his at-times obscure references could have possibly be influenced by the museum.

Under the Sea

Quotes on the sea:

"The deckhands make fast the steamboat, the plank is thrown for the shoregoing passengers"

"The regatta is spread on the bay… how the white sails sparkle!"

"Off on the lakes the pikefisher watches and waits by the hole in the frozen surface"

"A boatman over the lakes or bays or along coasts..."

"Vivas to those who have failed, and to those whose war vessels sank in the sea, and those themselves who sank in the sea.
And to all generals that lost engagements, and all overcome heroes, and the numberless unknown heroes equal to the greatest heroes known."

Comment: These lines are within a stanza about battles and Whitman is saluting those who have died in them. I chose to comment on these two lines in particular because the sea, in a sense, is an all encompassing after-life for many. Death has no prejudices and everyone is equal once they die. Within the sea, the distinguished and the commoners lay side by side. Whitman considers all who die heroes.

"You sea! I resign myself to you also….I guess what you mean,
I behold from the beach your crooked inviting fingers,
I believe you refuse to go back without feeling of me;
We must have a turn together….I undress….hurry me out of sight of the land,
Cushion me soft….rock me in a billowy drowse,
Dash me with amorous wet….I can repay you."

Comment: This stanza follows a long dedication to "Earth" and then two shorter stanzas on passionate and how "we hurt each other as the bridgroom and the bride hurt each other." This is the first long section on the sea by Whitman. As the first stanza shows, the sea ends up being personified as his lover. However, the “you” can be rather ambiguous in these lines. Whether he is referring to “you” as the reader, or “you” the sea, or maybe even both at once is hard to distinguish. The sea is a wonderful metaphor for Whitman’s desire to merge with the reader to become one, and if you consider the stanzas leading in, Whitman could mean that in a erotic and sexual way.
However, another reading could be to consider that the sea is the reader and the merging of Whitman into the sea is his poetry into our minds… The last sentence in particular is odd: "I can repay you". Whitman is saying that if you partake in this grand scheme of his (penetrating into his poetry so to speak...) you can benefit from it.

"Sea of stretched ground-swells!
Sea of breathing broad and convulsive breaths!
Sea of the brine of life! Sea of unshovelled and always-ready graves!
Howler and scooper of storms! Capricious and dainty sea!
I am integral with you…. I too am of one phase and of all phases"

Comment: This stanza immediately follows the previous one and the sea takes on a new definition. Instead of the sea being the reader, the sea is now the actual sea. This sea takes on similar qualities to that of land. It has its “stretched ground-swells”, but is also a place for “unshovelled and always-ready graves”. This description is similar to my first commented quote about how all are equal in death. The sea collects and takes in all the waste from land, it is “the brine of life”. All the waste from the land ends up being washed out to see, therefore the sea ends up collecting the trash that the land creates. In a sense, the sea is an ideal metaphor for Whitman because it contains a piece of everything and is all encompassing.

"The mariners put the ship through dangerous unknown seas,
This is the geologist, and this works with the scalpel, and this is a mathematician."

"It sails me….I dab with bare feet….they are licked by the indolent waves,
I am exposed….cut by bitter and poisoned hail"

"Scorched ankle-deep by the host sand….hauling my boat down the shallow river"

"Where the she-whales swims with her calves and the never forsakes them,
Where the steamship trails hindways its long pennant of smoke,
Where the ground-shark’s fin cuts like a black chip out of the water,
Where the half-burned brig is riding on unknown currents,
Where shells grow to her slimy deck, and the dead are corrupting below;
Where the striped and starred flag is borne at the head of the regiments"

"I ascend to the foretruck….I take my place late at night in the crow’s nest….we sail through the arctic sea….it is plenty light enough"

"How the skipper saw the crowded and rudderless wreck of the steamship, and death chasing it up and down the storm,
How he knuckled tight and gave not back one inch, and was faithful of days and faithful of nights"

"Did you read in the seabooks of the oldfashiond frigate-fight?
Did you learn who won by the light of the moon and stars?"

"Our foe was no skulk in his ship, I tell you…
We had received some 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

Ten o’clock at night, and the full moon shining and the leaks on the gain, and five feet of water reported,
The master-at-arms loosing the prisoners confined in the after-hold to give them a chance for themselves."

"The panorama of the sea….but the sea itself?"

"Long have you timidly waded, holding a plank by the sore,
Now I will you to be a bold swimmer,
To jump off in the midst of the sea, and rise again and nod to me and shout, and laughingly dash with your hair."

Comment: This is Whitman’s last reference to the sea in “Songs of Myself”, and not surprisingly too. In the previous stanza, Whitman has already begun talking about how he plans to enlighten the readers, to "wash the gum from your eyes" as he says. So in the stanza following, Whitman continues this line of reasoning by asking the reader to stop drifting and start swimming, to stop living only at the surface of the water, but to delve deep and into the sea and discover what lies beneath.

Analysis:

Just as Whitman describes the woods as a way to get to know oneself, the sea is where you go as a collective. Naked, wet and together would be the theme to consider (like the 29 bathers). The metaphor of the sea is perfect for describing how Whitman wants us to read his poetry. Literally, he would prefer if we metaphorically dived into it and swim around, enjoying the pleasurable sensations and feelings of the words. As we discussed in class, the hierarchy of senses is disrupted, especially if one is submerged in water; you cannot see, hear, smell (and you probably should not open your mouth to taste anything). Swimming is purely touch without any of the other senses getting in the way.