Leaves Of Grass Essay, Research Paper

The incredible Walt Whitman was a man with many talents. One of these talents being that he could see the world in a view that very few of us could comprehend. He saw the world for what it was and what it could be, nevertheless he saw people for who we are and what we could be. In many people s opinion the world has never seen a more talented and dynamic writer. In leaves of grass Whitman begins with his physical poetry, and then proceeds to his spiritual side, and concludes with a spiritual resurrection. Even though his poetry might be hard to read once it is understood, his ideas fall into place. Once these ideas fall into place we the reader get a sense that there is so much more out there to look at. As we look at the way Whitman analyzes and theorizes life it makes us think about the bigger picture of life and ignore all the small things that surround us.

It is obvious after reading Leaves Of Grass that this is a collection of poems that are written according to Whitman s life. The first part of the collection deals with the physical side of Whitman s ideology of life and of humans. One of Whitman s fundamental ideas was the doctrine of identity , which seems to mean to him is the uniting of two animals to reproduce. Whitman says, the soul of the universe is the male and genital master and the impregnating and animating spirit-Physical matter is Female and Mother and waits barren and bloomless, the jets of life from the masculine vigor. (The Roots of Whitman s Grass pg.134) Here we see an example of Whitman talking about reproduction between a man and a woman. This is obvious an example of physical sexual relations in which Whitman often talked about in Leaves of Grass, but his favorite subject to talk about was nature. Many of his poems deal with his ideas of nature and how it relates to us. Take these lines off of poem number twenty-two from song of myself:

Sea of stretch d ground swells!

Sea breathing broad and conclusive breaths!

Sea of the brine of life! Sea of unshovell d yet 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.

Here we see how Whitman really sees that nature and us are intertwined and that there is really no difference between the two. These examples play an interval part in Whitman s ideology about the human race.

About two-thirds into leaves of grass Whitman changes pace and talks more about his spiritual side. Starting around poem number forty we see a Whitman in which he engulfed in his spirituality Whitman goes on to write about how he feels about his spirituality. In poem number forty-three Whitman expresses his acceptance for all religions as he goes on to say:

I do not despise you, priests;

My faith is the greatest of faiths, and the least of faiths,

Enclosing worship ancient and modern, and all between ancient and modern,

Believing I shall come again upon the earth after five thousand years,

Waiting responses from oracles, honoring the Gods, saluting the sun.

Whitman give examples of each religion and by saying my faith is the greatest in faiths, and the least of faiths he is essentially saying he believes he is part of all religions because all religions have a common god. Whitman also believes that he is a part of every man and that every man is a part of him. Part of poem number thirty seven displays this attitude perfectly:

I embody all presence s outlaw d or suffering;

See myself in prison shaped like another man,

And feel the dull unintermitted pain.

For me the keepers of convicts shoulder their carbines and keep watch;

It is let out in the morning, and barr d at night.

I need another body paragraph and conclusion then I should have 1500 words. Sir I m really struggling with this, I don t know what to do!!