Specimen Days: Answer to an Insisting Friend

Answer to an Insisting Friend

From a glance at the title, it would appear that there is some sort of awkward strain from a "friend." The “insisting friend” must have demanded much work from Whitman by seeking information of such the nature of “genealogy and parentage”. Such information, I feel, seem to relate to the orderly, working nature of “civilized” society almost. To research, configure, and collect them to plot out the details probably would take so much time of being confined to books, an office, and most of all, old information (“far back Netherlands stock”).

Interestingly, however, Whitman goes to say that such details can only be discovered and understood “by exploring behind, perhaps very far behind, themselves directly, and so into their genesis, antecedents, and cumulative stages.” It seems as if he’s saying, instead of going through the labor of directly and literally researching and learning one’s roots, he insists that there is an otherworldly approach to it. By using one’s senses, one can reach into the mind of one’s self and go beyond their natural means to access such information for themselves – through such enlightened senses. I think it’s funny how he says that he gives the offer of telling such things in his own way (“garrulous-like) that “save labor”; it solidifies his idea of not needing to conform to the typical “business” of learning such information and that such knowledge can be found within the self.

I wonder why such information would serve as background information necessary for “Leaves of Grass.” Does the “friend” wish to learn more about Whitman to compare his ideas? Wouldn’t that be somewhat against the point of trying to understand the poem (by taking on the “orderly” approach to compare such a self to the “loafing” individual who, in the end, is the same, and great version of one’s self?) I suppose it’s not too surprising though, since the poem is trying to teach readers such ideals before they may be ready or sure of such a message.

"Song of Myself": Some Favorite Lines

1) "The camera and plate are prepared, the lady must sit for her daguerreotype,
The bride unrumples her white dress, the minutehand of the clock moves slowly,
The opium eater reclines with rigid head and just-opened lips,
The prostitute drags her shawl, her bonnet bobs on her tipsy and pimpled neck,
The crowd laughs at her blackguard oaths, the men jeer and wink to each other,
(Miserable! I do not laugh at your oaths nor jeer you)"

(p.10)
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For the section assigned to us, these lines stood out to me the most for their provoking imagery and sense of direct comparison. Whitman definitely seems to go for concrete details to add to worldly sense, but there is still the abstract, key ideas of likeness and comparison between different ideas (like the "free" vs the "civilized" or the "outside" vs the "inside").

In the first section, I feel like there is a direct comparison between the bride and the prostitute. The lady has to sit still and for a long amount of time before the picture from the camera can be developed. It must be uncomfortable to not only stay in a certain position for such a long time ("the minutehand of the clock moves slowly"), but to also stay like that in bridal dress? It could be worse, I suppose, but there's still a sense of rigid stillness there that can reflect off the sense of "orderly fashion"; a bride's dress is white to sort of symbolize the purity of the wife-to-be. But this purity does not seem to be of a natural source; society orders women to abide to such standards -- I would also think being confined to such a life would leave "dust" on such supposed white cleanliness.

On the opposite spectrum, there's the prostitute who seems to lazily, but freely, wander about with what can be considered a sloppy sense of style. She does not uphold herself to the standards of the bride, but, because she does not do so, people see her as unfitting (and yet fitting for sexual desires, knowing that she is free from that social norm -- so people are okay with breaking free secretly once in a while?). One thing I also noticed is how she is said to possess "blackguard oaths". To me, the "black" contrasts with the white dress of the former lady, with the black reflecting the prostitute's "unclean" morals or values. Oddly though, society, in a strange way, accepts this only because of the outlet it gives men to experience a sense of "freedom" or pleasure when they feel the need to do so. And yet, the speaker

Nevertheless, while it is seen to be that prostitution is form of "loafing", it is a choice that is more "free". To get paid to not only give but also to receive pleasure sure sounds like an easy, fun job -- once one gets past the social consequences. But to loaf comes with that, though it's not much to worry about if one seeks to be close to one's senses.

Tweet-a-week: Wilmot Proviso

The Wilmot Proviso was a treaty that called for so that any land acquired from the Mexican War would not be subject to any means or practices of slavery. What sounded like a step toward equality and the abolition of slavery was really a fight by the North against Southern prominence (due to support from the apparently Southern-biased President Polk). Nevertheless, even though it did not become law despite many passings, the Wilmot Proviso served as one of several other catalysts that raised tensions between the North and South and led to the Civil War.

It's funny to think of how Whitman was among many Northerners who at first did not care for the slaves, but rather the maintenance of the country's unity as a whole. Expansion into the West was a threat, not necessarily the institution of slavery itself. Even though later he would see slaves differently, the abolitionist movement still was seen negatively in his eyes because it would disrupt the unity within the US. It seems that this view exhibits his sense of political reality that calls for order and unity for the country at any cost.

However, in the poems found in "Leaves of Grass" such as "Song of Myself," a different perspective on slaves can be read. Whitman identifies with all, including slaves; in a direct example, the speaker of the poem observes a slave handling a team of horses, noting that "his glance is calm and commandering" and "the sun falls on his crispy hair and moustache...falls on the black of his polish'd and perfect limbs" (p.8).  He essentially "behold[s] the picturesque giant...and love[s] him" (p.8). The poem, overall, speaks of unity, but the kind between all beings, all being grand, great, and good. Here, there is more hope for the equality of all people in contrast to the lack of concern toward slaves.

Overall, it seems like Whitman might have had some change of heart in regard to how he saw slaves before and during the Civil War. Poetry served as a gateway into a more conscientious sense of being and as a egalitarian approach to life. Though there still remained that threat of democracy and unity within the Union (and though Whitman still opposed abolitionists for being part of that threat as they pit themselves against the South), the presence of a hope for a more unified future (within the country and among people) can be found in his poetry.



Bibliography

Klammer, Martin. "Slavery and Abolitionism." (1998): n. page. Print. <http://whitmanarchive.org/criticism/current/encyclopedia/entry_51.html>.

Reynolds, David S. "Politics and Poetry: Whitman's Leaves of Grass and the Social Crisis of the 1850s." n. page. Print. <http://www.thehamptons.com/words/reynolds/politics_and_poetry.html>.


Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. 150th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.


"Wilmot's Proviso." U.S. History Online Textbook. n. page. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. <http://www.ushistory.org/us/30a.asp>.