A Look into Rukeyser's "The Book of the Dead" and Whitman's "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd"

Rukeyser's first five stanzas stand on this surface of seeing how people tend to fear and avoid death as a topic. Here, too, the "you" takes the people as a collective body going through the same experience. "The people", the readers, then are introduced to the dark cloud of gloom over death and the vague social taboo that prevents people from openly talking about the problem. Like Whitman, there's the sense of isolation, but the feeling is being sent to the reader as their own (and the narrator) as opposed to Whitman bearing this pain for himself but expressing it as a great grief over a great loss. In that regard, the message comes across, to me, as a reader, as a direct experience, whereas Whitman's poem becomes a personal, engaging encounter with the narration's sharing of his experience (as if I'm listening to a friend speak for himself and feeling what he feels).

On that note, Whitman goes from addressing a fellow mourner (perhaps "the people") of the dead to also directly confronting a metaphorical manifestation of Death. As the narration seeks to overcome grief, Death as a personification becomes a force to interact, encounter, antagonize, accept, and to converse and rejoice with. Something similar is also going on with the star in the night sky and the bird, as the struggle between being trapped by sorrow and praise for Death evolves into a final song -- the latter has won. To me, because Whitman writes of a direct conflict with the dead via these literary devices, somehow his mourning comes alive (ironic as that is), and becomes something that can be shared in an empathetic sort of way. One can feel the inner conflict between denial of the loss or feeling trapped by accepting death as some natural force that reigns our lives (and also as something that serves as a wonderful force, as much as we tend not to see the true face of our "dark mother") and celebrating the passing as freedom of suffering for the departed as also as a striking feature of life. On the other hand, I get the impression that the speaker in Rukeyser's poem also has a less despairing insight on death, but it is different from Whitman's message in that, the future is bright because there's "another day"for us as the living. Death still looms, but we must grow to accept it in the regard that, while we still hold the fate and the past dearly, there still is more to press on forward.

Carl Sandburg: Investigation and Discussion Questions

"Achelous and Hercules" by Thomas Hart Benton


Inspired by Whitman, the man of multitudes, of the cosmos, and self-proclaimed voice of the people, Carl Sandburg, in the world of 1930's Chicago, shares his own message and tells his own tale of the people. We are going to take a look at what his story evokes and involves and juxtapose it with our favorite loafer's Leaves of Grass.


Download the selected sections of The People, Yes and, while reading through them, consider and respond to the following set of questions:

1. (As worded by James) While reading select passages from Carl Sandburg’s The People, Yes, ask yourself how you think Sandburg views his function as a poet. Then, think about how these ideas ultimately define “The People, Yes” and its objective. Do these ideas differ from those that Whitman projects in poems like “Song of Myself” about his role as a poet? Does the objective of Leaves of Grass differ from the objective of The People, Yes? How so, or why not? (You might take a look at the concluding section of “Song of Myself.” Here, Whitman writes that he is “untranslatable.” What does Whitman mean when he says he is “untranslatable?” Would you consider Sandburg “untranslatable” from what you have read? Why or why not?)
2. (Considering also Casey's question) Take a closer look at Section 57 and notice how Sandburg introduces Abraham Lincoln into his poem and what sort of role he gives to him. Having considered the differences and similarities between the objectives of “The People, Yes” and “Leaves of Grass", how would you describe the methods by which the two poets represent Lincoln, and ultimately, their ideas? How may those processes be representative of their own worlds? What possible effects would these have on their readers?

For Thursday's discussion of these questions and Sandburg's The People, Yes, I probably am going to ask you all about what you think about each of the poet's "effectiveness" -- what do you think about how each of the two carried out their messages? Are you, as the reader, convinced by how and what they each say? This is something to just keep in mind, so don't worry about answering this in your blogs. Also, be sure to check out the other Sandburg posts, as there maybe some other things to keep track of like extra trinkets of information and thoughts to look out for to help further your understanding of Sandburg.

Investigation: 9/11 Poems + "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd"

"Hum" by Ann Lauterbach

Compared to Whitman's struggle to overcome loss as seen in "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", I get the impression that Lauterbach's poem posesses a calm tone. The repeating lines of "the days are beautiful" seems assuring that things will be alright, despite the fact that "the towers are yesterday". The tone does dissipate for a moment when mentions of the towers and dust -- but even then, I feel like there's the impression that the changing scenery seems to be another "incidental" moment during the days. Following is the calming images of "the bridge over the water" -- as if the torment has calmed and is now under wraps as the days continue. By contrast, Whitman's poem has emotions ebb and flow -- he tries to figure out how to get over his mourning self whereas this poem has achieved this calm and acceptance. While Whitman's star is hidden by dark clouds, Lauterbach's scenery (weather) is hidden by dust. However, when these impediments are cleared, there is the contrast of hope in that Whitman sings of celebration (of moving on) while Lauterbach sees another day -- peace after the incident that so happened to take place. In terms of structure, Lauterbach's poem is consistent with it's two short lines, maintaining the continuous, repetitive tone of the poem -- not even the tragedy breaks the momentum, as it's part of the pattern. Whitman, being the free verse writer, is as varied as his intense emotions of suffering, mourning, contemplation and celebration. His poem describes the process of losing a loved one in its entirety, from initial suffering, to confusion/uncertainty, and finally, release from that pain. I feel it holds true and dearer to more readers as most would undergo this process and are unable to maintain their composure -- it would be pleasurable, then, in the end, to finally be able to let go and feel the remorse sting less or no more.

"Boerum Hill, (September 2001)" by Kimiko Hahn

Like Lauterbach's poem, Hahn's poem follows the organization and structure of a predetermined follow, though, in this case, it is derived from the poetic form of the tanka (though even though it is labeled as such on the link, I'm not sure if it is actually following the 5-7-5-7-7 order -- oh well. Anyway, Hahn's tanka provides scenes of 9/11 and some parts of its aftermath. Here, like Whitman, the imagery evokes a sense of loss, the pain that comes from death, its funeral processions, and trying to overcome the loss and absence of people like the wife's husband that is mentioned. However, in Hahn's poem, the pain does not go away, in sections 22 and 25, the speaker of the poem seems to have a bitter resentment toward tourists -- they do not know the true nature of the tragedy, they do not know what it was like to mourn for loved ones, and they have the audacity to come to take pictures and marvel at what is supposed to represent and mark the memorial of the many deaths that took place on 9/11. In the end, there isn't that step from mourning to the acceptance of death and its following celebration. From Whitman, we can see that it is perhaps possible to move on, but naturally it may take time and involve suffering and denial of what has come to pass.

Project Development

I decided to go ahead and develop my first idea of a project more. After thinking about the questions Thursday's class, I realized that I would probably enjoy and benefit from it more. First, I'll just post the first "draft" of the project here:


1) YouTubing Whitman Remix
I'm not really savvy when it comes to taking and editing videos, but I feel  more welcome in the realm of photography. I really wanted to choose another location for my video, but couldn't due to lack of transportation and the will to walk half an hour on a cold day. That aside, I would love to take on a longer excerpt from the poem (if not the entire poem, if the project requires such ambition) and combine it with a slideshow of images taken by myself within the sphere of my hometown, the city of Hercules -- all to capture the natural essences that Whitman has entwined in "Song of Myself". I really love the idea of using images (or anything visual) to bring more out of a poem's imagery. It does feel sort of contradictory to go with "showing" rather that "feeling" what Whitman wants to convey; nevertheless, until it is possible for us to be able to actually be within the pictures we take, this will have to do! Whitman's details of natural scenery really do paint a beautiful picture and, at the same time, do not lose sight (or touch) of its reality; the beauty comes not from dreamy clouds or spores, but instead from solid soil and grassroots. Thus, if I can take on trekking to the beach by the bay, the hidden forest, the dirt paths near and across the train tracks, it would not only be a fun field day of taking digital pictures, but it would also feel like a rough adventure through nature. Or even, instead of "Song of Myself" I could also look into "Song of Occupations" or even "Calamus" (since it's a fresh new seed of thoughts in my mind). This could be even more helpful -- what kinds of images does Whitman evoke from nature to support his ground-breaking notions? Are they "consistent" (I say this rather objectively since a poet's style can change over time, but there's still that unique voice) with each other in other poems?


So, imagery (with emphasis on nature) is the main subject, and the overall presentation will be a slideshow. I probably will also record myself reading the lines, and so while I go out to various locations to get scenic photos, I'll also have to bring my laptop or something to record myself while there -- it would feel weird reading from my room and not getting sound effects in on what's supposed to be a sort of representation of the scenes found in the poem. In the end, my goal is to try to emulate the senses Whitman is evoking from his descriptions of nature and how they relate to his work as a whole -- or at least I hope that makes as much sense anyway as it does in my mind.