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.

Tweet-a-Week: Peter Doyle

Doyle, born in Limerick City, Ireland, was a working man, conducting streetcars, serving as an artilleryman for the Confederacy, all the while supporting his mother and siblings. One stormy winter night in 1865, while on his shift operating the car, he had a fateful encounter with a man he would become extremely close to -- and ultimately become a significant figure in the older man's life.

A poetic muse.

Regardless of whether he was a lover, a very close friend, etc., Doyle is someone dear who inspired Whitman in ways that took the poet to learn, experience, and create ideas. Perhaps it's no wonder why Whitman marvels and beholds working men -- he happens to know a great one himself! We see the amiable qualities of supporting oneself through physical labor, shoveling through the rank of not only being a worker, but also out of the mere generalization of a worker -- the man behind the wheel, the gun, etc. Doyle represents the lovable, loyal family man that becomes linked with the workingman character in poems such as "Song of Myself" and especially so in "Song of Occupations". There's also his self-dubbed nickname, "Pete the Great", that shares the same "stance" and swagger as Whitman's message of "I am me and you are you" and "I am the cosmos" -- extended even more with Whitman describing him as a "hearty full-blooded everyday divinely generous working man: a hail-fellow-well-met".

There is also, to note, the notion that Doyle may have influenced Whitman's decision to remove certain poems from his 1867 version of Leaves of Grass. According to Streitmatter:

For some scholars, the strongest impact of the relationship is found in the works Whitman deleted from the 1867 edition. That is, Whitman removed a number of poems that had appeared in the previous edition and that critics characterize as expressing the poet’s earlier “self-doubt and despair.” They say that Whitman eliminated these works because he’d now found the love of his life and therefore was in a “more optimistic mood.” In the words of one scholar, “Walt’s new-found confidence in love was, in large measure, a result of his satisfying relationship with Pete.”

If this is the case, it really makes me wonder about the subtle changes in Whitman's poetry that came from knowing Doyle -- the subtle things only those two would have known, little inside jokes or sayings between them that may seem normal but hold more weight. The powers of such a muse are vast -- he is Pete the Great, in the end.

Digression.

I actually find the photo posted on the motherblog even more interesting after reading this from Veasey's article:

Whitman was a burly six feet tall; Doyle, a slender five foot eight. Their differences extended beyond the physical. Whitman was a government clerk, journalist, and a published poet; Doyle, a workingman supporting his widowed mother and younger siblings. Whitman prided himself on patriotism; his brother George was a Union soldier, and he’d spent the last two years nursing the wounded in Washington’s army hospitals. Doyle had been a Confederate artilleryman, who’d obtained release from federal prison by claiming to be a British subject (born in Limerick, Ireland, he and his family emigrated here when he was a child). Pete and Walt were living proof that opposites attract.


In the photo (if we just consider it true in its black and white form), the two's opposite appearances come out more. Here we have the older Whitman and younger Doyle, the light-hatted Whitman and dark-fedora-ed Doyle, the dark-coated Whitman and the light-coated Doyle, the bulkier Whitman and the slender Doyle, and even the front-facing Whitman and back-facing Doyle. It's funny to think how, really, opposites can attract (though I guess it doesn't always happen, when it does, it really sets off quite a spark and magnetism).










Streitmatter, Rodger. Outlaw Marriages ~ The Hidden Histories of Fifteen Extraordinary Same-Sex Couples. Beacon Press, 2012. Web. <http://www.lgbt-today.com/news-a-articles/featured-articles/171-walt-whitman-a-peter-doyle--a-gay-poet-a-his-muse->.


Veasey, Jack. "Gay History Project: Walt Whitman and Peter Doyle." Erie Gay News. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.eriegaynews.com/news/article.php?recordid=200910whitmandoyle>.

Possible Projects

Ah, I can't help but feel like there are several possibilities to take on. So, because of my indecisiveness, I'll just list out the two ideas that I have:

1) YouTubing Whitman Remix -- Nature's Candy
Huh, the title sounds a lot more cutesy-cool than what it probably is. Anyway, 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

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?

2) Motif: The Three Images of God
It may not seem that way, but I feel like there's plenty more to look into on this particular motif. When I did this project, I was looking for blunt and obvious mentions and references to God and religion, but what if there were subtle subtexts that relate without outright stating it? (What if any garden scenery could relate to the Garden of Eden?). I also want to include more stuff about the church and any roles it may play, and maybe, too, include some background information on how religion was practiced and thought of during this particular time -- and what about during, before, and after the Civil War, too? Overall, the treasure hunt of quotes feels unfulfilled and could use some more excavations -- the fun part about looking for quotes (or looking for artifacts) is finding new meanings and depths and explaining their signifying characteristics. In the end, if Whitman is claiming the cosmos and also explaining that one's own "specialness" is beyond that, then there may be a question of religion, and that spark may have set off flames -- that's also something to look into.

Tweet-a-Week: Martin F. Tupper

Tupper decided to try his luck sharing his work with the American public, falling flat on his face for not gaining popularity. However, when he published "Proverbial Philosophy", he garnered wide acclaim that, in newspaper reviews, swindled over time. If being considered "Tupperish" is essentially bad, and Tupper also had a piece of work called "The Crock of Gold", I sort of wonder of the phrase "crock-pot" relates to him in some way...that aside, after some quick glancing around, I'm still not quite sure what "Proverbial Philosophy"  is all about. Perhaps it's reputation became what people thought it to be, much like how Leaves of Grass turned out to be for some people.
According to Joseph L. Coulomb's ""To Destroy the Teacher": Whitman and Martin Farquhar Tupper's 1851 Trip to America", "Whitman openly admired the popular English author of "Proverbial Philosophy" (1838). Whitman had written in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle that, "the author, Mr. Tupper, is one of the rare men of the time." Tupper had received much backlash and overall public attention, and Whitman not only caught notice of the man's somewhat celebrity status via the newspaper accounts, but also used it to promote himself.
Critics even compared Tupper and Whitman several times, though it was usually in a negative light. For example, again, according to Coulomb's article, "a reviewer for the London Leader described Whitman's verse as 'wild, irregular, unrhymed, almost unmetrical 'lengths,' like the measured prose of Mr. Martin Farquhar Tupper's Proverbial Philisophy." Also "in the London Examiner, a critic supposed that, had Tupper been a self-satisfied backwoods auctioneer, 'reading and fancying himself not only an Emerson but a Carlyle and an American Shakespeare to bot,' then he would have written a 'book exactly like Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass", suggesting that the two are inter-related. Whitman had these two reviews included in his 1855 and 1856 editions of Leaves of Grass, again continuing his use on Tupper's reputation to garner his own attention. It's interesting that, sort of like Whitman, Tupper started out as a "nobody" in the United States known for poorly written work, and Whitman decided to use the scandalous image of Tupper to get himself out there -- to mix "outcast" with "outcast". Indeed, perhaps the outlandish and crude method did build up on his messages in Leaves of Grass or made him seem more lowly -- but in the end, it probably served Whitman's intentions no matter what.


Coulombe, Joseph L. ""To Destroy the Teacher": Whitman and Martin Farquhar Tupper’s 1851 Trip to America." Walt Whitman Quarterly Review. 1996: 199-209. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. <http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1533&context=wwqr>.