Essay on Whitmans Music as a Means of Expression

Whitmans Music as a Means of Expression In his verses, Walt Whitman eradicates divisions of individual entities while simultaneously celebrating their unique characteristics. All components of the universe are united in a metaphysical intercourse, and yet, are assigned very distinct qualities so as to keep their identities intact. Often times, Whitman demonstrates these conceptions through elements of song. â€Å"Walt Whitman caroled throughout his verse. For the Bard of Democracy, as America came to call our great poet, music was a central metaphor in his life and work, both as a mindset and as a practical reality.† (Hampson) His musical poetry lyrically encompasses themes of social equality. Whitman enterprises a communion of persons†¦show more content†¦Working in several diverse venues, including politics, allowed Whitman to adequately deliver an enthusiastically American voice in his work, stemming from an evident American consciousness. Whitman’s poetry is a result of observing the beginnings of industrialization in New York, which produced a ground-breaking manufacturing of not only machinery, but of thought. Whitman was a pioneer of this era; incorporating the modernity of the time to his works. â€Å"Whitman witnessed the rapid growth of the city and wanted to write a new kind of poetry in tune with mankinds new faith, hopeful expectations and energy of his days.† (Reynolds 34) He embraced the typical American mindset and applied it to his poetry to sufficiently represent a universal experience. Though Whitman is often the victim of accusations of homosexuality based on the controversial content of his poetry, his innovative themes and the revolutionary style in which they were delivered was not compromised. Many diverse characters manifested themselves in the voice of Whitman. Through his writing, he shrewdly offers an egalitarian approach to viewing society and the individuals that compose it. This revolutionary technique is an undeniable product of the rapidly growing economy and social environment that surrounded him. The approaching industries effected people of all varieties, which Whitman captured in his poetry. While embodying aShow MoreRelatedWhitman s Influence On Society And The Lives Of Authors And Artists Who Came After Him Essay2202 Words   |  9 Pagessociety tools to promote creative expression and the essence of democracy. However, Whitman’s methods had to be adopted over time to touch/bring attention to different social issues. Two authors who were able to branch off of Whitman’s works and ideas were Isadora Duncan and James Baldwin. By analyzing these two important characters of history, we will be able explore two different social issues in two different eras and how Duncan and Baldwin refined Whitman’s approach in order to make a statementRead MoreThe Father Of Free Verse By Walt Whitman2965 Words   |  12 Pagesjournalist o f all time. Mr. Whitman became famous for his form of writing poetry and the many different kinds of genres he would pick. Whitman’s oeuvre is considered some of the best of all time. No other author had ever used â€Å"free verse† when writing, which meant that the poetry had no rhyme and meter. He also possessed a profound sense of democracy. Whitman’s biggest and greatest piece he ever wrote was called Leaves of Grass. It was a series of collected poetry that Whitman spent most of hisRead More Whitman and Neruda as Grassroots Poets Essays1812 Words   |  8 Pagesa similarity of purpose between the two poets who employed different structural styles of writing. First and foremost, the term â€Å"grassroots† hinges on a sense of community. It implies a political motivation from the bottom up. Neruda’s and Whitman’s common search for identity, both on a personal and especially a larger scale, is closely tied to ideas of community. Through their writings these poets explored the meaning of being American (North and South), and managed to evoke a feeling of onenessRead MoreSex Sexuality in the Poetry of Walt Whitman3834 Words   |  16 Pagesdeeper insight into Walt Whitmans sexuality that is still a question on agenda. There are readers and critics who state that it is a shame to humble his poetry to this level, but I think that he was homosexual in his era the topic cannot be left untouched, because therefore this factor was very influential on his everyday life, thinking and hence on his poetry, too. His only volume, Leaves of Grass Ââ€" that was published several times Ââ€" was first published at in 1855 Whitmans expense. As it can beRead MoreWalts Whitmans Vision of America in Leaves of Grass17685 Words   |  71 PagesWalt Whitman’s vision of America in Leaves of Grass Valentine†©Abbet†© TRAVAIL†©DE†©MATURITE†© †© Sous†©la†©direction†©d’Anne†©Roland†Wurzburger†© Gymnase†©du†©Bugnon,†©Lausanne†© 2012†©  «I have sung the body and the soul, war and peace have I sung, and the songs of life and death, And the songs of birth, and shown that there are many births. I have offerd my style to every one, I have journeyd with confident step; While my pleasure is yet at the full I whisper So long! » Walt Whitman, So Long !, Deathbed editionRead MoreEssay on Jack Kerouacs On the Road and Allen Ginsbergs Howl3843 Words   |  16 Pagesdefine each other. The â€Å"pervasiveness of consent † therefore characterises the fifties, against which these Beat texts can be contrasted. Theodore Roszak’s 1969 article ‘The Making of a Counterculture,’ helps define beat ideology as â€Å"heightened self-expression and often a rejection of political and authoritative institutions†¦ a negative spirit of the times coupled with a specific lifestyle .† Both On the Road and Howl and their author’s lifestyles of their writers reflect this criterion, in idiomaticRead MorePoem Analysis: Allen Ginsbergs Howl2277 Words   |  9 Pagessensed this and communicated it in their medium of words. Poetry was on the rise in the countercultures of the 1950s America. Jazz was in full swing and was moving into variations including bop, a more abstract form of an alrea dy abstract form of music. The rhythms of jazz, the lifestyle of the jazz musicians, and the spirit of jazz invigorated and heavily influence Ginsbergs experiences, language, and style. This is a poem that is jazzy. It is a kind of jazz poem. It is a poem composed during theRead MoreEmily Dickinson : An American Poet Of The 19th Century1894 Words   |  8 Pagesof death. Even though, all three of these poems have the same theme, they all have different views of death. In Emily Dickinson’s death poems, no two poems have the same view of death. Some of Emily Dickinson’s poems have similarities with Walt Whitman’s poems. She has also contributed to the American Romantic movement. Emily Dickinson has a mastery of image and metaphor. She is â€Å"not the poet of unwavering statement† (Vanderslice 197). Engle states, â€Å"Dickinson’s ‘Because I Could Not Stop for Death’Read MoreDear Mama: Analysis of Rap Lyrics as Poetry2070 Words   |  8 Pages(p. 99). Whereas many rappers have exploited the hard and violent lifestyle to which they have been continuously exposed to in their music, often through the celebration of misogyny and violence, Shakurs Dear Mama (1995) not only pays tribute to his mother, but also to the countless mothers who have made sacrifices for their children. As Armstrong argues rap music is mostly free from metaphors, Shakurs lyrics can be taken to literally represent the environment in which Shakur grew up and how heRead MoreEssay on 103 American Literature Final Exam5447 Words   |  22 PagesEugene O’Neill’s theory that stage actors must feel themselves to be acting and living reality at the same time Since 1945 21. Which of the following best characterizes â€Å"Minimalism† as a movement in literary prose? (A) extremely short forms of prose expression, rarely longer than a paragraph (B) a form of romanticism committed to reviving interest and belief in folk magic and traditional occult practices from various regions of the United States (C) prose pieces focused on autobiographical confession