Name: Priyanka Patel Year: 2012-13

POEM: I SIT AND LOOK OUT

I sit and look out is a poem penned by Walt Whitman who draws our attention towards the oppression of human beings by their fellow human beings. Walt Whitmans attitude towards the suffering is one of a silent, helpless spectator. He observes the evils of the society as he sits and looks out of the window and uses sad words to convey his feelings. His individualism is obvious in his observations as the opinions suggested in the poem are based on his own observations. Thus, he is a detached observer, finally leaving upon readers to react and judge against the malady (an illness) of life that poet shows within the framework of just 10 lines. To begin with, the speaker opens a window for everyone to see when he sees while he sit and look out. He saw the evils of the world everywhere. He saw a man secretly crying in a corner so that nobody catches him crying because if he gets caught crying, feeling guilty, he would become a laugh for everyone as men were considered to be strong and crying was considered to be the sign of weak and feminine. Among the poor lives, he sees the pathetic life of a mother who is neglected by her own children, disrespected by her own kids. Consequently the mother grows thin and dies finally. But her children are not even bothered by their mothers death. The poet then speculates a wife being abused by her own husband for whom she leaves behind everything, her home and her own parents. The poet sees malicious seducer of young women. Moreover, he also notices the emotions of jealousies and frustrations when ones love is denied. He sees all these awful sights in this world, on this planet. The worst of all, he sees a famine hit the land when sailors are forced to throw their own countrymen into the sea so as to save themselves from getting starved. He sees the tyranny of white men, victimizing Negroes, labors and poor. Thus Walt Whitman just sits and looks out. He is just a mere spectator and considers himself helpless. He just conveys the injustice done to many people around and leaves upon them to draw out their own conclusions.