I Sit and Look Out

M. Bachmann

WALT WHITMAN
 I sit and look out upon all the sorrows of the world, and upon all
oppression and shame,
I hear secret convulsive sobs from young men at anguish with
themselves, remorseful after deeds done,
I see in low life the mother misused by her children, dying,
neglected, gaunt, desperate,
I see the wife misused by her husband, I see the treacherous seducer
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of young women,
I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love attempted to be
hid, I see these sights on the earth,
I see the workings of battle, pestilence, tyranny, I see martyrs and
prisoners,
I observe a famine at sea, I observe the sailors casting lots who
shall be kill'd to preserve the lives of the rest,
I observe the slights and degradations cast by arrogant persons upon
laborers, the poor, and upon negroes, and the like;
All these--all the meanness and agony without end I sitting look out upon,
See, hear, and am silent.
M. Bachmann

Discuss some of What do you think this Why do you think

the societal issues poem will be about people are so fascinated
we face? based on the title with observing other
people?

Do you think change What do you Who is telling the

and advancement in think is the event/s of this poem?
a society are always “Bystander How do you know?
good? effect”?
M. Bachmann

Gender Equality

Social media

Pollution Politics

Education
 ? ?
TITLE BASED ON FASCINATION WITH
OBSERVING OTHERS
Someone is sitting
and observing Humans are curious beings, and
we like to know what is going on
what is going on
around him/her.
around us. This does not
necessarily mean that we get
involved when we see something
?
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that is wrong.
CHANGE AND
? ADVANCEMENT IN A
SOCIETY
BYSTANDER EFFECT
While advancements
Occurs when the presence of others in trade and
discourages an individual from technology can make
intervening in an emergency, against a great changes in the
bully, or during an assault or other lives of people, they
crime. The greater the number of can bring suffering
bystanders, the less likely it is for any with them as well.
one of them to provide help to a
person in distress. People are more
likely to act in a crisis when there are
few or no other witnesses present.
 The speaker is an uninvolved, passive observer
who appears not to care about the suffering of
other people.
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He refers to himself using the pronoun ‘I’

thirteen times throughout the poem.
mood/ tone
is deeply
pessimistic
But he is also addressing
(negative).
a general audience. He knows that many
people see suffering in the world and choose
to do nothing, just like him.
 theme

Personal
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The world is full of examples of

responsibility suffering and cruelty.
Every person has a choice: to do
for human nothing and let it continue, or to
take a stand and refuse to let the
suffering: suffering continue.
 M. Bachmann

people arising from oppression, ill-treatment Highlights that the speaker is idle Speaks of the sadness and cruelty
and has no intention to do happening throughout the world
The poet silently sees the sorrows of the

anything about the situation.

I Sit and look out upon all the sorrows of the world, and upon all
concern with considers himself at a higher
his own safety altitude far away from all this.
and humiliation.

the cruel or unjust treatment

of groups of people

oppression and shame,

The speaker refers to ‘oppression’ and

then lists examples of these in the
next lines. .
 M. Bachmann
He can hear sobs of the youth frustrated and stifled
Describes the personal suffering,
guilt and regret of young men who
with the disillusionment of the World War, full of

have done terrible things

regret and remorse for his own misdeeds.

Distress,
Violent crying pain, misery

I hear secret convulsive sobs from young men, and anguish with

themselves, remorseful after deeds done

Feeling sorry,
regretful, guilty,
ashamed
 M. Bachmann
Still lower, the speaker visualizes the mother taken
Talks of the old, dying woman rejected by her
emaciated, distressed dying in solitude, when she
children. She is alone in her hopelessness.
advantage of by her very own children. She lies

lower socio-
economical class

I see in low life the mother misused by her children, dying,

needs her children the most.

neglected, gaunt, desperate,

abandoned, extremely thin, hopeless
Neglect and oppression of women are reflected in their
abuse at the hands of the men as the speaker next
sees the wives being ill-treated, misused and cheated
by her husband. The husband comes across as a
treacherous and callous lover who seduces young
women and ruthlessly deceives them.

of young women,
young women for sexual pleasure.
the untrustworthy man who manipulates
A woman who is abused by her husband and

entices
I see the wife misused by her husband, I see the treacherous seducer
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someone into
a person who

sexual activity
 M. Bachmann

Those who try to mask (hide) their jealousy or

The poet sees the feelings of jealousy, bitterness and
anger of unrequited love in the rejected lovers which
the fact that their love is not returned.

I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love attempted to be

they try to hide and bear it in solitude.

Unreturned
unpleasant feelings,
Loving someone who does not love you back.
experiences that
The speaker refers to the personal sadness of
cause irritation or
those who try to hide the fact that they love
bitter resentment
someone who does not return their love.
within the mind;

hid, I see these sights on the earth,

Even though the world tries to
hide these wrongs, Whitman
sees them.
 M. Bachmann

Talks of large-scale destruction through war,

shown how moral depravity has set in and the cruelty
terrible byproduct of wars and battles fought. We are
natural disasters and political oppression, and
He has to bear the pain as he beholds the sight of

of those who are killed or jailed for their

political views.
prisoners, tortured and tormented -the most

I see the workings of battle, pestilence, tyranny, I see martyrs and

that prevails in the society we live in.

epidemics of oppressive people who are

illness political rule or killed for what
an oppressive they believe
government The speaker
The speaker refers to those
lists ‘tyranny’ as who are jailed or
prisoners, one of the evils martyred by
that affect large those who
groups of disagree with
people. them.
 M. Bachmann

Those who are lost at sea deciding who

should be killed, so as to survive to the shores due to
lost their way, cast lots to decide whom among them
gruesome imagery where sailors on ships that have

should live or die in order to survive.

starvation

I observe a famine at sea, I observe the sailors casting lots who

random method of choosing somebody, sort of
like drawing straws or flipping a coin.
acute shortage of food supplies.

shall be kill'd to preserve the lives of the rest,

Whitman is describing a situation where a bunch of sailors have run

out of food on board ship, and they have to kill one of their own to
survive.
 M. Bachmann

those whose prejudice and insults are directed

penury. He portrays the insults and low treatment at the working class, black people and the
poor
subjected to slavery at the hands of the capitalist
world where nothing prevails but oppression and
He sees the poor workers and the Negros who

I observe the slights and degradations cast by arrogant persons upon

humiliation
meted out to the weak and poor.

African Americans

laborers, the poor, and upon negroes, and the like;

 M. Bachmann
one upon the other. Neither does he analyze these, nor
He catalogues this collective collapse of humanity piled

reminds us that all this misery is unending, yet the speaker is passive (not
doing anything) - a final reminder of the speaker’s refusal to become
involved or speak out about all these wrongs.
does he make any comment on these sights and
leaves it on to the reader to react and judge.

All these--all the meanness and agony without end I sitting look out upon,
REPITION
Very powerful; Extreme physical These sorrows occur and bring the speaker
the suffering is and emotional pain and the reader back to the stance of the
enormous viewer: a sitting and watching stance. What
he chooses to do or can do is to be silent.

See, hear, and am silent.

CLIMAX OF THE POEM The speaker ends with the accusation against
himself: he finally admits that the ‘I’ (he) sees and hears everything but is
guilty of making the choice to stay ‘silent’. He does nothing to right the
wrong.
 The words used to describe
himself:

‘sit’, ‘look’, ‘hear’, ‘see’,

★The first eight lines of the poem start with the ‘mark’ (note), ‘observe’.
pronoun ‘I’ followed by a verb. This shows that the
M. Bachmann

speaker is very aware that he sees the world These descriptions are simple
through his eyes. He admits that he is completely
verbs which are usually
aware of the horrors that he lists in each line.
★ Using ‘I’, thirteen times throughout the poem, associated with action, but here
however, emphasises personal responsibility. It is they are used to show passivity
only in the last line that he finally admits that the ‘I’ (doing nothing) instead.
sees and hears everything but is guilty of making
the choice to stay ‘silent’. There is no need to act if you
choose not to get involved.
 A figure of speech used
to expose humanity’s evils to
change or reform through
ridicule.

In the poem by Walt Whitman, he

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exposes the evils of the world, yet

SATIRE he is silent. He neither analyzes
these nor makes any comment on
these sights. Thus the whole
poem comes across as a satire.

The message here is that

although we know about human
suffering, we do not do anything
to change it.
 I Sit and Look Out -
Questions 8. Explain how the use of repetition influences meaning of the
poem.
1. The first line introduces the theme.
9. List several social injustices described in this poem.
Quote three key words that identify the theme.
10. List what the speaker sees and hears.
2. The poem can be divided into four sections. Identify the four sections.
11. Why do you think the speaker responds with silence? Do you
3.1 Identify the tone of this poem.
think silence is the appropriate response?
3.2 Motivate your answer.
12. How do you account for the speaker's silence at the end of "I
4. Explain what is meant by ‘low life’ in line 5.
Sit and Look Out"? Support your answer with reference to the
5. Refer to line 9: “I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love...”.
poem.
5.1 What does the term ‘unrequited love’ mean?
13.1 Discuss how the theme of ‘Personal Responsibility for
5.2 Why do they hide their unrequited love?
Human Suffering’ is evident in this poem.
6.. 6.1 Identify which of the wrongs are done on a physical level
13.2 Provide a quote from the poem that best illustrates this
6.2 Identify which of the wrongs are done on an emotional level.
theme.
7. Write down words or phrases from the poem that have the same meaning
as:
7.1 I look out upon.
7.2 sorrows
7.3 shame
 I Sit and Look Out - Answers
1 I, sit, look
2.The first section describes sorrow brought about by self-knowledge.
The second section deals with physical and emotional abuse.
The third section is about cruel actions.
The fourth section is a simple, summarising statement of the poet’s reaction.
3. 1 depressing, sad, and negative
OR Agony and meanness
3.2 “...the sorrows of the world, and upon all oppression and shame.”
“all the meanness and agony without end”
4. The life of the lower classes of people.
5. 1 one-sided love/ love that is not returned
5.2 difference in social class / afraid of rejection.
6.1 abuse, neglect, seduction, battle, pestilence, torture, murder, imprisonment and famine.
6.2 people are tortured by remorse, jealousy, unrequited love, tyranny, insults, shame, degradation, oppression and meanness.
7.1 I see, I mark, I hear, I observe
7.2 sobs, remorseful, anguish.
7.3 slights, degradations, misuse, oppression, meanness
8. The repetition emphasises the range of cruelties and violent acts, and the suffering they cause.
9.Men depressed after having drank too much, went to the prostitutes too much, beat their wives too much.
An older woman being neglected by her children who she raised - she's dying.
A wife is getting beaten by a man who is cheating on her.
He notices people are lonely and not loved.
He sees war.
He sees how horribly the poor, blue collar workers, black people and lower classes are treated.
10.He sits and listens to the sounds of anguish of men, the wife and mother mistreated by both her husband and children.
He looks out upon the effects of war, and the famine sailors must face when toiling for the fish all so desperately need.
 I Sit and Look Out - Answers

11. No moral imposition, no call to action. He is simply reporting what he sees.

That is the silence he is referring to, a silence of judgment or analysis on the events.
12.In the poem, Whitman describes various people suffering horrible misery in different forms.
However, as he describes them, he doesn't judge, get involved, make commentary, or pass some sort of overall
moral or
lesson to be learned.
This is what he means when he says he is "silent".
He simply opens a window for everyone to see what he sees, and lets the reader make their own interpretations
and judgments.
For example, he describes the misery that exists, "the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love attempted to be
hid," and doesn't comment on how awful that is, or what we should learn from it, or how we should change the misery;
his next line is simply, "I see these sights on the earth".
No moral imposition, no call to action. He is simply reporting what he sees. That is the silence he is referring to, a
silence of judgment or analysis on the events.
13.1 The world is full of examples of suffering and cruelty.
• Every person has a choice regarding suffering: to do nothing and let it
continue, or to take a stand and refuse to let the suffering continue.
• The speaker of the poem chooses to do nothing about the suffering, he
chooses to just sit passively.
13.2 ‘See, hear, and am silent.’ (line 10)
https://poptug.com/poetry-analysis-
walt-whitmans-i-sit-and-look-out/
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