Walt Whitman

1819- 1892
Who was he?
Son of a house builder
Self taught, read the classics- Dante, Homer
Worked as a printer, teacher, journalist, editor, clerk
1855, Whitman took out a copyright on the first edition
of Leaves of Grass
Royalty provided him modest livelihood
Leaves of Grass
 1868 and 1886 editions of Leaves of Grass selected
poems - the 1868 edition introduced Whitman to
England's literary elite, the 1886 edition, was aimed at
bringing Whitman to the working class.
Walt Whitman," was initially thought to be a poet who
wrote of "sentimental valley of rose and nightingale"
but later Leaves of Grass is seen as "a new poetry of
love and comradeship at this time of social misgiving,
when rich and poor alike make us keenly feel the need
of the spirit of human love“
Was perceived to "sings of the new, purer Democracy"
Structure
Dialogue format of poem: Speaker asks and the reply
constitutes the poem…. Two ways in which ‘I’ is used.
Interchangeable?... The 2 Is merge..
All of us are part of the universal one!
Emphasis on self and its qualities
Use of archaic language ‘Who art thou?’ shows reverence for
the rain, thus sets the tone of the poem --- one of reverence
and awe for the force of nature.
Collocation ‘art, whence, eternal’ with ‘’impalpable, reck’d,
atomies’ contrast shown between eternal quality of rain
and the perishable nature of all other things
Who am I?- gentle rain in various forms such as cloud,
eternal, untouched by human hand etc

What do I do?- alleviate suffering on earth, rejuvenate,

keep the life cycle going on

Who I am most like?- a clear hearted song sung from

the depths of one’s heart
Characteristics of The Rain
Gentle
Natural
Eternal
Origin in Earth
Untouched by human corruption
Changes forms seamlessly- an ethereal quality
Alleviates human suffering
Rejuvenates
Beautifies
Brings love
The Rain Cycle
Shelley’s The Cloud - a recurrent theme
I bring fresh showers for the thirsting
flowers,
From the seas and the streams;
I bear light shade for the leaves when
laid
In their noonday dreams.
From my wings are shaken the dews
that waken
The sweet buds every one,
When rocked to rest on their mother's
breast,
As she dances about the sun.
I wield the flail of the lashing hail,
And whiten the green plains under,
And then again I dissolve it in rain,
And laugh as I pass in thunder.
I am the daughter of Earth and Water,
And the nursling of the Sky;
I pass through the pores of the ocean and
shores;
I change, but I cannot die.
For after the rain when with never a stain
The pavilion of Heaven is bare,
And the winds and sunbeams with their
convex gleams
Build up the blue dome of air,
I silently laugh at my own cenotaph,
And out of the caverns of rain,
Like a child from the womb, like a ghost
from the tomb,
I arise and unbuild it again.