SCHOOL OF EDUCATION OF HIGHER

PEDAGOGICAL EDUCATION

AREA: LITERATURE OF ANGLOPHONE COUNTRIES

STUDENTS: GONZALES GOMEZ LINA
LIÑAN ROYOLA MARIA
SOTO HUANCHACO VICTOR
RODRIGUEZ BALTAZAR DONALD
ARELLAN OCHOA ERICK
MORALES OLORTIGUE YOVANA
SPECIALTY: ENGLISH
CYCLE: VIII
TEACHER: STEFANY VARGAS

2022
 
HAND MIRROR
POEM
 WALT WHITMAN BIOGRAPHY

Walt Whitman was an American writer who

was born on May 31, 1819 in West Hills, a
town near Huntington, Long Island (New
York).

When little Walt was four years old, the

Whitman family moved to the New York
neighborhood of Brooklyn, where the future
writer prepared to work in a printing press.
Starting in 1836, he worked in a Long Island school and in
1841 he began a career as a journalist, publishing various
articles in newspapers, magazines, and cultural forums, and
becoming director of the New York, Long Islander, and
Brooklyn Eagle newspapers.

In 1850 he traveled to New Orleans, where he worked as a

builder for five years. A few years later, with money out of
his own pocket, he published the collection of poems
“Leaves of Grass” (1855), which in the long run became his
only and essential work, appreciable for its formal freedom,
accentuated lyricism, liberal inclination, and powerful
expressiveness.
 Whitman held the position of nurse in Washington in
the American Civil War and after the end of the war
he worked as a clerk in the Department of the
Interior and in the Attorney General's Office.

When in 1873 he suffered a stroke that caused partial

paralysis, he retired from his duties and went to rest
in Camden, New Jersey, living with his brother
George.
In this town he died on March 26, 1892.
He was 72 years old.
 CREATION

This poem can also be seen from the context of

America’s political climate at the time of the poem’s
publication. It was published around the beginning of
the American Civil War. The poem may be seen as an
appeal by the poet to the people of America to see
what their country has become in such a short time
(keep in mind that America became independent in
1776 and the Civil War started in 1861).
 INSPIRATION

The poet could be saying that all the ideals that the country was
founded on has decayed over time. All the energy of its youth
has turned into ‘ashes and filth’, despite its outside appearance
of grandeur. The poet could be expressing his sadness on the
prevalent alcoholism, unhealthy eating habits and sexual
obsession he sees around him. The health of society is dire. The
‘dark and poisonous’ circulating blood could be referring to the
bloodshed of ongoing battle. The poet complains about the lack
of clarity of word, thought and feeling. He feels sad at this swift
decadence from glorious beginnings.
 IMPORTANCE
Walt Whitman is considered one of the great American poets of
the 19th century. His work has not only generated admiration
but has been of great influence to many writers around the
world. His importance in universal literature is unquestionable
since he was the first great poet who knew how to break with the
European tradition to become the father of modern poetry.
His poetry has no comparison with any literary current of his
time. His work "breaks" the classical structure of the poem,
since its verses do not rhyme and do not have a fixed number of
consonants. It also highlights the thematic freedom of his works.
$ratabathemes that were then believed forbidden to poetry
POSSIBLE DEEPER MEANING
This poem can also be seen from the context of
America’s political climate at the time of the
poem’s publication. It was published around the
beginning of the American Civil War. 

The poem may be seen as an appeal by the poet to

the people of America to see what their country
has become in such a short time (keep in mind
that America became independent in 1776 and the
The poet could be saying that all the ideals that the
country was founded on has decayed over time. All the
energy of its youth has turned into ‘ashes and filth’,
despite its outside appearance of grandeur.
The poet could be expressing his sadness on the prevalent
alcoholism, unhealthy eating habits and sexual obsession he sees
around him.  The health of society is dire. The ‘dark and
poisonous’ circulating blood could be referring to the bloodshed
of ongoing battle. 
The poet complains about the lack of clarity of word, thought
and feeling. He feels sad at this swift decadence from glorious
beginnings.
 A HAND-MIRROR
HOLD it up sternly! See this it sends back! (Who is it? Is it
you?) Outside fair costume--within ashes and filth, No
more a flashing eye--no more a sonorous voice or springy
step; Now some slave's eye, voice, hands, step, A
drunkard's breath, unwholesome eater's face, venerealee's
flesh, Lungs rotting away piecemeal, stomach sour and
cankerous, Joints rheumatic, bowels clogged with
abomination, Blood circulating dark and poisonous
streams, Words babble, hearing and touch callous, No
brain, no heart left--no magnetism of sex; 10 Such, from
one look in this looking-glass ere you go hence, Such a
result so soon--and from such a beginning!
Analysis of A Hand
Mirror
The narrator is probably an
elderly man. Once upon a time, the
narrator was a young man.

He seeks a true reflection He had youth and

good health and
of himself without any now, he had lost all
adjustment. those qualities.
The poet
compares the
features of his
reflection with
those of a slave.
His breath smells like a
drunkard's, possibly due
to the large amount of
liquor the narrator has
been consuming.
His food habits have been
unhealthy, thus leading to
extra deposits of fat and
possible patches in his
face. He calls this face an The narrator seems to be
‘unwholesome eater’s suffering from some kind of
face’. venereal disease, hence the
term 'venerealee‘s flesh'.
His lungs are decaying bit
by bit, perhaps due to
excessive smoking, or
working in unhealthy
conditions.
and so the poet suffers from other
diseases …
The narrator compares his present self to his past and feels
saddened by his present state. Although he is well clothed,
inside he is a decaying man. This realization of his swift descent
fills him with pain.