SONG AT SUNSET

Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman is an important nineteenth-Century American poet, and his work is as innovative and bold as that of Hopkins, although in different ways. Born in 1819, and dead in 1892, Whitman lived through an exciting time in American history and contributed some interesting views of the events of that time. In 1855, Whitman published his book of poems Leaves of Grass at his own expense. The first, and perhaps best-known, poem of that volume is "Song of Myself'in which Whitman celebrates himself, his body, the bodies of all men and women, the physicality of nature, and the connections between all living things. Lacking rhyme or meter, Whitman's poetic structure was very unconventional, but his subject matter and highly personal focus were perhaps the elements that most shocked readers of that time. Although Leaves of Crass was not a financial success by any means, throughout the rest of his life. Whitman continued to add poems to the book and to reissue revised versions. His influence on American letters has been keenly felt throughout the twentieth century.

Even though some of the unfamiliar language and poetic structure in these poems might seem alien—and therefore intimidating—at first, let the footnotes help you with the language. As you read and reread the poems, try to work out as much of the literal meaning as you can, so that you'll be better able to move on to the underlying meanings.

Walter Whitman (1819-1892) was born in West Hills, Long Island, New York and was raised in Brooklyn. He worked as a printer and journalist in the New York City area where he wrote articles on everything from civics to politics. During the Civil War, he was a volunteer assistant in military hospitals in Washington, DC. After the war, he worked in several government departments until he suffered a stroke in 1873. He spent the rest of his life in Camden, New Jersey where he continued to write poems and articles. Whitman is best known for his collection of poems, Leaves of Grass, which features many of his best-known poems including "Song of Myself," "When Lilacs Last in tne Dooryard Bloom'd," and "O Captain! My Captain!"

 

 

Splendor of ended day floating and filling me,

Hour prophetic, hour resuming the past,

Inflating my throat, you divine average,

You earth and life till the last ray gleams I sing.

Open mouth of my soul uttering gladness,

Eyes of my soul seeing perfection,

Natural life of me faithfully praising things,

Corroborating forever the triumph of things.

Illustrious every one!

Illustrious what we name space, sphere of unnumber'd spirits,

Illustrious the mystery of motion in all beings, even the tiniest insect,

Illustrious the attribute of speech, the senses, the body,

Illustrious the passing light—illustrious the pale reflection on the new moon

in the western sky, Illustrious whatever I see or hear or touch, to the last.

Good in all,

In the satisfaction and aplomb of animals,

 

In the annual return of the seasons,

In the hilarity of youth,

In the strength and flush of manhood,

In the grandeur and exquisiteness of old age,

In the superb vistas of death.

Wonderful to depart!

Wonderful to be here!

The heart, to jet the all-alike and innocent blood!

To breathe the air, how delicious!

To speak—to walk—to seize something by the hand!

To prepare for sleep, for bed, to look on my rose-color'd flesh!

To be conscious of my body, so satisfied, so large!

To be this incredible God I am!

To have gone forth among other Gods, these men and women I love.

Wonderful how I celebrate you and myself!

How my thoughts play subtly at the spectacles around!

How the clouds pass silently overhead!

How the earth darts on and on!

and how the sun, moon, stars, dart on and
on!

How the water sports and sings! (surely it is alive!)

How the trees rise and stand up, with strong trunks,

with branches and leaves! (Surely there is something more in each of the trees, some living soul.) O amazement of things—even the least particle!

O spirituality of things!

O strain musical flowing through ages and continents,

now reaching me and
America!

I take your strong chords, intersperse them, and cheerfully pass them forward,

I too carol the sun, usher'd or at noon, or as now, setting,

I too throb to the brain and beauty of the earth and of all the growths of the

earth, I too have felt the resistless call of myself.

As I steam'd down the Mississippi,

As I wander'd over the prairies,

As I have lived, as I have look'd through my windows my eyes,

As I went forth in the morning,

as I beheld the light breaking in the east,

As I bathed on the beach of the Eastern Sea,

and again on the beach of the Western Sea,^a

 

As I roam'd the streets of inland Chicago, whatever streets I have roam'd,

Or cities or silent woods, or even amid the sights of war,

Wherever I have been I have charged myself with contentment and triumph.

I sing to the last the equalities modern or old,

I sing the endless finales of things,

I say Nature continues, glory continues,

I praise with electric voice,

For I do not see one imperfection in the universe,

And I do not see one cause or result lamentable at last in the universe.

0 setting sun! though the time has come,

I still warble under you, if none else does, unmitigated adoration.

 

 

CRITICAL READING

1. Discuss how each poem makes you feel. Did your feelings change from your first reading of each poem to subsequent readings? Do the poems convey feelings to you even without your fully understanding them (feelings, that is, other than, or in addition to, frustration)? What is it in the poem that conveys emotion, do you think? Or what is it in you that lead to your emotional responses?

 

2. Discuss what literal meanings you glean from each poem in other words, what is happening in the poems, and what are the obvious things that each poem says? Then explore what you mink the "deeper" meanings are in each poem. Why, in a poem ostensibly celebrating a specific event—the beauty of a sunset—does Whitman discuss abstract and vast things such as wandering over the prairies, "the equalities modern or old," and the universe?

 

3. What is the tone of each poem, and how is the tone conveyed? What do you make of the religious or spiritual elements in each poem?

 

CLASS DISCUSSION

1. Both poems feature a speaker who observes and comments on the natural elements the poets are celebrating. Discuss both how the persona of these two speakers is similar and how each persona is different. How do these differing personae relate to the different emphases and concerns that each poet seems to focus on?

2. Dramatic shift in tone occurs. Discuss what effect this shift has on the meaning of the poem or on the emotional "feel" of the poem. Discuss whether any such shifts are evident in Whitman's poem, and if so, how these affect his.

"Western Sea] WW never reached the Pacific in his travels, but from the times of the Greek navigators the "western sea'" has been in the common stock of poetry as a symbol for the far-off or unattainable. Cf. Tennyson's "Stars of the western sea" in a song of The Print'esx (1847), familiar to WW.

'sunset] This brilliant paean, first printed in l<: 1860 as "Chants Democratic" No. 8, received its present title in lg 1867 in the supplement, "Songs Before Parting," p. 29, and was transferred to the "'Songs of Parting" eluster in ic 1871. In ms (Barrett) the title reads. "A Sunset Carol"; In WW's I860 "Blue Copy'" revisions is the same title with two words in the margin opposite—"finale" and ''religious." The poem received but little revision. The poet Rilke called poetry "the past that breaks out in our hearts," This poem i.s the poet's joyous affirmation of his whole life.

Source: Public domain.