Whitman Musings

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself,

And what I assume you shall assume,

For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” - Walt Whitman

While this is not necessarily tied directly to the blog post prompt...this quote above that I have taken from one of the Song of Myself poems is, to me, one of the quotes representative of Leaves of Grass as a whole.  The idea of singing is a motif present through many of the poems that depicts what Whitman was trying to convey- the idea of expression. In this quote Whitman is also attempting to connect the reader to himself. Every human is made of atoms and thus to the very core every being is the same.  And with this being said let us delve into the musings present in Whitman’s notebook, his very being and inner thoughts...

Some initial musings…

Under the “document” tab of the notebook I have pulled, as seen above, some themes or ideas that I saw reoccurring.  The idea of Abraham Lincoln is present throughout the notebook. This connects to the context of the Civil War that Whitman wrote within where ideas and talk of slavery and human equality were rampant in the 1800s United States.  This theme of human equality (which connects back to the quote mentioned at the start of this blog post…) is then explored further in the notebook through ideas of liberty, the union and the democratic and nationalist movements, and the history and past revolution.  

Another motif and symbol indicative of change in the notebook is a ship.  Whitman emphasizes that the talk of the times (regarding equality and the civil war in America) feels somewhat stagnant.  He feels that something needs to stir the calm waters and a storm must be brought to the land. Besides a storm a ship can disrupt the calm waters and change the tide and move the pools of traditional ideals.  

Finally, the document delves into some of the portraits and sketches that Whitman included in the notebook.  Connecting this to my own art experience regarding drawing people, I know that I tend to draw people in a way so that my insecurities on myself are not present within the character I am drawing.  Perhaps this connects to the sketches that Whitman creates toward the end of the notebook which eventually spiral into more caricatures and unrealistic images. Whitman may not have been happy with aspects of himself and this connects also to the idea that he might have been going through a midlife crisis.  It is evident in the notebook that he mentions death and some sad ideas that were often not discussed during the time period. It is therefore important to note that the notebook concludes with a caricature of a mysterious grotesque figure that may be representing America. Perhaps Whitman’s feelings regarding his own insecurities and happiness in his life have translated and connected to the larger picture- the United States of America.  

Some additional musings from the notes…

After diving further into Whitman’s notebook from exploring the “Notes” tab, I found particularly interesting the idea of liberty by nature contrasted by the liberty provided by human made systems, such as government.  Whitman writes in his journal about how the idea of liberty will transcend and outlast the longest-lived political regimes. This is so significant to me because it just shows that this idea of freedom is not coming from these man-made systems that will never outlast time, freedom is coming from the inherent nature of the world and beings.  Also significant in the notebook is how Whitman also identifies that freedom within America is not the only freedom that need be obtained, freedom within other nations extending beyond America is also significant.

Another facet that I briefly discussed in my initial musings was the idea of the ship and the disruption of calm waters.  However, I failed to consider that ships must always have a captain. Whitman explores this idea and symbol by ascertaining that the captain of the ship, most likely being the president, will have monumental tasks ahead of them with regard to the current state of the nation.  This then connects back to the idea of the imaginary conversations that Whitman was said to have been having with Abraham Lincoln throughout his notebook.

In conclusion, the main themes and ideas that I have deemed as significant from this analysis of Whitman’s notebook are that of liberty, nature, leadership, and politics.  So, connecting back to the quote that I used to introduce this post, the person must take Whitman’s musings and sing their ideas for their liberty to do so does not rely on man-made systems but on the inherent nature of the world.