Walt Whitman Wrote his Poem

Walt Whitman wrote his poem called Song of Myself reflecting the democratic and self individualism and O Captain! My Captain! reflecting the death of Abraham and how he respected him as there president. These poems are some of Walt Whitman's most popular poems in his book Leaves of Grass.(Allen, Gay Wilson) Whitman wrote these poems to show the individualism that Whitman had and the grief of Abraham's death and how it affected him. He wrote these poems about himself and what he was going through, and wrote them to show his feelings and write about what he saw and happen and what he wanted to happen.

Whitman uses the nature of the world in his poem Song of Myself and the winning of the war and death of his friend Abraham Lincoln in O Captain! My Captain!. Song of Myself reflected how Walt Whitman celebrated the self, equality and democracy. O captain! My Captain! reflects Walt's patriotic view and appreciation for the victory of the Civil War and his devastation for President Lincoln's death and the hope for the healing of America. In Walt Whitman's poem Song of Myself he shows self democratic principles throughout the whole poem. It shows the freedom people experience and how they went about democracy. The poem shows all different races, genders and sexual preferences those are the the basic of democracy.(Section 1-52 Song of Myself) Whitman wanted everyone to treat everyone the same, be together and work together then being all different.

Whitman refers to everyone as equal and says that the world has a poor democratic view.( Townsend, Kathleen Kennedy.) Walt Whitman also shows in Song of Myself that he enjoyed the union of his physical and spiritual self. Throughout the poem he talks about what happened to him and the principles of the individualism he captures in the poem.( Townsend, Kathleen Kennedy.) This poem makes people think about the world and what is happening all around them. When people read this poem they think of their life and the principles that occur to them. Whitman talked about his life and what happened to him and shows the nature of the world and their experiences. In the beginning of the poem he reflects as the characters as I but later in the poem he reflects as the character as you.(Section 1-52 Song of Myself) That seems to show that he is telling what he in going through and how he deals with it but when he says you that seems to be about other people and what he might think those people might think. In this section below Whitman talks about himself using I. Each part says something about himself or him referring to you. I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

I loafe and invite my soul, I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass. My tongue, every atom of my blood, form'd from this soil, this air, Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same, I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin, Hoping to cease not till death. Creeds and schools in abeyance, Retiring back a while sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten, I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard, Nature without check with original energy.(Song of Myself Poetry Foundation) Song of Myself shows themes of democracy and how this shaped America politically and culturally. Whitman wanted a democratic nation and the whole to be unique but equal individualism.(The Walt Whitman Archive) Whitman wanted everyone to be equal and have a democracy that ran smoothly and no problems.

Whitman states in the poem These are really the thoughts of all men in all ages and lands, they are not original with me.(Section 1-52, Song of Myself) He made sure that everyone felt what he wanted them to feel. Whitman tried to get the world to see all the wrong in the democracy and change it. O Captain! My Captain! is mainly about the death of President Abraham Lincoln and the healing of Whitman. The sailors on the boat yell to all the people on the ship there trip is over and the prize they won. They won the Civil War and are happy that there trip is finally over. Later Lincoln gets shot and a quote in the poem is Fallen layed there cold and dead (Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass 413) this quote is about Lincoln laying on the dock cold and dead not moving an inch.

Whitman took a very devastating time of the death of Lincoln from him dying from a assassination.(MonkEl) My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still (O Captain! My Captain! Poetry Foundation) Whitman explains as Lincoln sits there silent not moving or breathing. Sailing the sea the people on the ship fear that now that their trip has comes to an end that life will not be the same in America without Lincoln as their president.(MonkEl) As he lays there cold they sail back after winning the Civil War questioning what life will be like without there good friend Lincoln.(MonkEl) They thinks that things may go downhill not having Lincoln around to be there president. Thinking of all the possibles that could happen without Lincoln, Whitman wrote this poem to show his grief of one of the people he cared about greatly. The death of Abraham Lincoln really had an impact on Whitman's life, he was an inspiration and idol to the Whitman. Whitman really looked up to Lincoln and wanted to become like him and follow his footsteps.

Whitman wrote this poem to let out how he felt about Lincoln and how he really was an inspiration for him. Whitman wrote Song of Myself to show everyone about the self individualism and the democratic principles that occurs in the world back then.(Townsend, Kathleen Kennedy.) Also really showed that he really wanted a change in the world and everyone to be treated with the same respect as everyone else Writing the poem O Captain! My Captain! helped him tell the story of the war and how he died and how it impacted him and the sailors on the ship. Song of Myself uses self democratic principles, political culture. O Captain! My Captain! shows the sadness Whitman had about Abraham Lincoln's death and how much he respected him. Whitman had very big success from these two poems, they were his most popular works and give him lots of success. The messages in these two poems really help people get through, democracy, individualism and the grief of the death of Lincoln. Writing these poems really helped Whitman greve and tell what his opinion was and what he wanted to happen. After these poems Whitman made many more poems like these and grew from them and become even more popular.

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