Walt Whitman - a True American Poet
America, when viewed as a nation and culture, has only in
recent time become the singular entity that controls the trend
of globalization and cultural trends. To get to this point
however, there was a certain need to establish a strong
identity, separate of those identities that the many mixed
inhabitants of the continent brought.
Indeed, one of the key aspects of a strong identity is unique
literature. How does a nation or culture attain this? By
utilizing the free thinkers, the progressives, the radicals
and their contrarian or beatnik views of the world. One poet
that was instrumental to the development of the American
nation and its cultural identity is one Walt Whitman. Whitman
as a poet holds a special place in general literature, not
only as the influential patriot and free verse philosopher,
but as a mind that was fueled by a hunger to explore and bring
glory to its breeding ground. He sets out to do this daunting
task in his relatively short manifesto “Preface to the Leaves
of Grass” which starts off by making it clear to the reader
that the aim of the speaker is to firmly set in stone the “true
American poet”. In a blizzard of words and concepts that emit
a strong presence and power of thought, Whitman conveys some
of his most central ideas about what it is that America needs
for its glory to attain its highest level. His concepts may
seem very daunting and unrewarding to the impatient reader,
but there is a promise of higher meaning in all these words
and ideas. To call Whitman’s work “stream of consciousness”
does not seem wrong in the slightest.
The freedom of Whitman’s writing is what helped him maintain
his ideas and artistic freedom in a sense, and helped shape
the building blocks of what would become some of the most
influential poetry of his time. In “Song of Myself”, Whitman
takes the reader through a labyrinth of words and concepts
that is truly daunting to “the newcomer” as modern attention
spans are not long enough to dive into the cryptic celebration
of identity and liberty with such ease as former generations
of humans may have. There is an entire world displayed in this
epic work of poetry that it needs careful unraveling and
dissection to be understood perfectly. Yet, at many times,
it just seems like Whitman is going in a circle of many ideas
and things he would like to say. This disorganization of
thought may seem as a tedious read, but there is a sense of
empowerment which is palpable in the way this poem is delivered.
It’s liquid-like structure is evident by the various shapes
the lines take on the paper without any specific direction.
It is as chaotic as it is organized, concise as it is “all
over the place” and glorious as it is pretentious. Some of
these traits may be felt in the so-called “American spirit”,
which tells us just how much of an impact people like Whitman
himself had on the nation. Whether this is a good or bad thing
is up to the individual but there is certainly a strong identity
which is constantly evolving and developing.
While it may be a difficult read, it is undeniable that
the
ideas
of
Walt
Whitman
that
are
expressed
in
the
behemoth-like poems are an essential piece of American
literature. The manifesto nature of his works helps him lay
out all that he feels and thinks which is the premise of the
American identity anyway - freedom of soul, person and
expression, and that makes Walt Whitman a true American poet.