This document provides biographical information about the American poet Walt Whitman. It discusses that he was born in 1819 in New York and started working in newspaper offices at a young age. As an adult, he published his first book of poems, Leaves of Grass, in 1855 which was revolutionary in its style and themes. The document also discusses some of Whitman's major poems and ideas, including his notions of unity, existence, connection, and democracy. It provides context on how the poet Ralph Waldo Emerson influenced Whitman and how Whitman served as a nurse during the Civil War.

1. Walt Whitman
Instructor: Bibi Halima
Bibi.Halima@uow.edu.pk
“Be curious, not judgmental”

2. Biography
• Born at West Hill, New York
• Second of eight children
• Started working in newspaper offices at the age of 11
• Wrote his first article at the age of 12
• Also worked as journalist and newspaper editor
• Read important writers of his day i.e., Emerson,
Hawthorne and Bryant
• Published his first novel, Franklin Evans, in 1842
(1819-92)

3. • Emerson wrote an essay entitled, The Poet in which
he called for poetry that represents America, its
people, ideas, customs, good, bad, and evils. He
clearly stated that, America and Americans are in
dire need of a poet who could write for them
• The essay acted as catalyst for Whitman; he started
writing and said,
‘I was simmering, simmering, simmering;
Emerson brought me to the boil”
Influence

4. • He travelled to New Orleans in 1848;
witnessed the horrors of slavery;
started anti-slavery campaigns and
wrote political speeches
• On his return from New Orleans, he
published the first edition of Leaves
of Grass. It was unique in both its
style and themes
• He saw himself as, America’s National
Bard (poet)” and worked hard to
promoted himself and his poetry
Civil War and Whitman

5. Young Whitman dreamt of becoming famous poet finally
conquered his dreams when heavenly death
whispered in his ears.
• He wrote 280 poems including:
 For you, O Democracy!
 I Hear America Singing!
 Native Moments
 Spontaneous Me
 One Hour of Madness and Joy
 A Woman Wait for Me
 All is Truth
 After the Supper and Talk
 Ah Poverties, Wincing, and Sulky Retreats
 Ages and Ages Returning at Intervals
Whitman’s Poetry

6. Whitman’s Resting Place
Died: March 26, 1892
Camden, New Jersey
Whatever satisfies the soul is truth.

7. O Captain! My Captain!Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You’ve fallen cold and dead.
My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

8. O Me! O Life!
Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I,
and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle
ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see
around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me
intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me,
O life?
Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse

9. Themes in His Poetry
Controlling
Ideas
(The way he thinks)
Metaphorical
Ideas
(Things he write about)

10. Controlling Ideas
Unity: For Whitman, “All things are one, all is a procession, the
universe is a procession, with measure and beautiful motion, each has
his or her place in the procession”. He draws the focus to a commonality
that he claims is shared by all of human-kind by forcing readers to see
the Larger picture of universe that supersedes physical distinctions.
He insists his reader to create One out of many / Unity-within-
diversity.
Do you not see that these (bodies) are exactly the same to all,
in all nations and times, all over
The earth?
If anything is sacred, the human body is sacred
The man’s body is scared, the woman’s body is sacred
No matter who it is, it is sacred

11. Controlling Ideas
Existence: His poetry is packed with questions of self-identity.
He insists his readers to take the uphill journey to explore the
purpose of his existence. He keeps asking his readers the
questions:
Who am I?
Who are we?
What is this world?
What do you matter to this world?
What do I mean?

12. Controlling Ideas
Connection/contact: Whitman tries to convince his readers
that the best way to understand someone or something is to
touch it or connect with it. The human contact/connection is
the secret of unity in universe. Man is given five senses to
understand the world and the sense of touch is the most
important one. Use it!

13. Controlling Ideas
The “I”, “Me”, “My”: Whitman’s poetry is
over brimmed with the character “I” but it is
not only poet himself. It is you, it is me, it is
the we, it is the nation, it is the world, it is
the universe, and it is the everything.

14. Metaphorical Ideas
The Human Body: It provides the sense of unity; it is the
biggest question; it is the only way to understand the world.
The Nature: The natural world
The Nation: United States of America and its people
Democracy: We are all important and equal, rich and poor,
black and white, men and women. He was the first democratic
poet of America.
Humanism: His poetry lies between Transcendentalism and
realism.

15. Style
Free Verse:
His poetry does not contain any specific meter or rhyme. His
experiment with poetic expression display his sense of freedom
and energy with life. He is also known as Father of free verse
poetry. Yet his poetry is complex and it makes use of a lot of
poetic devices.
Language:
He creates new words, uses words in new ways, and play with
sentence structure to create powerful meaning. His usage of
language is sometimes shocking for readers for it can make them
uncomfortable.
Catalogue:
He writes the long lists of things and ideas, attempting to capture
everything he can think of on a given topic.

16. Quiz
• Does the poem O Me! O Life question one’s existence? Explain
in what ways it discusses man’s existence.
• Recall the poem O Captain! My Captain and identify where in
poem poet convince readers that the best way to understand
someone or something is to touch it or connect with it.
• Relate the concept of Unity-within-diversity with poems read
in the class.
• What is Whitman’s idea of Humanism?

17. Home Task
• Recall the concept of extended metaphor in the poem O Captain! My Captain!
and think what metaphor OTHER THAN VOYAGE or FEARFUL TRIP you can use
such person?
(Hint: Wound/sickness)
• After deciding for extended metaphor, gather the relevant vocabulary related
to your selected metaphor
(Hint for metaphor like wound/sickness: sick, healing, restore, cure, mend,
recover, tonic, remedy etc.)
• Rewrite the poems by incorporating your own metaphor and related
vocabulary wherever necessary
• Before writing, think about following:
 Think of who captain is
 Problem and suitable metaphor
 Audience
 Vocabulary