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Whitman

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“Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman immediately reminded me of texts and poems written by modernist authors, poems designed to reject traditional methods of writing and creating a new, cutting-edge style of writing based on emotions and simplicity. While this poem in particular isn’t exactly simple, it is powerful because it creates sharp images and evokes certain emotions for the reader about numerous topics, including religion, nature, and aging; a lot of the images are based on Whitman’s experiences and memories. Whitman’s style of writing includes heavy usage of anaphora (repetition of words at the beginning of lines or clauses), which also contributes to the creation of sharp images to be able to manifest his emotions in the poem; for example,
That I could forget the mockers and insults!
That I could forget the trickling tears, and the blows of the bludgeons and hammers!
That I could look with a separate look on my own crucifixion and bloody crowning.
(Line 961) Whitman’s poem is also reminiscent of imagist poetry. Imagism was a precursor to modernism and endorses the creation of sharp images in poetry, almost creating a still-life full of detail using words. One verse that struck me as such was
I visit the orchards of spheres, and look at the product:
And look at quintillions ripen’d, and look at quintillions green.
(Line 797) This particular sentence elicited a clear and beautiful picture in my mind of a small path lined with orchards and countless amounts of green apples; this kind of image evokes happiness and even a calm feeling for the reader; however, Whitman also often creates less pleasant images that can involve harshness and destruction (seen in the first lines quoted). Whitman successfully smashed the conventional style of writing, as is appropriate for the time period in which he lived, and was a very pleasant read.

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