Walt Whitman's View

by Sarah Ganly

The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters is simplicity. Nothing is better than simplicity... nothing can make up for excess or for the lack of definiteness. To carry on the heave of impulse and pierce intellectual depths and give all subjects their articulations are powers neither common nor very uncommon. But to speak in literature with the perfect rectitude and insouciance of the movements of animals and the unimpeachableness of the sentiment of trees in the woods and grass by the roadside is the flawless triumph of art. (Whitman, Preface to Leaves of Grass) 
I, Walt Whitman, think that creating literature is an art that portrays humanity and society and should emulate nature in its disregard for boundaries.

"I sing the body electric" with all that it is; the expressions and the various ranging motions it can make are worthy of praise. The human form is incredible with all its infinite possibilities and complexity. From the "brain in its folds inside the skull-frame" to the "the circling rivers the breath" the working of the human body is awe inspiring. The human being is perfect and natural the way it is. Gender and age only lend character to the beauty and wonder of the human form. All people should walk erectly and "speak with a full and sonorous voice out of a broad chest" (Whitman, Song of Joys). "Small the theme of my Chant, yet the greatest--namely, One's-Self--
a simple, separate person." (Whitman, Small Theme of My Chant)

I believe one should "disengage yourself from parties" and question authority and belief structures. Not only question your rulers but hold yourself above them and judge them. The common man is the true nobleman. "I above all promote brave soldiers." They battle the most trying of wars, staged in "the field the world". (Whitman, Ponder in Silence) The genius of the world does not only lie in the "executives or legislatures, nor in its ambassadors or authors, or colleges or churches or parlors, nor even in its newspapers or inventors--but always most in the common people." Man should hold to "no law but their own will". People should bow down to no known or unknown oppressor.

A poet should write simply and flow naturally. A poet should give no regard to orthodox rhyme schemes. A true poet's greatest accomplishment is to write as thought it was nature itself. True poetry is to capture the simple raw existence of the world. All structured forms of writing should be thrown aside when writing. "Away with old romance! Away with novels, plots, and plays of foreign courts, Away with love-verses sugar'd in rhyme, the intrigues, amours of idlers." (Whitman, Democratic Vistas)

None should be afraid. All should "be copious, temperate, chaste, magnetic, and what you effuse may then return as the seasons return, and may be just as much as the seasons." (Whitman, On Journeys through the States) Humanity should be "the learners of all, teachers of all, and lovers of all."

Work Cited

Whitman, Walt. "Democratic Vistas." THE INNER SANCTUM EDITION OF The Poetry and Prose of WALT WHITMAN. Louis Untermeyer. New York: Simon AND Schuster, 1949.

Whitman, Walt."On Journeys Though the States" THE INNER SANCTUM EDITION OF The Poetry and Prose of WALT WHITMAN. Louis Untermeyer. New York: Simon AND Schuster, 1949.

Whitman, Walt. "Preface to Leaves of Grass." THE INNER SANCTUM EDITION OF The Poetry and Prose of WALT WHITMAN. Louis Untermeyer. New York: Simon AND Schuster, 1949.

Whitman, Walt. "As I Ponder'd in Silence" THE INNER SANCTUM EDITION OF The Poetry and Prose of WALT WHITMAN. Louis Untermeyer. New York: Simon AND Schuster, 1949.

Whitman, Walt. "Small Theme of my Chant" THE INNER SANCTUM EDITION OF The Poetry and Prose of WALT WHITMAN. Louis Untermeyer. New York: Simon AND Schuster, 1949.

Whitman, Walt THE INNER SANCTUM EDITION OF The Poetry and Prose of WALT WHITMAN. Louis Untermeyer. New York: Simon AND Schuster, 1949.