“Self-reliant, with haughty eyes, assuming to himself all
the attributes of his country, steps Walt Whitman into literature” is the poetic
description provided by Walt Whitman of himself and his role as a literary in
19th century United States of America. For me, this statement
suggests that Walt believes that his poem is the first great entry into the
literary world by an American writer.
After browsing through the collection of reviews for
Whitman’s 1855 version of Leaves of Grass,
I decided to focus on the reviews written by Whitman in September and October
of 1855. Who better to inform future readers what Leaves of Grass is about than the man himself? After my initial
reading of the following reviews: “Walt Whitman and His Poems,” "Walt
Whitman, a Brooklyn Boy," and "An English and American Poet" one
of the noticeable features that stood out to me was the poetic prose feel of
Whitman’s writing in his reviews.
Poetic prose, as I understand it, is the use of poetry without verse.
After rereading the selections, I decided to transform the first paragraph of a
couple of the reviews into traditional poetry in order to find out if my
observation was valid. The following paragraph was excerpted from the review
“Walt Whitman and His Poems:”
AN American
bard at last!
One of the roughs,
large, proud, affectionate, eating, drinking, and breeding,
his costume manly and free, his face sunburnt and bearded,
his posture strong and erect,
his voice bringing hope and prophecy to the generous races
of young and old.
We shall cease shamming and be what we really are.
We shall start an athletic and defiant literature.
We realize now how it is, and what was most lacking.
The interior American republic shall also be declared free
and independent.
My goal in transforming this section of Whitman’s review
into the poem was to find out if it could be read as a poem when put into
verse. As you can see or read, I believe it does. In fact, I believe that this
particular passage reads more precisely as a poem titled “An American Bard at
Last.” My previous studies informs me that a bard was a “professional poet” in
medieval times and it seems to me that this is Walt’s declaration that his poem
Leaves of Grass is an American
classic. Whitman confirms my assertion when he asks of the reader “but where in
American literature is the first show of America?” I believe that Whitman is
imploring readers to accept his work as the first great piece of American
Literature. As a result, making Whitman the first great American writer: a Song of Himself, so to speak.
Yes - - it's difficult to distinguish Walt's prose from his poetry - - which may point us to the prosaic roots of his poetry - -all that journalism he was doing before the poem appeared.
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