Monday, January 30, 2012

Specimen Days I: Boys in the Army

This was an interesting section. Here, Whitman describes his meeting with a young, 15-year-old soldier. The next day, as two of the regiments are marching through the town, Whitman realizes how very young all of the soldiers are, stating that "there did not appear to be a man over 30 years of age, and a large portion were from 15 to perhaps 22 or 23." Whitman observes how, despite their youth, the soldiers all had the look of veterans, and while none look particularly striking, Whitman did not find any of them ugly or stupid looking.

It's sad to think of children during war, but even more tragic is children in war. From what Whitman describes in this passage, there is an entire generation aging beyond their years, growing up too fast, seeing and doing things that teenagers the same age today could not even imagine.

As far as how this relates to A Song of Myself, let's go back to loafing (yeah I mentioned it a lot before, but we talked about it in class, it's on my mind!). Once again, Whitman is being faced with a large group of people who cannot share in the free and relaxing life that Whitman encourages. And what choice to they have? At this point in time, the nation is at war with itself. Brother against brother, fighting for the freedom our nation was supposedly built on. It's not like loafing is really an option here. But Whitman clearly understands that. The first comparison that comes to mind is the hippie generation during the Vietnam war. Now, I'm in no way saying they didn't have valid points, but they could sometimes forget about the people fighting. Whitman manages to advocate a similar(-ish) lifestyle, but still display a lot of respect for these soldiers, ending the passage by complimenting them (again, NOT dissing hippies, it was just the only thing I could think of!)(...I'm so paranoid about offending people...).

ANYWAY, the point is, Whitman was in a very difficult and painful situation, having to see these young men go off to war, but I appreciate the way he respects them, once again showing an enormous amount of consideration for his fellow man.

"The prostitute draggles her shawl, her bonnet bobs on her tipsy and pimpled neck...

The crowd laugh at her blackguard oaths, the men jeer and wink to each other.
(Miserable! I do not laugh at your oaths nor jeer at you,)"
         ~Leaves of Grass, page 10
It's hard to choose which lines from Song of Myself are my favorite. For one thing, there's a lot of lines. Then there's the fact that different lines stand out for different reasons. So do I choose the lines that I personally relate to? The ones that are completely foreign? The ones that just plain sound pretty? Oh well. I eventually settled on this one, because it sounded pretty, I loved the imagery, and I loved the implications (not to mention the way it relates to the rest of the poem... but more on that later).

First of all, I had to actually look up one of the words in this part. Blackguard. It's pretty. I like pretty words. It also adds a lot of meaning to this line. According to Dictionary.com...

Black-guard
noun
1. a low, contemptible person; a scoundrel
2. Obsolete


Meaning number 1: Not that surprising of a noun when being associated with a prostitute. So, when using this meaning, it's almost a throwaway word. The crowd laughs at a scoundrel's oaths, a prostitute's oaths, it's almost repetitive. Why not just say they laughed at her oaths? (poetic diction aside)

But then replace it with that second definition. Obsolete. Think about it. That's harsh. Going back to my friend Dictionary.com, obsolete means something out of date, disused, discarded. Oath means vow, or promise. So these people are laughing at the discarded vows of a prostitute. Perhaps I'm reading too deep into this, but I immediately make connections to vows of love, like wedding vows. And in all honesty, can you blame these men for laughing at her? Can anyone take the promises of a prostitute seriously? It's a joke to them, that a whore could have anything other than blackguard oaths.

And then we get to my favorite part of the line. Whitman defends her. He doesn't laugh, he doesn't jeer. He is dismayed that others would treat her as such, calls them miserable. It's very beautiful to me. Not to mention, it's very true to the overlying theme of this entire poem. Equality of person. To tie in another favorite line of mine (aren't I clever?):
"In all people I see myself, none more and not one a barleycorn less,
And the good or bad I say of myself I say of them"
             ~Leaves of Grass, page 14
So everyone's the same, and when Whitman compliments or degrades himself, he is doing the same to the rest of the world. But this works both ways, too. If someone disrespects another (such as our prostitute), then they are also disrespecting Whitman. To insult one is to insult all. It's the whole, "love your neighbor as yourself" thing broken down into a more broad scape.

It's a good message, written in a very pretty way. I like pretty words.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Tweet-a-Week I: Wilmot Proviso

Had no idea what this even was before today. As it was, google allowed me to establish that the Wilmot Proviso was a bill that was proposed by David Wilmot in 1846. The bill would have made slavery illegal in the territories newly acquired from the Mexican-American War. It divided congress, and the entire nation. In the coming years, it would turn into a civil war.

This bill is one of the things that first sparked Whitman's involvement in speaking out against slavery, with the poet writing articles supporting the bill in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. However, it seems as though he had some underlying ulterior motives to his views. With the gain of these new states, there was also untold opportunity for working whites to find jobs. But in states where slave labour is legal, why would anyone pay a white man to do what they would get a black man to do for free?

Really, I suppose it all comes down to the American dream of opportunity. Regardless of race, if nothing else ending slavery would (in theory) level the playing field. Whitman, in Leaves of Grass, seems very enthralled with the idea of equality ("For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you") despite living in a time of tremendous turmoil and inequality. So the Wilmot Proviso was like a beacon, the first step towards a world where people could be the same, race made irrelevant. New states that could join this marvelous country never knowing the black stain of slavery that would taint so many others. (And Damn if that isn't just poetic. I can see the appeal.)

But let's back up a sec, I just had a thought. Equality can extend past simply equal work opportunities. What about Whitman's beloved loafing? Slaves had no choice in their work. Loafing was not just frowned upon for them, it was punishable. Here is this entire race of people that cannot share in Whitman's ideal and yet probably appreciate it more so that most others. It must have been painful for him. Whitman says "In all people I see myself", and yet there are so many people who are being mistreated, who cannot live the life he finds so desirable. To look at a slave and see yourself, would have to be heartbreaking. Because Whitman wants to connect with people, to be equal with them, but the definition of slavery denies that.