“(Hark close and still what I now whisper to you/I love you, O You entirely possess me/O that you and I escape from the rest and go utterly off, free and lawless/Two hawks in the air, two fishes swimming in the sea not more lawless than we)"
I think people as a whole feel stifled and are just waiting for someone to come along and inspire them. Whitman was good at this. He speaks directly to the reader, making them feel as if they are his entire universe. He does this in a very sensual way, by using language such as "whisper" - You can't help but feel his breathe on your ear as he talks softly to you- making promises for the future.
"From Pent-up Aching Rivers" is about giving in to your urges and not being afraid of who you are. We tend to mask ourselves in society, afraid of what people will think or what they might be saying when our backs are turned. Whitman wants to free the reader from the chains of society. He wants us to give in to our more basic instincts. Some of us are much more successful at letting go. Whitman himself is obsessed with the beauty of the human form and procreation. In his world it is all about sex. Considering we're talking over one-hundred years ago, I don't think much has changed.
Whitman says, "Seeking something yet unfound though I have diligently sought it many a long year." What are we all looking for - happiness, love, success, and mostly someone to share our thoughts and dreams with. Whitman plays the part of the heroic lover - making promises, swearing oaths - "O I willingly stake all for you." What does this kind of adoration and obsession really feel like? How many of us have had relationships where you felt you were the center of someone else's world? Did he give everything he had to his poems? Was he lonely?
Words pour from his soul and we have bathed ourselves in them for over one-hundred years. Whitman speaks directly to our hearts - urging us to not be afraid of who we are. We may live in a society where freedom is supposed to ring, but we aren't free. We live by society's rules, just as he did. We may have the freedom to make choices, and we certainly have more choices to make, but there are still limits and constraints. What would Whitman think of our progress?
Hey, Nickie -- nice work. This feels like a different kind of writing to me -- more spontaneous, less edited and organized, which is how a journal ought to present itself. I hope the blog becomes something you go on to use for more than just the class.
ReplyDeletep.s. Re: the "rod and Spencer" comment box, Spencer is my 12-year-old daughter, and we just set our Google account up that way when we began following blogs of mutual friends!
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