Journal #30

I have not read that many Walt Whitman poems, but if I had to choose my favorite, I think that I would pick O Captain My Captain. I would pick that one just because it is the one that I probably hear the most about and also because I think it is one of the easier ones to understand. The poem is about a ship that comes home from a big voyage. The ship is all weathered and torn, but they managed to return home. When they arrive, everyone is cheering and celebrating, but unfortunately, the Captain had passed away. A man on the ship is talking about the grand homecoming and how all of the people are excited for their arrival. He tells the Captain that he needs to wake up and hear the bells, but of course, the Captain does not answer, because he is dead on the deck.  Basically, this poem is about how even though everyone is very happy because they made it home safely, one of the passengers was mourning for his captain, which had not made it back safe. I liked this one better also because in a lot of Walt Whitman's poems he usually has a hidden meaning or something like that, or sometimes people can interpret poems any way they want, but in this poem, I think the meaning is pretty straight forward for the most part and I am not sure if you could interpret it in any other way really. I also picked it in the first place because it is not super long. I tend to like the shorter poems more than the longer ones because the short ones are normally pretty straight forward and right to the point. The longer ones, in general, are usually a little hard to follow and they sometimes get a little confusing. That is why I picked the poem O Captain, My Captain by the famous poet, Walt Whitman.

"Chanting the Square Deific" - Reflection

  This poem Chanting the Square Deific, is apart of Walt Whitman's famous book, Leaves of Grass. In this poem, Whitman describes God as being a four-sided square. I think that this is an interesting view because I have only been exposed to the three-sided view, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. However, Whitman adds another aspect to it.

  In the first stanza, it talks about all of the different names that there are for God. In the very beginning God is called "Old Brahm" and "Saturnius" (Whitman).  All of these names are names from different cultures.  Anyway,  I thought that it was interesting how He was described though. I noticed that instead of being described as loving and merciful, which is how many think of Him, He was being described as harsh and unforgiving. " Relentless I forgive no man-whoever sins dies- I will have that man's life; (Whitman). 

  However, in the second stanza it from Christ's point of view. This point of view is extremely different from the previous one. In this stanza He talks about his undying love and His great wisdom. "For I am affection, I am the cheer-bringing God, with hope and all-enclosing charity" (Whitman). This God, or this version of God, is definitely the more well known. This God seems more like the one that we as kids learn about and sing songs about in church (Oliver). 


 Then in the third stanza, it takes kind of a turn and goes on to talk from Satan's point of view. On the square he is on the total opposite side from God. It is kind of like on one side there is extreme goodness and on the other complete evil (Oliver). Unlike the previous two he is the exact opposite. He is crafty and devious. "With a sudra face and worn brow, black, but in the depths of my heart, proud as any (Whitman). Then in the last sentence, it talks about how time will never change him, just like time would never change God. 


 Finally, there is the fourth stanza. In the fourth stanza it is from the Spirits point of view. The spirit is "lighter than light" and "joyous, leaping easily above hell" (Whitman). The Spirit is supposedly in all of life. "Life of the great round world, the sun and stars, and of man, I, the general soul," (Whitman). Whitman also refers to the spirit as the most solid part of the square. 


    Each of these elements are one side of the square that Walt Whitman put together. In the middle of the square, there is self. I think that the square Whitman put together is very interesting. 

Oliver, Charles M. "'Chanting the Square Deific'." Critical Companion to Walt Whitman: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. 


Whitman, Walt. "The Walt Whitman Archive." CHANTING THE SQUARE DEIFIC. (Leaves of Grass [1891-1892]) -. The Walt Whitman Archive. Web. 02 Apr. 2012.

Journal #29 - Whitman's Self

I understand why it took so long for Walt Whitman to write Leaves of Grass. I think that your transcendental self is who you are, not necessarily what you do. I think it is hard to totally comprehend something like this because I am not sure if everybody knows exactly who they really are. Transcendental self is not defined by the sports or activities you are in, or the jobs you have had. It is truly who you are under the surface. I think that sometimes people see the transcendental self. People like my parents and my siblings definitely see me actually being myself. My friends are also like that, but I know that my transcendental self is not always the version of me that everyone sees. I know at school especially, I do not act the same all the time. For example, I am much more quiet at school than I am at home or when I'm with my friends. I do not really like to volunteer during class to answer questions and stuff like that partly because I just don't want to, but also because sometimes I am afraid of embarrassing myself if I answer wrong. I like the fact that you do not always know people as much as you think you do. If we all acted as our "true" selves all of the time, then you would never have to really take the time to get to know people. I hope that I semi understood what transcendental self means. It is really difficult to blog about this topic because, I myself do not totally understand it. I did like this though because it actually makes you think.  I think that it is impressive also that Walt Whitman was able to write about this kind of stuff because it is very hard to wrap your mind around. Overall, I would rather not think about this stuff though because it is kind of weird.