Modernism Project

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.

Emily Dickinson Reflection Blog By Abby&Gabby

Nature, the gentlest mother, is written by the author Emily Dickinson. Emily Dickinson has been known for writing about her love of nature and how even in its simplicity, it is the most beautiful thing that we have ever known. Many authors wrote about their love for nature during this time. For example, Walt Whitman was a big fan, and even before him, Ralph Waldo Emerson and David Henry Thoreau. Her poem starts out like this, “Nature, the gentlest mother, Impatient of no child, The feeblest or the waywardest,- Her admonition mild.” (Dickinson). To Emily Dickinson, Mother Nature was “the gentlest mother” and is also very patient with her children. In the second stanza it then goes on to say that she hears everything; whether it is in the forest or the hill, and that she is always “restraining rampant squirrel or too impetuous bird.” (Dickinson). Finally, in the third stanza, she goes on to say,“How fair her conversation, A summer afternoon, her household, her assembly; and when the sun goes down (Dickinson). I think that this is saying that no matter what time of day it is, or what season, or what year, Mother Nature is always beautiful. Not only is nature beautiful in the day, but even when the sun goes down, she still offers something wonderful, like the stars or the moon. I like how in her poem Emily Dickinson talks about Mother Nature as if she were an actual human. I think that it makes it more interesting for the reader and is very creative. In the fourth stanza, Emily Dickinson says how the voice of Mother Nature encourages the "timid prayer of the minutest cricket, the most unworthy flower" (Dickinson). In this stanza, I think what Emily Dickinson is trying to say is that everything in nature has some sort of purpose, like crickets and flowers. Even though they are not the best part of nature, they still have a purpose. In the fifth stanza, Emily Dickinson talks about how when the children are sleeping, Mother Nature lights the sky with her lamps (Dickinson). I think that when she says lamps she really means stars and the moon because they come out at night when everyone is sleeping. In the final stanza of this poem, Emily Dickinson says "With infinite affection, and infiniter care, her golden finger on her lip, wills silence everywhere" (Dickinson). In this stanza, Emily Dickinson is saying that with a lot of care Mother Nature wills silence at night. I think that this stanza was pretty much self explanatory because I think it means exactly what she is saying. I think that in this stanza Emily Dickinson uses imagery because she says "her golden finger on her lip" which I think is a form of imagery. Overall, this poem was really interesting to read because it was about Mother Nature and how she is the gentlest mother. This poem is really cool because Emily Dickinson refers to Mother Nature as if she is a real person, not just a figure of speech.

Journal #28

The famous Emily Dickinson wrote the poem "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died." This poem is about a fly that interrupts the speaker as they are passing away. The poem starts out like this, "I heard a fly buzz when I died; The stillness round my form Was like the stillness in the air Between the heaves of storm" (Dickinson). I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think that Emily Dickinson was saying that as she was laying there dying, the room and the air became very peaceful and still. Especially, after being very sick and heaving after long periods of time. So far, I feel like this is a very interesting poem because it is different than many other poems. I'm not sure if I like it, but it is sort of unique. Next, she goes on to say, "The eyes beside had wrung them dry, And breaths were gathering sure For that last onset, when the king Be witnessed in his power." (Dickinson). This stanza, for me, was a lot harder to analyze because I think everyone can interpret it differently. The first sentence makes me think of people crying because the speaker is dying so I think that it would make sense. The second line, which I do not completely understand, I think might mean that people, like the speaker's friends and family were coming to gather around her, while she passes away for the "last onset, when the king be witnessed in his power" (Dickinson). At least, that is what I took from this stanza. Then, the third stanza starts like this, "I willed my keepsakes, signed away What portion of me I Could make assignable,-and then There interposed a fly," (Dickinson). Now this is talking about how the speaker had signed his/ her will, and assigned what could be assigned away, and then a fly came along. Finally, With blue, uncertain, stumbling buzz, Between the light and me; And then the windows failed, and then I could not see to see. I thought this poem was different, I don't think I loved it, but it was okay. "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died." Web. 27 Mar. 2012. .

Emily Dickinson's Writing Style Reflection

Emily Dickinson was another great author. She was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts. She lived a very privileged life. She graduated from Amherst academy and eventually went on to South Hadley Seminary for nearly a year. Her world revolved around her family and because of her family's status, she would often be entertaining guests and visitors. she was also extremely knowledgeable, especially when it came to the Bible, the writings of Shakespeare and Charles Dickens, and also George Eliot (McChesney). The strange thing was that about in her early twenties, Emily Dickinson started to shy away from the outside world and community. she mostly stayed in her house and hardly ever socialized anymore except for with a few close friends (McChesney). However, looking back now, that is what makes her unique. she searched inside herself and sort of analyzed her feelings and lifestyle and often, that is expressed in her poetry (McChesney). It is very obvious in the way she writes that she was probably a little different than most people. for example, she wrote a this letter when she was fifteen years old and here is what it said, " "How swiftly summer has fled & what report has it borne to heaven of misspent time & wasted hours? The ceaseless flight of the seasons is to me a very solemn thought, & yet Why do we not strive to make a better improvement of them?" (Dickinson). At this age, most girls are interested in clothes and hair, but Emily Dickinson was already showing the early signs of becoming the great and memorable author that she is (McChesney). She has several different techniques that she uses when she writes. Like many of the authors during this time, she also loved nature. However, instead of talking about a landscape or a blue sky, or the woods, she would break it down in to a simple blade of grass or a single raindrop or insect. " The Bee is not afraid of me./I know the Butterfly./The pretty people in the Woods/Receive me cordially—." (Dickinson). Emily Dickinson was also different in the fact that she did not like to do the normal things that women were supposed to do back then. She would often bake desserts, but she did not like to cook very much. In a letter she wrote, "Father and Austin still clamor for food, and I, like a martyr am feeding them. Wouldn't you love to see me in these bonds of great despair?" (Dickinson). So, not only was she different in her writing style and personality, but she did not conform to society as women were supposed to do. That was about the time when she started to close herself in her room. I really enjoy reading her poetry knowing that she was different than a lot of authors in her writing style, but also in her personality and perspectives. It is a shame that she maybe didn't get out more and live "a normal life." However, if she hadn't lived this way or had not become that person then we may have not had all of her beautiful and mysterious poetry that we have today.




McChesney, Sandra. "A View from the Window: The Poetry of Emily Dickinson." In Harold Bloom, ed. Emily Dickinson, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2002. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= BCED03&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 20, 2012).