ESSETIAL T u HS? What are life's E:B 6=1 E-:II. c.ss""tiaj Trvths 2..

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1 What are life's ESSETIAL T u HS? Love, loss. Joy, death. When you focus on life's real meaning, you explore its essential truths. These truths, of course, are the natural focus of poets. For instance, Walt Whitman celebrates the spirit and reality of American life, while Emily Dickinson has a great deal to say about death and dying. But do they-or any other poet- speak for you? What do you think about such weighty matters as life, death, success, and failure? What is your truth? LIST IT Jot down your own top-five list of life's essential truths. Begin with number five and work your way up to number one. Feel free to express your truths in statements, phrases, questions, or any form you want. - - E:B 6=1 E-:II c.ss""tiaj Trvths - 5. ASSESSMENT GOALS By the end ofthis lesson, you will be able to... analyze the poetic form and styles of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson apply critical thinking skills to analyze text evaluate ideas and information while reading nonfiction text analyze a writing prompt and plan a comparison-contrast essay SELECTED POETRY - WHITMAN & DICKINSON 69

2 LEARN THE TERMS: ACADEMIC VOCABULARY Poetic Form and Style POETIC FORM refers to the arrangement of words and lines in a poem. It can also refer to other types of patterning, including rhyme, rhythm, and meter. Poetry that does not contain regular patterns of rhyme and meter is known as FREE VE RS E. Whitman is the great master offree verse. However, his use of certain poetic devices to create rhythm is characteristic of his style. STYlE is a writer's distinctive way of expressing ideas. Dickinson's poetry often contains regular rhyme and meter. But she uses these traditional elements to create a unique form through which she conveys her observations about the world. As you read Whitman's and Dickinson's poems, look for the following poetic devices that mark the style of these 19th-century poets. WHITMAN CATALOCiING : frequent lists of people, t hings, and attributes REPETITION: repeated words or phrases at the beginning of two or more lines PARALLELISM : related ideas phrased in similar ways DICKINSON dense QUATR AINS: four-line stanzas that echo the simple rhythms of church hymns SLANT RHYMES: words that do not exactly rhyme ("chill" I "Tulle") punctuation: dashes to highlight important words and break up rhythm capitalization and sentence structure: irregular capitalization and inverted syntax to emphasize words Whitman and Dickinson both use the following techniques in their poetry: IMAGERV-descriptive words and phrases that re-create sensory experiences SIMILE-a figure of speech that compares two things that have something in common, using like or as METAPHOR-a figure of speech that compares two things directly, without using like or as PERSONIFICATI ON-a figure of speech in which an object, animal, or idea is given human characteristics 70 UNIT 3A: FROM ROMANTICISM TO REALISM,

3 I Hear America Singing Walt Whitman BACKGROUND As a poet, Walt Whitman was a rebel. In 1855, he published Leaves ofgrass. This collection of poems broke new ground in content and style. Whitman treated subjects that often shocked his readers. He also created his own rhythms, rejecting traditional verse forms and techniques. A spokesman for all that was American, he created a new poetry for a new age. I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong, The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,.. The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work, 5 The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck, The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands, The wood-cutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown, The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing, Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else, 10 The day what belongs to the day-at night the party ofyoung fellows, robust, friendly, Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs... "*"211 Notice the use of cataloging throughout the poem. What rhythmic effect does the poet create with his list ofthe men and women at work in America? INTERPRET Whitman uses the image of people singing to represent their work. Why do you think the poet uses this imagery? I HEAR AMERICA SINGING 71

4 " of Myself Walt Whitman 1 I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. I loaf and invite my soul, 5 I lean and loaf at my ease observing a spear of summer grass. - DRA W CONCLUSIONS My tongue, every atom of my blood, form'd from this soil, this air, Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same, I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin, Hoping to cease not till death. <!III Underline parallel elements In lines 6-9.,. 10 Creeds and schools in abeyance, What attitude toward America does this parallelism convey? Retiring back a while sufficed at! what they are, but never forgotten, I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard, Nature without check with original energy. 6 A child said What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands, 15 How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he. I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven. Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord, 1. sufficed at: satisfied with. 72 UNIT 3A: FROM ROMANTICISM TO REALISM,

5 A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt, 2 Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that we may see and remark, and say Whose? 20 Or I guess the grass is itself a child, the produced babe of the vegetation. Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic,3 And it means, Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow zones, Growing among black folks as among white, Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff,4 I give them the same, I receive them the same. 25 And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves.... Tenderly will I use you curling grass, It may be you transpire 5 from the breasts of young men, It may be if I had known them I would have loved them; It may be you are from old people, or from offspring taken soon out of their mothers' laps, 30 And here you are the mothers' laps. 14 M-till ' Circle the metaphors for grass in lines , What ideas about nature do these comparisons suggest? This grass is very dark to be from the white heads of old mothers, Darker than the colorless beards ofold men, Dark to come from under the faint red roofs of mouths. o I perceive after all so many uttering tongues, 35 And I perceive they do not come from the roofs of mouths for nothing.... I wish I could translate the hints about the dead young men and women, And the hints about old men and mothers, and the offspring taken soon out of their laps. SYNTHESIZE Note the cataloging of names in line 24 and the imagery in lines What do these lines suggest about the speaker's view of different groups of people? 2. remembrancer designedly dropt: a purposely dropped token of affection. 3. hieroglyphic: a system of symbols that represent meanings or speech sounds. 4. Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Cuff: slang terms for various groups of people. A Kanuck (now spelled Canuck) is a Canadian, especially a French Canadian; a Tuckahoe is someone from the coast of Virginia; a Cuff is an African American. 5. transpire: emerge; ooze out. SONG O f MYSnF 73

6 CONNECT TO TEXT Reread lines Do you agree with the poet's ideas on death? Explain why or why not. What do you think has become of the young and old men? And what do you think has become of the women and children? 40 They are alive and well somewhere, The smallest sprout shows there is really no death, And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it, And ceas'd the moment life appear'd.. All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses, 45 And to die is different from what anyone supposed, and luckier. <lilt The spotted hawk swoops by and gab and my loitering. 52 me, he complains of my *' 'ttlfj, Underline and name the poetic devices in lines , How do these devices emphasize the speaker's untamed nature? I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable, I sound my barbaric yawp6 over the roofs of the world. The last scud? of day holds back for me, 50 It flings my likeness after the rest and true as any on the shadow'd wilds, It coaxes me to the vapor and the dusk. I depart as air, I shake my white locks at the runaway sun, I effuse my flesh in eddies, 8 and drift it in lacy jags. 5S I bequeath 9 myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love, If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles. 6. yawp: loud, rough speech. 7. scud: wind-blown cloud. 8. effuse. eddies: scatter my flesh in swirling currents. 9. bequeath: hand over, as if in a will. 74 UNIT 3A: FROM ROMANTICISM TO REALISM,

7 You will hardly know who I am or what I mean, But I shall be good health to you nevertheless, And filter and fibre your blood. Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, 60 Missing me one place search another, I stop somewhere waiting for you. 'irt;tj itii ' Why is free verse an appropriate form for this poem? SONG OF MYSELF 75

8 A Noiseless Parent Spider Walt Whitman TESTSMART What is personified in this poem? a spider space abridge the speaker's soul TIP Rememberthat personification is a figure of speech in which an object, animal, or idea is given human characteristics. Read through the poem and circle the words that ascribe human qualities to something that is nonhuman. Then select the best answer choice., A noiseless patient spider, I mark'd where on a little promontoryl it stood isolated, Mark'd how to explore the vacant vast surrounding, It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out ofitself, 5 Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them. And you 0 my soul where you stand, Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans ofspace, Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking.the spheres to connect them, Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile2 anchor hold, 10 Till the gossamer 3 thread you fling catch somewhere, 0 my soul promontory: a high ridge of land or rock jutting out over water or land. 2. ductile: capable of being drawn or stretched out. 3. gossamer: extremely light or fine. 76 UNIT 3A: FROM ROMANTICISM TO REALISM,

9 Beat! Beat! Drums! Walt Whitman Beat! beat! drums!-blow! bugles! blow! Through the windows-through - doors-burst like a ruthless force, Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation, Into the school where the scholar is studying;.. s Leave not the bridegroom quiet-no happiness must he have now with his bride, Nor the peaceful farmer any peace, ploughing his field or gathering his grain, So fierce you whirr and pound you drums-so shrill you bugles blow. INTERPRET How does Whitman use elements of his style to introduce the main idea of the poem in lines 1-4? Beat! beatldrumsl - blow! bugles! blow! Over the traffic of cities-over the rumble of wheels in the streets; 10 Are beds prepared for sleepers at night in the houses? no sleepers must sleep in those beds, No bargainers' bargains by day-no brokers or speculatorswould they continue? Would the talkers be talking? would the singer attempt to sing? Would the lawyer rise in the court to state his case before the judge? Then rattle quicker, heavier drums-you bugles wilder blow.....'mlli al Study the second stanza. What poetic devices does Whitman use to communicate the need for haste and action? ls Beat! beat! drums!- blow! bugles! blow! Make no parley-stop for no expostulation, 1 Mind not the timid-mind not the weeper or prayer, Mind not the old man beseeching the young man, Let not the child's voice be heard, nor the mother's entreaties, 20 Make even the trestles 2 to shake the dead where they lie awaiting the hearses, So strong you thump 0 terrible drums-so loud you bugles blow.... MAKE INFERENCES Reread lines How do these lines particularly convey the urgency of the speaker's call to action? 1. parley: a discussion or conference; expostulation: argument. 2. trestles: tables, in this case, upon which coffins sit until the undertaker comes to take them away. BEAT! B EAT! D RUMS! 77

10 I could not stop for 'Death- EMILY DICKINSON 1Wtllf j Reread lines 1-4 and notice the use of personification. How is death personified? BACKGROUND Emily Dickinson was a person of contrasts. She lived what appeared to be an extremely quiet and simple life in 19th-century New England. Yet she wrote many poems that are highly original in thought and style. They express strong feelings and ideas, and they often reveal insights in unexpected ways. Today she and Walt Whitman are considered the greatest American poets of the 19th century. Because I could not srop for Death- He kindly stopped for me- The Carriage held but just Ourselves- And Immortality We slowly drove-he knew no haste And I had put away INTERPRET My labor and my leisure roo, What is the effect of Dickinson's style of irregular For His Civility 1_ capitalization in fines 9-12? We passed the School, where Children strove 10 At Recess- in the Ring- We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain 2 - We passed the Setting Sun Civility: politeness. 2. Gazing Grain: grain leaning toward the sun. 78 UNIT 3A: FROM ROMANTICISM TO REALISM,

11 Or rather-he passed Us- The Dews drew quivering and chill- 15 For only Gossamer,3 my Gown- My Tippet-only Tulle 4 - We paused before a House that seemed A Swelling of the Ground- The Roof was scarcely visible- 20 'The Cornice 5 -in the Ground- Since then-'tis Centuries-and yet Feels shorter than the Day I first surmised the Horses' Heads Were toward DRAW CONCLUSIONS Underline the imagery used to describe the house in lines , What does the poem's final quatrain suggest about the house? 3. Gossamer: a thin,light cloth. 4. My Tippet-only Tulle (tool): My shawl was only a fine net cloth. S. Cornice (k6r'nls): the molding around the top of a building. BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH 79

12 Success is counted sweetest EMILY DICKINSON INTERPRET Circle the dashes in this poem., What is the effect of Dickinson's restricted use of this punctuation? Success is counted sweetest By those who ne'er succeed. To comprehend a nectar! Requires sorest need. Not one of all the purple Host 2 Who took the Flag 3 today Can tell the definition So dear ofvictory As he 10 On whose forbidden ear The distant strains of triumph Burst agonized and dear! To comprehend a nectar: to fully appreciate a delicious beverage. 2. Host: army. 3. took the Flag: captured the enemy's flag as a token of victory. 80 UNIT 3A: FROM ROMANTICISM TO REALISM,

13 cyvfuch lmadness is divinest Sense- EMILY DICKINSON Much Madness is divinest Sense- To a discerning Eye- s In this, as All, prevail- Assent-and you are sane-. Demur'-you're straightway dangerous- And handled with a Chain 2 - _4fill'O" Much Sense-the starkest Madness- 'Tis the Majority What ideas are emphasized by the use of capitalization in this poem? demur (dl-mor'): voice opposition; object. handled with a Chain: In the 19th century. those who were considered insane were often kept chained in asylums. MUCH MADNESS IS DIVINEST SENSE 81

14 cy.j1j.life closed before its close- EMILY DICKINSON twlce COMPARE AND CONTRAST Compare the view of death in "Because I could not stop for Death-" with that in this poem. How are the ideas about death in the poems similar? How are they different? My life closed twice before its close- Ir yet remains to see If Immortality unveil A third event to me - 5 So huge, so hopeless to conceive As these that twice befell. Parting is all we know of heaven, And all we need of hell. 82 UNIT 3A: FROM ROMANTICISM TO REALISM,

15 The Soul sete ts h 0 EMILY DICKINSON The Soul selects her own Society- Then-shuts the Ooor- To her divine Majorityl- Present no more- 5 Unmoved-she notes the Chariots 2 -pausing- At her low Gate- Unmoved-an Emperor be kneeling Upon her Mat- I've known her-from an ample nation- 10 Choose One- Then-close the Valves of her attention- Like Stone-... TESTSMA'RT What image is best suggested by the simile in lines 9-12? CD an open valve ([:.: a door slammed shut crowds of people ad a friendly discussion TIP You know that a simile is a figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared using like or as. Look for like or as in the lines and circle the two things that are being compared. Then think about the images suggested by the simile and select the best answer choice., 1. divine Majority: other souls. 2. the Chariots: the Emperor's chariots. THE SOUL SELECTS HER OWN SOCIETY 83

16 . t.-,.., 1Ii! , " Oil ",'.. I heard a 'Fly buzzwhen I died- EMILY DICKINSON SYNTHESIZE Circle the words in the first stanza that are slant rhymes., What contrast do the words help emphasize? I heard a Fly buzz-when I died- The StiUness in the Room Was like the Stillness in the Air- Between the Heaves l ofstorm- The Eyes around-had wrung them dry- And Breaths were gathering firm For that last Onset- -when the King2 Be witnessed-in the Room- I willed my Keepsakes-Signed away 10 What portion ofme be Assignable-and then it was There interposed 3 a Fly- 4'lUmtlni Reread lines What is ironic about the imagery in these lines? Check all that apply. D The speaker is describing her own death. D The speaker's eyes fail as she looks out the window. o The speaker describes the fly as blue, with an uncertain, stumbling buzz. D The speaker describes a common fly instead of a beautiful vision of death. With Blue-uncertain stumbling Buzz- Between the light-and me- 15 And then the Windows then I could not see to see- 1. Heaves: risings and failings. 2. the King: God. 3. interposed: came between. 84 UNIT 3A: FROM ROMANTICISM TO REALISM,

17 My Life had stooda Loaded Gun- EMILY DICKINSON My Life had stood-a Loaded Gun'- In Corners-till a Day The Owner passed-identified- And carried Me away- 5 And now We roam in Sovereign Woods'- And now We hunt the Doe-. And every time I speak for Him- The Mountains straight reply- 'iftti't'ii What is surprising about the metaphor introduced in lines 1-4?. And do I smile, such cordial light 10 Upon the Valley glow- It is as a Vesuvian 2 face Had let its pleasure through- And when at Night-Our good Day doner guard My Master's Head- 15 'Tis better than the Eider-Duck's Deep Pillow-to have shared- MAKE INFERENCES Underline the images in lines that tell what happens to the speaker's enemies. I What action is being described? To foe of His-I'm deadly foe- None stir the second time- On whom r lay a Yellow Eye- 20 Or an emphatic Thumb- -_._ -_._ Though r than He-may longer live He longer must-than 1- For r have but the power to kill, Without-the power to die- 1. Sovereign (sav'er-in) Woods; God's woods. 2. Vesuvian (vl -soo've-en); marked by sudden or violent outbursts; after the volcano Mount Vesuvius, which erupted and destroyed Pompeii in A.D. 79. After reading Whitman's and Dickinson's poems, what do you think might be their essential truths? Write a top-five list for each poet next to your own list on page 69. MAKEJUDGM ENTS MY LIFE HAD STOOD-A LOADED GUN 85

18 Reading Comprehension DIRECTIONS Answer these questions about the poetry of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson byfilling in the correct ovals. 1. Whitman's lines of free verse are characterized by their natural flow CD unusual' rhymes CD regular meter trad'itional rhythm, 5: Why do you think the speaker in "Because I could not stop for Death-" becomes cold? because the dew is falling because her clothing is thin CD because the sun has set because she's dead 2. line 24 in "Song of Myself" contains an example of cataloging repetition CO parallelism slant rhyme 3. What figure of speech does Whitman use to describe grass in "Song of Myself"? simi'le CD metaphor imagery personification 4. What does Whitman compare to a spider in "A Noiseless Patient Spider"? space CD thread CD the speaker's soul I:::Q) loneliness 6. According to "Success is counted sweetest," who appreciates success the most? those who always win CD those who work hardest those who never win those who are luckiest 7. The simile in the first quatrain of "I heard a Fly buzz-when I died-" compares a still - room to the buzz of a fly the moment of death the quiet between storms the sobs of mourners 8. Which of the following is an example of slant rhyme? succeed I need Room I Storm sane I Chain Doel reply 86 UNIT 3A: FROM ROMANTICISM TO REALISM,

19 Responding in Writing For help, use the Test-Taker's Toolldt below. 9. Short Response In a paragraph or two, discuss how Whitman creates rhythm in his poems without using rhyme. ACADEMIC VOCABULARY When you're asked t o discuss a poet's style, you need to look at specific examples from his or her poems. To complete this response, explain how Whitman uses poetic devices to create rhythm by citing lines from his poems. GRAPHIC ORGANIZER Use the graphic organizer below to help you plan your response. POETIC DEVICE THAT CREATES RHYTHM I LINES FROM POEM._---+\------_._--- I -_._----_ _._- I ---, _. I I -----_._----, l SELECTED POETRY - WHITMAN & DICKINSON 87