Study Questions for Walt Whitman

Leaves Of Grass (1855)

From its first publication in 1855, Whitman continued to add and expand the
Leaves of Grass. He published nine books ith this same title ! the last one
appeared in 18"#, the $ear of his death. His poems capture the seepin%
expanse of &merica. &mon% the numerous themes, Whitman discussed the unit$
of ' and $ou( %ood and evil( sex( death, the divine avera%e, and democrac$.
Whitman on Leaves Of Grass:
1. )*emember, the book arose out of m$ life in +rookl$n and ,-
from 18.8 to 185., absorbin% a million people for 15 $ears, ith an
intimac$, an ea%erness, an abandon, probabl$ never e/ualled.)
#. )' sa, from the time m$ enterprise and /uestionin%s positivel$
shaped themselves 0ho best can ' express m$ on distinctive era
and surroundin%s, &merica, 1emocrac$23, that the trunk and
center hence the anser as to radiate, and hich all should
return from stra$in%, hoever far a distance, must be identical
bod$ and soul, a personalit$, after man$ considerations and
ponderin%, ' deliberatel$ settled should be m$self ! indeed could
not be an$ other.)
.. )&n attempt of a naive, masculine, affectionate, contemplative,
sensual, imperious person to cast into literature not onl$ his %rit
and arro%ance, but his on flesh and form, undraped, re%ardless of
models, re%ardless of modest$ or la( and i%norant as at first it
appears, of all outside of the fiercel$ loved land of his birth. ... 4he
effects he produces in his poems are no effects of artists or the
arts, but the effects of the ori%inal e$e, or the actual atmosphere,
or tree, or bird.)
5. )Leaves of Grass ... has mainl$ been . . . at attempt . . . to put
6a 7erson6 a human bein% 0m$self in the latter half of the
nineteenth centur$, in &merica3 freel$, full$, and trul$ on record. '
could not find an$ similar personal record in current literature that
satisfied me.)
1. ,otice that Whitman6s )8on% of 9$self) be%ins ith )') and ends ith )$ou.) 4o
hat extent can the poem be understood as a transaction from an )') 0e$e23 to a
)$ou)2 :onsider too the first activit$ of the )') in this re%ard; he loafs and
observes a spear 0h$ a sin%le spear23 of summer %rass. 'n hat sense is this
observation t$pical of the movement leadin% from )') to )$ou)2
#. Whitman has often been accused of bein% e%otistical. 1iscuss his use of )') and
its relation to the countr$ at lar%e. Wh$ does he appear e%otistic2 What is his
purpose2
.. What is Whitman6s vie of his ph$sical self2 Wh$ does he stress it so much2
5. 1iscuss Whitman6s poetr$ as a culmination point in the development of
&merican identit$. Ho does Whitman contribute to the on%oin% evolution of self!
reliance2 of human freedom2 of concepts of democrac$2
"I was simmering, simmering, simmering; Emerson
brought me to a boil." - WW
)*eminiscences of Walt Whitman,) b$ <ohn 4onsend 4robrid%e, 4he &tlantic
9onthl$, Februar$ 1"=#


Old Walt
>ld Walt Whitman
Went findin% and seekin%,
Findin% less than sou%ht
8eekin% more than found,
?ver$ detail mindin%
>f the seekin% or the findin%.
7leasured e/uall$
'n seekin% as in findin%,
?ach detail mindin%,
>ld Walt ent seekin%
&nd findin%.
Lan%ston Hu%hes, 1"55
from A Supermarket in California
Where are e %oin% Walt Whitman2 4he doors close in an
hour. Which a$ does $our beard point toni%ht2
0' touch $our book and dream of our od$sse$ in the
supermarket and feel absurd.3
Will e alk all ni%ht throu%h solitar$ streets2 4he trees
add shade to shade, li%hts out in the houses, e6ll both be
lonel$.
Will e stroll dreamin% of the lost &merica of love past
automobiles in drivea$s, home to our silent cotta%e2
&h, dear father %ra$beard, lonel$ old coura%e!teacher, hat
&merica did $ou have hen :haron /uit polin% his ferr$ and
$ou %ot out on a smokin% bank and stood atchin% the boat
disappear on the black aters of Lethe2
&llen Ginsber%, 1"5@
Study Questions for Emily Dickinson
1. What does it feel like to read a Dickinson poem? What is your sense of her
musicality, sound, rhythm, and use of space? Do you read these poems
quickly or slowly? What do you think about the capitals or punctuation?
2. In "hey shut me up in !rose," "mily Dickinson writes that bein# inside
prose is "$s when a little %irl& hey put me in the 'loset (& )ecause they liked
me *still* (" +ow does the musicality and rhythm of this poem contribute to her
idea of mo,ement? Is there a place for bein# still in Dickinson*s poems?
-. In "I dwell in possibility" ./012, Dickinson sets up "possibility" as the
opposite of "prose." +ow does her poetry represent this idea of possibility?
3sin# Dickinson4s metaphor of the house, what does she su##est when she
says that poetry is "more numerous of windows, superior ( for doors"?
5. $ll her life, "mily Dickinson seems to ha,e felt she was encumbered by
structures that did not fit her, whether structures of reli#ion, belief, ,alue,
lan#ua#e, thou#ht, manners, or institutions. %i,e some e6amples of her sense
of the problem and then some e6amples of your own sense of it, in your life.
0. 17/2, a year in which Dickinson wrote more than -88 poems, seems to
ha,e been a year of #reat emotional intensity for her. Drawin# on poems from
17/2 trace some recurrent themes or desi#ns in the poems of that year.
/. 9any of Dickinson*s poems are not so much about ideas or themes, as
about the process of seein# or comin# to see, or #uess, or know. race the
elements of process in one or more poems: then imitate the sense of process
in a passa#e of poetry or prose of your own.
1. Dickinson*s poems ha,e both authority and obliqueness, as su##ested in
her line "ell all the ruth but tell it slant." Discuss e6amples of Dickinson*s
techniques of slantwise style and some of their effects on you as reader.
7. ;or many "n#lish and $merican poets, moments of "seein#" accurately
ha,e often been moments of affirmation. ;or Dickinson, they were often
moments of pain. Discuss any aspects of the poems on pain that interest you,
sheddin# li#ht, if possible, on her words "$ nearness to remendousness&$n
$#ony !rocures. . . ."
Study Questions for Emersons The Poet
1. ;rom the point ,iew of "merson4s philosophical beliefs describe how
he ima#ines the poet?
2. What are the main qualities he requires of a poet?
-. What is the specifically $merican features he e6pects to find in a poet?