Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Whitman--Song of Myself; Leaves of Grass

Particularly in "Song of Myself", Whitman emphasized an all-powerful "I" who serves as narrator. The "I" tries to relieve both social and private problems by using powerful affirmative cultural images.[24] The emphasis on American culture helped reach Whitman's intention of creating a distinctly American epic poem comparable to the works of Homer.[25] Originally written at a time of significant urbanization in America, Leaves of Grass responds to the impact urbanization has on the masses.[26]

i hear america...
Whitman’s catalogs, or lists, are used in many of his poems to indicate the breadth of types of people, situation, or objects in a particular poem. Whitman’s mastery of the catalog has caused critics to praise his endless generative powers,
his seeming ability to cycle through hundreds of images while avoiding repetition and producing astounding
variety and newness. Anaphora is a literary device used by Whitman which employs the repetition
of a first word in each phrase; for example, each line will begin with “and.” Whitman uses anaphora to mimic biblical syntax and give his work a weighty, epic feeling, but also to create the hypnotic rhythms that take the place of more formal verse.

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