Just so everyone knows, the title of this weblog and the accompanying photo have absolutely nothing to do with the substance of the post, which is to follow. The truth is that for the better part of the day, my son has been running around the house while wearing his pirate costume from last Halloween. He's been chasing his sisters, who are dressed like princesses and are apparently very much in need of rescue.
Anyway ... vacation is over ... back to work ye' scurvy dogs ...
This week is a little heavy in terms of content, but there is nothing here that we haven't touched on before. I want to discuss two poetic forms, BLANK VERSE and FREE VERSE. They're often confused, but in truth they're practically nothing alike.
Blank verse is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. As you should know, IAMBIC PENTAMETER is a line of poetry containing five (pentameter) stressed syllables in which each stressed syllable follows an unstressed syllable. Many of Shakespeare's most famous plays are written almost entirely in blank verse. Oftentimes, Shakespeare would only include rhyme for the sake of emphasis or to indicate that the speaker was not a commoner (i.e. royalty, a god, a knight, etc.).
Free verse is poetry that lacks any particular metric pattern or rhyme scheme (a pattern of rhyme). In free verse, the first line may rhyme with the second, but it could just as easily rhyme with the eighth, or not rhyme with any line at all. In free verse we might see a series of five or six unstressed syllables followed by two or three stressed syllables. The point is that there is no pattern.
Now the question is ... what's the point?
First, free verse is a distinctly American poetic form (or lack of form if you prefer). It began with Walt Whitman, and continues to this day to be popular amongst poets.
Second, free verse has the potential to add meaning to a poem simply by virtue of its lack of form.
Consider the following selection from Walt Whitman's, Song of Myself and then respond to the questions that follow.
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 loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.
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.
Creeds and schools in abeyance,
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.
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.
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.
Creeds and schools in abeyance,
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.
So here are the questions ...
1. What is the theme of the selection? Be specific and refer to specific lines in the poem.
2. How does the lack of rhyme or any rhythmic pattern reinforce the message or theme of the selection? Be specific and refer to specific lines in the poem.
Consider your response in relation to the responses of your classmates and be sure to comment wherever and whenever appropriate.
*** STRING IS CLOSED ***
17 comments:
I believe this poem is about Walt( obivously). He talks about himself the whole time and things about him. I am sure there is a much more deeprt meaning, but right now I don't see it. The style of the poem makes it more personal. He can express his thoughts without having to worry about following a strict format.
First off, thanks for the Shakespeare reference, I <3 him.
More seriously, I think that the poem is about living life to its fullest, 'burning the candle at both ends', but more importantly, doing all that his own way. He wants to lead his own life, which he wants to be grand and exciting or calm and relaxing, whatever he thinks would make it perfect. Whether he 'loafes' or never 'ceases until death', it shall be his choice.
The fact that he wants to do things his own way and without bonds, expressed through the use of a poetic style that is without bonds, supports the theme of being the master of your own life.
A major theme seen in Walt Whitman’s poem is the idea of the circle of life. The circle of life is birth and death at a constant, an idea that everything is connected. When you die you become part of the earth and when you are born you could have been reincarnated (if you believe in it), or one’s genes are passed on and on. Whatever perspective you have, it all comes down to the fact that in some way everything is connected, having one single source. The lack of rhyme and pattern helps reinforce the idea of the randomness of the circle of life. It helps the reader have a better understanding that the idea he is referring to is not a structured set thing.
I believe this poem is about the similarities between everyone. "For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you." Howevere although we are all the same we have our rights and obligations to be different and do what we want. " permit to speak at every hazard,"
The lack of rhyme helps to support the theme because there is no pattern, he can do it whatever way he wants. He doesn't have to stick to the outline of a differen type of poem.
This poem is about living life to the fullest, but at the same time not taking anything too seriously. He is saying that life is precious and you need to live all you can until the day you die. When I read this poem I picture a guy just chilling out in the grass on a beautiful summer day, enjoying everything in his life.
This is a very difficult one! But I think that the theme of this poem is that we, as humans, are a product of our origins.
“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. . .” To me, this quote says that the place where he was born formed him into who he is. For example, if someone grows up in a farm, they might be more understanding of nature and appreciative of the hard work that goes into producing food products or raising animals. I feel that it also says that some children grow up to be like their parents. Being a free verse poem helps to reinforce this message because Whitman repeats himself to draw emphasis (“. . . parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same. . .”).
Deanna,
When I read the poem myself I really didn’t get what you said, but after re-reading it, I definitely see how you got it. =)
To start off I often have trouble understanding poetry, but I will try to pull bits and pieces from this poem. I believe Walt is talking about his own life experiences in his poem. He enjoys living a well life when he mentions in lines 13&14 about being healthy and continuing until he dies. I think that the lack of rythme allows Walt to express his thoughts more freely and not be forced into certain descriptions.
Abby,
The way you explain those lines makes complete sense. I had no idea what to even think when I read that part and now I see the connection! That must add into the way that we all live life? In similar ways, together?
Mariana,
I love how you thought out that part of the poem.
Marissa,
Like my comment on Deanna’s post, I also didn’t notice the whole idea about the circle of life until I re-read it. It’s really weird how even though we read the same thing, our ideas about it are completely different.
I've been trying to stay out of this one, just to see where you folks take the discussion.
Let me ask this question ...
Do you notice any lines, words, or choices Whitman has made in his diction, which are reinforced by the poem's lack of form (free verse)?
Sophie,
That's a good point. We all kind of have our own ways to do things in life. Even though sometimes we can be similar.
I agree with Abby's statement that this poem is about the similarities between people. "For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you."
It can tell it is a free verse because the words don't ryhme and there is no specific pattern to this poem.Looking at the poem as a whole, it is clear that this is a free verse poem. I realized that Walt repeats himself sometimes, which could back up the free verse form." Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same."
Mr. D,
I’m not sure if I really understand what you’re saying but I would have to guess that his last line, “Nature without check with original energy,” reinforces his lack of form. The line speaks of nature without check, as is his poem, without check. Also, the both of them are original. Whitman’s poem is original because he didn’t follow any form, but did it his own way. Nature is the same when looking at it from an evolutionary point of view; it does what it wants whenever it wants to do it.
This poem is one of the few that I really don't like at all. I have read each paragraph over and it seems that there is little meaning or what meaning there is must be found by assuming and inferring just based on this bit of poetry as I have no real background information about Walt Whitman. But putting that aside I would have to guess that this poem's theme would have to do with the commonality between all of us and how we all must be free to do as we please, like loafing and observing a blade of grass. The commonality of people can be seen as he talks about how we all come from parents and the natural flow of everything that all originates with the earth, reminding me of something like, ashes to ashes dust to dust.
The unrhymed free verse in my opinion adds only slightly to the meaning of the poem, which could be because of my lack of really understanding the poem. The lack of verse could help to illustrate the flow of energy and that there is, "Nature without check with original energy." Also to Mr. Daley's question, I think that, "I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard," is reinforced as he is not restricting himself to a structured verse and for good or bad he is writing as he believes best conveys his message. Also I do not like this poem very much.
Mariana,
I get what you're saying, it wasn't something that seemed obvious (but as Megamind said, it didn't seem to have to much meaning that I could see), it was more the tone that Whitman used that made me feel that that's what it meant.
Megamind,
I snorted soooo loud when I read "Megamind said...". Like legit, it was super loud.
Deanna,
Thank you for understanding my comment. I wrote my response a while ago and when I read it again just now, I didn’t understand what I wrote. I had to re-read it. So if it was confusing for the person who wrote it, I didn’t think that anyone else wound be able to understand it. So again, thank you. =)
Megamind,
When I read the poem myself, I didn’t notice it, but now I definitely see where you got, "I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard," to answer Mr. D’s question. By the way, I liked your allusion to the Bible.
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