Author Archive | odonnellkg

My project took an approach I had never taken before on the portrayal of female’s as empowered by Whitman’s maternal prototype.  I really enjoyed investigating the issue from a kind of perspective I have formally argued against and was pleasantly surprised at a lot of the incite I was able to extract.  I used Milk and […]

Whitman has been praised by the multitudes for his “prophetic voice” that comes through in both the style and content of his work.  His messages remain relevant because they do not ascribe to the boundaries of a specific time or place, and therefore can be interpreted and applied to our present, past, and future societies.  […]

It is clear from the beginning of Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Rankine is going to weave death into almost every observation, anecdote, or story she provides us with.  However, for brevity’s sake it is more productive to talk about a few passages that seem to bring up her more Whitmanian views on the matter.  One […]

There is a quote about skin I remember reading once that describes it as an “artificial boundary,” and goes on to offer the ways in which the world and its contents enter into it while the self wanders out of it.  Spahr’s poetry undoubtedly aligns with this notion that skin simultaneously separates us from, and […]

Dave Smith’s “With Walt Whitman at Fredericksburg” offers a rather melancholy account of the current America the poet observes.  Smith’s places himself alongside Whitman, in observation of he and Simpson as he outlines the shortcomings of the progress Whitman had in mind as America’s key to a better future.  The images outlined are highly specific […]

The ocean as a fixture of nature is so important to this poem because it reflects a kind of helplessness and vulnerability that we don’t necessarily expect from Whitman’s work.  Whereas most references to nature in Whitman’s poetry allow for empowerment or at least harmonious coexistence between the human and nature, “As I Ebb’d with […]

I really loved Emma’s discussion of the way in which Whitman plays with gender associations and qualities and agree with her assertion that his descriptions of the male and female bodies emphasizes his larger claim about the importance of the individual.  This theme of the exploration of the intricacies of the individual is a resounding […]

Whitman’s preface to “Leaves of Grass” outlines some of the driving forces behind his poetic voice.  Certain ideas are revisited throughout the preface in order to emphasize their power and importance in the process of creating and reading “great poetry.”  Among these is Whitman’s admiration for the divinity within human beings, which he claims is […]