drumtaps

The last two weeks of class discussion have made me think long and hard about the changing nature of Whitman’s poetry in his later years. The famous poems that are highlighted in poetry courses include a broad selection of his early works, but very few seem to mention his later verse. I had no idea about Whitman’s years in Camden until I came to this university. And while his late poetry does not have the martial rhyme or political punch of his early writing, the quiet contemplation and appreciation of nature and life is touching.

If Whitman ever had fears about dying, it does not show in his poetry. Even with his debilitating ailments, he only writes about the appreciation of life, never about his struggles with sickness or the fight from day to day. The diminishment of energy is evident in these later works; many of his poems consist only of a few lines, where earlier Whitman could have expanded them into grand poems with scores of lines.

The metaphors that Whitman uses are also far more commonplace. Old age is the night of a long day, or the winter of the seasons of life. His poetry, once full of direct detail and on-the-scene footage now resorts to imagery, metaphor and symbolism in order to catch its effect. It is no surprise that Whitman has turned introspective–the forces he is dealing with now, most of all death, are intangible and largely unknown.

All goes well!  I’ve spent somewhere around 10 hours filming and editing my cinepoem.  It’s a little short–3:15, but quality work, I assure you.  The clips are cut and synched with music.  Believe me, audio editing takes forever.  It’s a good thing I’m not new to video editing and the like.

The real question is whether to simply use subtitles, or use a voiceover, or both.  I despise hearing my own voice, but I know someone who could do well speaking the lines for me, but I’m still unsure.  Just subtitles would let my nicely timed music take a bigger role–and somehow it’s more artsy that way.

Here is an interesting use of voiceover and subtitles–that is, the use of creative typography instead of images.  The poem is Kipling’s “If”:

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Whitman’s writing from Sands and Seventy centers itself on reflections on the past as well as meditations on the nature of death.  The poems in this selection are far shorter than the grand verse of Whitman’s youth, not to mention the first publication of his grand epic Leaves of Grass. The tone is markedly humble, but little hints and flashes of the strong rhetoric of his Drum-Taps days appear here and there throughout his poetry.

“Election Day, November, 1884” is one of these.  Whitman praises America’s democratic process, a force that excels even the greatest natural wonders of the nation.  This election is termed “a swordless conflict,” even though the face-off between Grover Cleaveland (D) and James G. Blaine (R) was known for vicious mudslinging and personal attacks on morals and integrity.  As we all know from history, Grover Cleaveland won the election, becoming the first democratic president elected since before the Civil War.  While learning about the presidents as a child, I could never forget that Cleaveland was the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms in office: 1885-9 and 1893-7.

Whitman also offers up a common poetic metaphor for his thoughts on death.  The Sea has always been a popular source of poetic symbolism, representing many things, including birth and rebirth, death, and mysterious femininity.  Whitman draws on the masculine strength of death as a source of poetic inspiration itself, imagining that the waves have their own voices: “many a muffled confession–many a sub and whisper’d word,/As of speakers far or hid” (Fancies at Navesink, 27-8).

These wave-poets also suffer from debilitating old age, just as the many poets of ancient times: “Poets unnamed–artists greatest of any, with cheris’d lost designs,/Love’s unresponse–a chorus of age’s complaints–hope’s last words,/Some suicide’s despairing cry, Away to the boundless waste, and never again return” (30-33).  Whitman embraces the idea of oblivion of death, avoiding typical flowery language and purple prose associated with passing.

Whitman’s poetry is subdued, yet not defeatist.  While the poet may be unsure about his legacy, he shows no fear in the face of death in his poetry, but rather looks forward to nature’s cleansing of the debilitating pains of old age.  The memories of his past are precious to his time in old age, and his reflections are just as essential to his poetry and prose as are his war poems and nationalistic verse.

Songs of Parting and Whitman’s poetry from later years is particularly poignant in its acceptance of the oncoming specter of death.  It seems that the atrocities of the Civil War made the poet all too familiar with scenes of passing, and his poetry is calm and accepting of death’s shadow.  Whitman is sure of his survival through his works of poetry and prose, but the mentions of his fading health are touching and deeply saddening.

I shall go forth,

I shall traverse the States awhile, but I cannot tell wither or how long,

Perhaps soon some day or night while I am singing my voice will suddenly cease.

(As the Time Draws Nigh, 3-5)

Whitman realizes that he soon may not be able to continue writing poetry, that his weak health may prevent him from continuing his work as America’s poet.  But he continues to press on, looking ahead to the future of an America that wholly embraces equality.  Whitman looks forward to an America that realizes the civil rights of citizens of all races.  He stands against the divisions of caste and the classical hierarchy of European monarchical rule.  Through technology, such as the steamship, the telegraph and the newspaper, Whitman looks forward to a global, integrated world, much like our modern world today.

It is interesting to think of Whitman’s embrace of technology and the great push in advancements that have happened in the last twenty years, not to mention the last century.  Today’s world is dependent on global communication, trade and business, and political negotiation.  We cook international foods in our own kitchens, we instantly chat with men and women from around the globe.  The internet is a force that spreads democracies in autocratic nations in a way that war and troops never could.  Our cultural borders are constantly expanding and while the world grows smaller, our own lives grow richer because of it.

It is hard to imagine what poetry Whitman would pen in response to this globalization, but I am sure that he would be in the forefront of it all, bringing us into awareness of the changes in America occurring around us.

Would Whitman be one of the men walking down the streets of Philadelphia with his blackberry?  Even so, I am sure he would be among the few of us to put his phone away to take a real look around.