A Hand-Mirror HOLD it up sternly! See this it sends back! (Who is it? Is it you?)Outside fair costume--within ashes and filth, No more a flashing eye--no more a sonorous voice or springy step; Now some slave's eye, voice, hands, step, A drunkard's breath, unwholesome eater's face, venerealee's flesh, Lungs rotting away piecemeal, stomach sour and cankerous, Joints rheumatic, bowels clogged with abomination, Blood circulating dark and poisonous streams, Words babble, hearing and touch callous, No brain, no heart left--no magnetism of sex; 10 Such, from one look in this looking-glass ere you go hence, Such a result so soon--and from such a beginning! In Walter Whitman's poem, A Hand-Mirror, he discusses a hand-mirror; however, the way he does this is unique to this peom. He does not seem to establish a specific foot or meter, using different meters in different lines; as a result, it creates somewhat of a list that gives a number of things that are bieng seen in this hand mirror by the perceiver's eye. This is seen through the chaotic sound, which is lacking a set form of meter and foot. I believe that Walter chose to lack a uniform sound pattern due to the list of things that are being pointed out in the mirror by the speaker. He seems to be listing them as if stating everything that comes to his mind instead of structurally stating what he is observing, which makes way for the c
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A Child's Amaze
Silent and amazed, even when a little boy, I remember I heard the preacher every Sunday put God in his statements, As contending against some being or influence. In the poem A Child’s Amaze, Walt Whitman seems to be reminiscing on the times of his childhood where he would see the preacher he refers to in the poem speaking of God an essential amount of times. He states that he would do this as if he was fighting against something that was opposed to God. He seems to be astonished by this battle between the preacher and some influence that he was not able to make out at the time, which is evident when he states in the beginning of the poem that he was “silent and amazed.” Likewise, it seems that he observes the preacher while inferring that he is going against a force of some kind; as a result, there are multiple tones given off. The most prominent tone given off is one suggesting that he is astonished by the pastor’s consistency with God while also being a little baffled as to the reason for his constant use of God in his statements, which he then assumes to be a being or influence that is going against both the pastor and God. Simultaneously, I believe that the mentioning of his young age adds to his astonished and confused tone because it suggests that he has been observant and astonished since he was a young child, and even as a young child, he questioned the world. This supports his astonished and curious tone that is created in the poem, which is inferred to be a result of his young age and the curiosity that accompanies it. A Farm-Picture
Through the ample open door of the peaceful country barn, A sun-lit pasture field, with cattle and horses feeding; And haze, and vista, and the far horizon, fading away. In the poem, A Farm-Picture, the use of language within the poem is considered precise for the majority of the poem. When the speaker says "through the ample open door of the peaceful country barn, a sun-lit pasture field, with cattle and horses feeding," it is evident that the meanings of the words denote the literal description of a barn sitting on a farm where there are cattles and horses feeding on the grass. The effect of this language is that the reader is able to create a visual image using their imagination, allowing them to see the farm as the speaker perceived it in the poem itself; likewise, the last line's language seems to have more connotations. "The haze, and vista, and the far horizon, fading away" could be perceived to connotate obstacles that are placed in front of people in life being only mere illusions blocking the real vista or beautiful things in life that are fading away the more a person is blinded; however, it is possible to argue that the language in this specific line literally represents "a haze, and vista, and the far horizon, fading away" that is being seen on the farm by the speaker. The effect of this use of language in the last line is that the reader possibly understands the theme of life being a beautiful thing that is blocked by the obstacles that are placed in fornt of people, or they are able to see the far horizon fading using their imagination. |
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October 2014
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