dc.description.abstract | Whitman is unconventional; however, that is also the reason why he is so adorable. His unrhymed poems show his free style. And instead of following clergymen and the authorities, he preaches his belief—loving both the body and soul as well as loving people under the sun. We love ourselves, our family, our friends, our countries and Whitman extends the love to strangers, nature, time, space and the immense. His famous “Song of Myself” is actually a song of love. He invites not only his soul and body but also slaves and masters, women and men to join the choir. He sings for the self and for the masses also. He enjoys his self, and every self is part of the whole. He denies none and he accepts all.
In his works we see Whitman rediscover the values of people and the environments around us. To begin with, in chapter one, I will give a brief introduction to my thesis. In chapter two, I will explore Whitman’s poems about nature. Living in modern cities, we are so inundated by over-decorated life and handy information that we lose the inherent ability to explore real life. Therefore, Whitman asks us to return to nature where people can live with God and communicate with him. Chirping birds, blooming lilacs, surging tides will bring us inspiring messages. Only through immersion in nature can human beings feel the correspondence between nature and themselves. As for the way to treat fellow countrymen, the Civil War teaches Whitman great lessons, so my chapter three will deal with the impact of the Civil War. The confrontation between the North and South, blacks and whites cannot be solved by arms. He recommends the democracy to solve discords. In my fourth chapter, I will discuss universality, which includes Whitman’s pursuit of eternity and his embracive fraternity. His “Passage to India” is actually a tour to enlightenment. He sails to the Eastern wonderland where wisdom originates. At the moment he transcends space and time, he realizes an instant can be everlasting and the epic navigation will eventually return to the departure.
My concluding chapter will point out that as Whitman sounds his “barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world,” he encourages readers to have their own thinking. After reading his Leaves of Grass readers will see his works are not barbaric at all; they are milestones in American literature. | en_US |