Walt Whitman

1819- 1892

Who was he?

Son of a house builder
Self taught, read the classics- Dante,

Homer
Worked as a printer, teacher, journalist,
editor, clerk
1855, Whitman took out a copyright on
the first edition of Leaves of Grass
Royalty provided him modest livelihood

Leaves of Grass
1868 and 1886 editions of Leaves of Grass

selected poems - the 1868 edition introduced

Whitman to England's literary elite, the 1886
edition, was aimed at bringing Whitman to the
working class.
Walt Whitman," was initially thought to be a poet
who wrote of "sentimental valley of rose and
nightingale" but later Leaves of Grass is seen as
"a new poetry of love and comradeship at this
time of social misgiving, when rich and poor alike
make us keenly feel the need of the spirit of
human love
Was perceived to "sings of the new, purer
Democracy"

Structure
Dialogue format of poem: Speaker asks and the

reply constitutes the poem. Two ways in which I

is used.
Interchangeable?... The 2 Is merge..
All of us are part of the universal one!
Emphasis on self and its qualities
Use of archaic language Who art thou? shows
reverence for the rain, thus sets the tone of the
poem --- one of reverence and awe for the force of
nature.
Collocation art, whence, eternal with impalpable,
reckd, atomies contrast shown between eternal
quality of rain and the perishable nature of all other
things

Who am I?- gentle rain in various forms

such as cloud, eternal, untouched by

human hand etc
What do I do?- alleviate suffering on earth,

rejuvenate, keep the life cycle going on

Who I am most like?- a clear hearted song

sung from the depths of ones heart

Characteristics of The
Rain
Gentle
Natural
Eternal
Origin in Earth
Untouched by human corruption
Changes forms seamlessly- an ethereal

quality
Alleviates human suffering
Rejuvenates
Beautifies
Brings love

The Rain Cycle

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting

flowers,
From the seas and the streams;
I bear light shade for the leaves
when laid
Shelleys
The Cloud In their noonday dreams.
From my wings are shaken the
dews that waken
The sweet buds every one,
When rocked to rest on their
mother's breast,
As she dances about the sun.
I wield the flail of the lashing hail,
And whiten the green plains under,
And then again I dissolve it in rain,
And laugh as I pass in thunder.

I am the daughter of Earth and Water,

And the nursling of the Sky;
I pass through the pores of the
ocean and shores;
I change, but I cannot die.
a recurrent
theme
For after the rain when with never a
stain
The pavilion of Heaven is bare,
And the winds and sunbeams with
their convex gleams
Build up the blue dome of air,
I silently laugh at my own cenotaph,
And out of the caverns of rain,
Like a child from the womb, like a
ghost from the tomb,
I arise and unbuild it again.