Walt Whitman's Transition

In any medium of art that is personal to the artist, a change in the artwork can represent a change in the artist. During a period of depression a musician may write heavier, less upbeat music, or a painter may shift to darker tones and more downcast themes. The medium of poetry certainly has the power to reflect the writer’s moods and mental state, and the poetry of Walt Whitman’s demonstrates this power. A comparison of “Song of Myself,” one of Whitman’s earlier poems, and “As I Ebb’d With the Ocean of Life,” a poem from later in his career, reveals a great change in Whitman from a man of confidence and optimism to one of dissatisfaction and self-doubt.

The publication of Leaves of Grass, the book in which “Song of Myself” was published, is the most notable achievement of Walt Whitman’s early career. Whitman set very lofty goals for Leaves of Grass. He hoped to write more than simply a set of poems that could be read and enjoyed by Americans; he wanted Americans to be absorbed by his poetry. He hoped to save America by bringing together a nation on the brink of civil war.

Whitman required an enormous amount of optimism to be able to fill the role that he felt he should fill. The task of bringing together the nation t

. . .

View the whole essay, without interruption

The contradiction between the two poems illustrates the change that occurred in Whitman between the times that the poems were written. The lack of confidence and the self-doubt that “As I Ebb’d With the Ocean of Life” reveals shows that Whitman considered himself a failure to his ultimate goal of reuniting the nation through his poetry. ”

“As I Ebb’d With the Ocean of Life” presents a sharp contrast to the more positive “Song of Myself. This optimism shows through in Whitman’s earlier poetry.

A comparison of an artist’s earlier work and later work often reveals a shift in the artist. “As I Ebb’d With the Oceans of Life” reveals a more depressed, hopeless Whitman. A prime example of these poems of frustration is “As I Ebb’d With the Ocean of Life. ” “As I Ebb’d With the Ocean of Life” demonstrates the self-doubt that Whitman felt. He rises above the “trippers and askers” that oppose or upset him by asserting what his true self is beneath the complications by stating, “Apart from the pulling and hauling stands what I am, / Stands amused, complacent, compassionating, idle, unitary. ” Whitman goes from an enlightened individual to one that is ignorant of everything. In the poem, Whitman shows the regret he feels for writing most of his earlier poems when he says, “Oppress'd with myself that I have dared to open my mouth. hrough poetry is a great challenge, and Whitman must have had great confidence in himself to take on the responsibility. Many of the poems from Whitman’s later years revealed a disheartened Whitman. The multitude of bold statements and definite conclusions presented in “Song of Myself” are replaced with uncertainty and the claim of total ignorance. The contrast between Whitman’s early work and his later work is a strong indicator of a contrast in Whitman’s younger self and older self.

Approximate Word count = 935
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Simply subscribe to view this paper, and 100,000 others.