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Witty Whitman

While I flip through the pages of Walt Whitman's journal, I am overcome by reoccurring motifs and literary devices. I see many lines mentioning weather, specifically wind. Other reoccurring motifs or words include Christ, love, ocean/waves, liberty, crash, welcome, and ships. He talks about wind fueling a sail boat. He also gives good imagery in his writings that paint a sea in your mind with sailboats floating on a breeze summer afternoon. In the back of his journal there are some drawings of people or things. The first four drawings are of men who are middle aged. These men all have long facial hair, which represents wisdom. These are probably characters faces to match with personalities he wrote about. On page 944, there is a drawing that I can not make sense of. At first glance, I think of an elegant harp with many strings and beautiful bends. However, on second thought, I can also see a book with its pages being flipped open, with the spine of the book facing the page. As I describe what I see, I can't make anything out of this figure which is why it interests me so much. Through these observations, I consider weather and the ocean to be significant symbols for him. I also believe his faith is close to heart since he writes about Christ.

While reading the explanations, I learn about the interesting mind of Walt Whitman. Firstly, I read a dialogue box reflecting religion. His is said to have "scribbled mystical thoughts about religion. We do not know whether these thoughts should have been read with the dialogue with Lincoln or separate from the dialogue. Ed Folsom sees Whitman write about religion at the beginning of each complex allegory of the civil war. His thoughts on religion further evolve into an idea that political and philosophical divide was splitting up his beloved nation. He also writes "libertad" at the top of one page. Libertad means liberty in Spanish. It describes WW as turning directly to the confrontation of the Union. He frequently uses Spanish words in his poems to provide emphasis and meaning. When he mentions the ship he is referring to the Ship of State. This ship of state is foreshadowing of a latter poem published saying Lincoln is captain of the ship. This metaphor of the ship and ocean is continued into the last pages of his journal, where he implies the ship's captain, the new president, will face challenges far more harrowing than previous presidents. The biggest of these challenges was the Civil War. These observations add a deeper meaning than my originally jotted ideas. He is a politically concerned man who refers to religions and intricate foreshadowing and metaphors to explain circumstances in his nation. I learn he looks highly of Lincoln and can sense the challenges facing the nation.