Whitman's "Song of Myself" p. 30 & a bit about "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" p. 21

Whitman begins by calling the reader's attention to himself, as if to say "Hey I'm so glad you're here, there is someone I would love for you to meet!" As he works his way through the introduction selling the reader on his physical existence he makes a concerted effort to bring focus on his living breath. "The smoke of my own breath, Echoes, ripples, buzz'd whispers, love-root, silk-thread, crotch and vine..." Through the 3rd chant Whitman introduces us to the duality of his existence. At this point it seems as if the voice of the poem is Whitman's soul. I believe that I even detected some sexual undertones as Whitman welcomes "every organ and attribute of me..."

I did a bit of research on Whitman and unfortunately it didn't seem to help me understand him any better. I know that he is well regarded as on of the great poets in American history but as far as I can tell he seems to be just one of those people who likes the sound of his own voice. The type that shares far too many personal stories. The type that could talk your ear off for hours and never catch your name.

In Whitman's Crossing Brooklyn Ferry I enjoyed his writing a bit more. I though that though it became extremely redundant that it served his purpose of conveying his feeling of over-stimulation. He seemed to want to catch the detail of everything around.

My First Poem Since High School

I havn't written a poem since 1998.

This

portion

intentionally left blank!