Revision Melville’s masterpiece and its content Themes of the masterpiece

Chapter 6 Whitman Dickinson

The similarity between them in theme and technique P88 an emergent America, its expansion, its individualism and its Americanness Technique: both added to the literary independence of the new nation by breaking free of the convention of the iambic pentameter and exhibiting a freedom in gorm unknown before

WA L T W H I T M A N 1819-1892

A Bridge between Romanticism And Realism Life before the civil war: Born in May, 1819, in Long Island, New York. Thirsting for experience and gregarious in habit, Whitman tried at a variety of jobs and picked up a first-hand knowledge of life and people in the new world.

His literary attempts in this period: He wrote some lurid tales恐怖传奇, a tear-jerking novel催人泪下 and some traditionally metrical rimed verse传统韵律诗. His experience with the people and the country in New Orleans furnished the material for his epic, Leaves of Grass《草叶集》.

Questions about Leaves of Grass 1). What is the consequence of the publication of it? 2).What are the specialities of it? 3). Did the public accept it?

His life after the civil war: Cared for wounded soldiers during the Civil War. In the meanwhile he continued to revise and expand his Leaves of Grass. When the fifth edition appeared, Whitman began to receive recognition in England and America. Wrote in highly original and innovative free verse. Praised the body, glorified the senses, and addressed human sexuality.

Ideas Influenced Whitman 1. Shakespeare and Milton 2. Quakerism and its Inner Light 3. Emerson’s Transcendentalism 4. Jefferson’s individualism 5. Hegel’s cosmic consciousness 6. Newtonian and evolutionary 7. humanitarianism, science, evolution ideas, western frontier spirits, Civil War Unionism 8. Orientalism

Whitman’s Ideas He embraces idealism and relies on insight and intuition P91 He emphasizes multiplicity of nature. He extols the idea of equality and democracy and celebrates the dignity, the self-reliant spirit and the joy of the common man.

Whitman’s Ideas mysticism, anti-rationalism, pantheism,the theory of “the Great Chain of Being” P91 A poet's style should be simple and natural. He envisioned the poet as a hero, savior and a prophet, one who leads the community by his expressions of the truth.

Whitman’s Style: 1. language is sexual, exotic and vulgar ; 2. casual oral language style—use powerful, colorful, rarely used words of foreign origins, some even wrong. 3. indefinite structure. 4. As for rhyme, he breaks from tradition, and is not rhythmic. (无节奏的） 5. The use of a certain pronoun “I” .

Writing Techniques Parallelism—using same grammatical structure Phonetic recurrence Catalog—a series of images Free Verse: It is a kind of poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme, It is derived from French word “vers libre”. It is rhymed or unrhymed poetry free from conventional rules of meter.

Works Song of Myself 《自我之歌》 P91 Democratic Vistas 《民主的前景》 P92 Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking 《走出永不休止地摇动着的摇篮》P.93 When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d 《当紫丁香上次在庭院中开放的时候》 P94 Leaves of Grass (1855) 《草叶集》

Leaves of Grass (1855) The first edition contained twelve poems and did not sell well (“noxious weed”, “poetry of barbarism” “a mass of stupid filth” ). But he felt relieved when Emerson supported him, praising it as “the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom.”

亲爱的先生： 　　 对于才华横溢的《草叶集》，我不是看不见它的价值的。我认为它是美国至今所能贡献的最了不起的聪明才智的精华。我在读它的时候，感到十分愉快，伟大的力量总是使我们感到愉快的。我一向认为，我们似乎处于贫脊枯竭的状态，好象过多的雕凿，或者过多的迂缓气质正把我们西方的智慧变得迟钝而平庸，《草叶集》正是我们所需要的。我为您的自由和勇敢的思想而高兴。我为它感到非常高兴。我发现美妙无比的事物，正象应该表现的那样，表现得无比美妙。我还发现那种大胆的处理，它使我们感到十分高兴，恐怕只有深刻的理解力，才能够启发它。 　　 在一个伟大事业开头的时候，为了这样良好的开端，我恭贺您。这个开端将来一定会有广阔的前景。我揉揉眼睛，想看看这道阳光是不是幻觉；但是这本书给我的实感又是明确无疑的。它的最大优点就是加强和鼓舞人们的信心。 　　 直到昨天晚上，我在一家报纸上看见本书的广告时，我才相信真有此书，而且能在邮局里买到。我很想会见使我受到教益的人，并想定下一个任务，去访问纽约，向您致敬。 　　爱默生 　　一八五五年七月二十一日 　　马萨诸塞州康考德。

Leaves of Grass (1855) It then ran 9 editions into more than 400 poems. It is written in free verse form. The title implies rebirth, renewal, or green life .

O Captain! My Captain! 啊，船长，我的船长！

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring; But O heart! heart! heart! O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. 5 10

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; 5 O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills, For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores crowding, For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; Here Captain! dear father! This arm beneath your head! It is some dream that on the deck, You’ve fallen cold and dead. 20

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still, My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will, The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done, From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won: Exult O shores, and ring O bells! But I with mournful dread, Walk the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. 15 20

Understanding the Poem In this poem, the “Captain” is a substitute for Abraham Lincoln, and the “ship” is the United States of America. “The fearful trip” is the Civil War, which had ended just prior to Lincoln’s assassination. The ship is returning home to cheering crowds having won “the prize” of victory, just as the Union, led by Lincoln, had returned victorious from the Civil War.

The poem expresses the author’s grief and horror at the death of his leader. It also shows the celebration of the Union supporters over their victory in the Civil War.

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) Conclusion: Walt Whitman is the true and brilliant American poet, who broke free from traditional iambic pentameter and wrote “free verse”, a daring experimentalist and a mountain in American literary history.

The End

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) 艾米莉·狄金森

the differences between Emily Dickinson and Whitman In content: Whitman seems to keep his eye on society at large; Dickinson explores the inner life of the individual. Whereas Whitman is national in his outlook, Dickinson is regional. In form: Whitman’s endless, all-inclusive catalogs contrast with the concise, direct, and simple diction and syntax which characterize Dickinson’s poetry.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) Works : a. Only seven had been published (all anonymously) b. hundreds of her verses were found after her death. c. 70 years after her death, her poems were published: The Poems of Emily Dickinson (1775 poems) in 1956.

Themes of Emily Dickinson Death and Immortality: My Life Closed Twice before Its Close P98 Time and Eternity: Death is a dialogue between Love: Mine--by the Right of the White Election p99 Nature: I’ll tell you how the sun rose

Themes of Emily Dickinson Free-will and responsibility: “to fight aloud” Beauty, truth and goodness: “Tell all truth but tell it slant—” Religion: loss of faith, the religious uncertainty.p.97 The soul or the inner world: “The Brain—is wider than the Sky.” Pain: “pain has an element of blank”

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) My Life Closed Twice before Its Close P98《我从未失去过这么多，但有两次》 Because I Can’t Stop for Death P99 《因为我不能等待死神》 I Heard a Fly Buzz----When I died P99《我死时听到了苍蝇的嗡嗡声》 Wild Nights----Wild Nights P99 《雨夜》

Style a. She eliminated inessential language and punctuation from her poems; b.Severe economy of expression ----directness, brevity; c.Capital letters----emphasis d. leaves out helping verbs and connecting words e. Her style reflects the freedom, intensity, and idiosyncracy (特有的风格） of her personality.