Nemo Neem
10-21-2009, 07:00 PM
Whitman is, in my opinion, America's most-controversial poet, but I absolutely love his work. As I read it, the scenes and metaphors are so clear; he reminds me of a travel minstrel with a banjo going from town to town to sing his songs. However, when I read his poetry, I can't help but notice some odd things.
1. Total absence of rhyme. Rhyme can get annoying, but I think Whitman's absence of rhyme makes his poetry surreal, almost dreamlike.
2. Sexual connotations. Many of his poems seem perverted, but I do notice a Shakespearean influence. Many believe that he was gay, and this is evidenced in his poem, "I Saw in Louisiana a Live-Oak Growing."
3. Odd sentence structure, sort of like the Modernists.
4. His use of Lincoln as a metaphor.
He is still an awesome poet. A little odd, but very important to the American literary canon.
1. Total absence of rhyme. Rhyme can get annoying, but I think Whitman's absence of rhyme makes his poetry surreal, almost dreamlike.
2. Sexual connotations. Many of his poems seem perverted, but I do notice a Shakespearean influence. Many believe that he was gay, and this is evidenced in his poem, "I Saw in Louisiana a Live-Oak Growing."
3. Odd sentence structure, sort of like the Modernists.
4. His use of Lincoln as a metaphor.
He is still an awesome poet. A little odd, but very important to the American literary canon.