Dickinson's Time

Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman were in the time of great writers in American history. they both have two very different types of writing styles and things that they wrote about in their poetry. Walt Whitman wrote his poetry about God and everything that God was to him. I do like to read a little about God, but not everything. Whitman was able to put God into every poem in his Leaves of Grass poetry book. He did have a little bit about information Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, but most everything was about God. During class we analyzed the poems of Whitman and they were not my favorite. They were pretty poems to read, but the meanings were always the same and they got old. During the time, I would think his poems would be more legitimate because he was not a crazy man locked up in his room writing poetry. Emily Dickinson lost something in her life, so she went into an attic and decided to write about all of her life experiences. I would of thought she was a crazy broad and would not have read her poetry during the time she was alive. Now, I would prefer to read her poetry above Whitman's. Emily Dickinson used many aspects in life to write her poetry. She had more a poetic ring to her poems. Whitman had no rhyme to his poems and it felt like he was not a real poet, he was a very short story author. I also like the imagery in Dickinson's poems. They were easy to read because she described the items in her poems with enthusiasm and beauty. Emily Dickinson was a great poet. She had many different sections in her poems. She had a section on love and life and death. She did not talk about God a lot and it is nice to read about real life feelings and not just God. That's all

WHEN roses cease to bloom, dear

This poem was written by Emily Dickinson. It is in her Love section of her poem book. It fits good into her love section because she is talking about the end of a relationship, or the start of the end of a relationship. This poem is number thirty nine out of fifty seven poems. As I was looking at the titles of the rest of the poems in the section of love, most of them had titles of sadness. I could tell she wrote the last poems at the end of her relationship with her lover. The poem starts off as her saying, "When roses cease to bloom, dear". I took this as she was talking to the person who she is in a relationship with. I think this because she says dear. That is usually said when directing a sentence at someone. The roses ceasing to bloom stand for the fact that their love is not vibrante any more. All females want new things in relationships. When new things stop happening, women get sad. New things mean like even though a couple is married for fifty years, they can still have fun and try new things with each other. When roses bloom, it is beautiful. Roses symbolize great things for love. They are the flower of love and are given on many occasions to lovers to show compassion for each other. Dickinson had great passion for her lover by comparing their once beautiful love to a wilting flower. "And violets are done,When bumble-bees in solemn flight Have passed beyond the sun" (Dickinson). This is the rest of the first stanza in her poem. It is also talking about flowers dying. Died flowers are very sad to see. When they are alive, they smell good and they make you feel good on the inside because they are so pretty. The bees resemble the life being sucked out of the flowers. Bees taking to nectar out of the flowers which make them smell good. The poem said the bees are in solemn flight, it means that they are sad because the flowers are dead and they can not get any more food from them. The sun passing resembles the end of the relationship like the end of a day. "The hand that paused to gather" (Dickinson). This line talks about the her reaching out her hand to try to save the relationship. " Then take my flower, pray!" (Dickinson). That is the last line in the poem. It is talking about how she is done with the relationship, and she is putting her life into God's hands. Emily Dickinson used great imagery in her poems. When I was reading the poem, I felt like I could see the flowers welting in front of her. The analogy is a good one because when love dies and the relationship is at its end, it sucks. I do not like it when flowers die and it is sad to see them gone. They smell so good and they are pretty and they can help the people around you because since you are in a good mood, everyone around you would be too. The sun passing was a good analogy was because nobody likes the dark and it is sad to see it come.

Dickinson, Emily. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Boston: Little, Brown, 1924; Bartleby.com, 2000. www.bartleby.com/113/. [March 23, 2011].

Dickenson life Our Lives are Swiss

Emily Dickinson was a poet. She was secluded against the world and she wrote a lot of poems in her life. She did not live with people and she was not that friendly. He poem, Our lives are Swiss,So still, so cool, Till, some odd afternoon,The Alps neglect their curtains, And we look farther on.
Italy stands the other side, While, like a guard between,The solemn Alps,The siren Alps, Forever intervene! She is talking about the mountains first off. She uses great imagery to portray the feel and the looking of the mountain. She says the mountains are cold and still. They are cold and still because they are pile of rocks and they can not move. Usually on the tops of mountains, there is snow and where there is snow, it is cold. Dickinson says the Alps are a curtain on the world. It is also a guard against Italy and the rest of the world. She also talks about what is on the sides of the mountains. On one side there is Italy. Italy is a very beautiful country. There are many fountains and life in Italy. Emily is talking about the Alps being a guard because Italy is so pure and she does not want anything to ruin that pureness. She also says that the Alps are siren and solemn. I think she said that because not many people live on the mountains and they are very pretty. When Emily said they were looking on, she means that the people on the other sides of the mountains want to go into Italy and to be pure like they people in Italy are. The title Our Lives are Swiss is very important because Emily is talking about how many holes there are in our life. Swiss Cheese is a type of cheese that has holes in it. Emily is making a parallel to our lives and the holes in the cheese. That's all.

My Self

When Whitman writes, he uses the idea of self throughout most of his poems. He was aiming to identify a person and their own personal self. I think it is cool that he is trying to identify what Self is, but everyone has a different perspective of what self is. Josh's definition of self is himself. "And if you have seen the movie the Librarian, me equals God. But that only counts if you have seen the movie" (Cornett, Direct Quote). See, that is a very different idea than I have. I am not the most religious person in the world. I practice religion, but and it probably would be a part of my definition of self, but it would not be the focus point of all of my poems or writings, given if I ever write poems. I would write a little on some of the poems about God because he is a very important person to the world and its function, but I would probably talk more about myself. Since I am defining the meaning of self, I would not try to come up with an explanation for everyone because everyone is different. I would come up with my own and if someone wants to read it, they can. They can learn how I define my self. I would define my self by love and romance. I would because I love everybody. Love is a very important thing to have in relationships because when you love someone, you would do anything for them and it helps to maintain a relationship with a person. God loves us all. So by talking about love and identifying myself, I am talking about God and his love for everyone on earth. I know he loves us all because He put us here on the earth for a reason. Another way I would define myself would be by working. I like to read and I am a hard worker. I believe that people who want to be successful in life should be able to work hark in what they do.

As Toilsome I Wander'd Virginia's Woods

This is a poems written during the Civil War written by Walt Whitman. The general analysis of the poem is, Whitman is walking in a forest in Virginia and he comes across a grave of a fallen soldier (Whitman). The grave was quickly made and there was a sign that said, "Bold, cautious, true, and my loving comrade" (Whitman). Whitman or the guy walking in the woods can not get the message out of his head. The first two lines of the poem,"AS toilsome I wander'd Virginia's woods,
To the music of rustling leaves kick'd by my feet, (for 'twas autumn,)" (Whitman) are giving a setting for the reader. It is autumn and there are leaves being rustled on the ground where Whitman walks. Then, he comes across a grave that is underneath the tree. "Mortally wounded he and buried on the retreat, (easily all could I understand,)" (Whitman). That is what was on the grave of the soldier. Whitman could not read it very easily because it has probably been there awhile. He reads this also with the other note left of the grave kind of scares Whitman. It does because the true horrors of war shine even brighter. "The halt of a mid-day hour, when up! no time to lose—yet this sign left, On a tablet scrawl'd and nail'd on the tree by the grave, Bold, cautious, true, and my loving comrade." (Whitman). Here he is talking about the sign and is showing that he is actually putting thought behind the note left behind by other soldiers. "Long, long I muse, then on my way go wandering, Many a changeful season to follow, and many a scene of life,
Yet at times through changeful season and scene, abrupt, alone,or in the crowded street," (Whitman). These lines are showing the deepness of the thinking Whitman is putting in the sign about the soldier. "Yet at times through changeful season and scene, abrupt, alone,or in the crowded street, Comes before me the unknown soldier's grave, comes the inscription rude in Virginia's woods, Bold, cautious, true, and my loving comrade". (Whitman). That shows that he is still thinking about the inscription on the grave for even longer and it effects his life now.
There were many graves in the Woods in Virginia because of its placement during the war (Huff). This means that it would not by uncommon for Whitman to run into a grave of a fallen soldier. Whitman was a nurse in during the Civil War (Huff). So he was probably actually walking in the forest when he ran across the grave. The leaves that Whitman is kicking represent the falling of the soldier also (Huff). I can see that because the leaves have fallen from the tree and they are dead. The soldier had fallen in battle and he was gone from the world. Walt Whitman's poem "As Toilsome I Wander'd Virginia's Woods" is about Whitman thinking about his life and what he will leave behind if he is ever killed in the war.

Whitman, Walt. "AS ADAM EARLY IN THE MORNING. (Leaves of Grass [1891-1892])." The Walt Whitman Archive. Web. 03 Mar. 2011. .

Huff, Randall. "'As Toilsome I Wander'd Virginia's Woods'." The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CPAP0034&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 3, 2011).

As Adam Early in the Morning.

As Adam early in the morning,
Walking forth from the bower refresh'd with sleep,
Behold me where I pass, hear my voice, approach,
Touch me, touch the palm of your hand to my body as I pass,
Be not afraid of my body (Whitman).
This is a poem about coming out. Walt Whitman wrote this poem for himself because he was a homosexual. The first part of the poem deals with just coming out to the world of his preference of lovers. When I wake up in the morning, I am refreshed and ready to go for the day. All the things that happened yesterday are behind me and I am ready for anything new. Homosexuality was a new thing to Whitman and he is ready to accept his new life choice. "Walking forth from the bower refresh'd with sleep, " (Whitman). This line shows that he is now refreshed with his new life and he is relieved that he has now discovered that he is able to not live in shame any longer. Sleep represents the time when he was not accepting of his life. He wakes up and now is comfortable within himself. "Behold me where I pass, hear my voice, approach," (Whitman). This line is starting that he is kind of second guessing what he is doing. But, he hears his voice (which is probably God's voice). Telling him it is okay to be who he is. "Touch me, touch the palm of your hand to my body as I pass," (Whitman). Here Whitman is asking God to give him the okay to be who he is. He is asking God to touch him as an okay for his to follow his desires. "Be not afraid of my body" (Whitman). Here he is saying that he is now comfortable in his body. He is saying that he would be comfortable to show his body to other men of his nature.
The Bloom's Literally Criticism said the same thing. It said that the "Children of Adams" poems were about the love between a men and women (Oliver). "As Adam Early in the Morning" is the last poem in the "Children of Adams" section of Leaves of Grass. It starts a transition to the next section called Calamus are about the love of men and men (Oliver). This would be true because Walt Whitman wrote about his life in his poems. Oliver also says that when he was talking about Adam, Whitman wanted Adam sto see him. That would mean that he wants a nother man to see him and he wants to be with a man (Oliver). Whitman talked a lot about finding love and sensual feelings between two people (Oliver). Whitman was more profound in his sexuality. I can tell this by his writings and poems. He was able to express his feelings for men and woman through his Leaves of Grass. He started with woman because that is the "Correct" way of life, but he changed to men, because that is what he preferred.

Oliver, Charles M. "'As Adam Early in the Morning'." Critical Companion to Walt Whitman: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCWW026&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 3, 2011).

Whitman, Walt. "AS ADAM EARLY IN THE MORNING. (Leaves of Grass [1891-1892])." The Walt Whitman Archive. Web. 03 Mar. 2011. .

Whitman and Bardic Symbols

Walt Whitman was a very confusing author. He used the theme of Self. Self is a combination of soul, personality, the real me. Those are three things that can help define a person. Whitman wrote about them all the time. His favorite to write about is Christianity. He does because he talks about God in his poems. He becomes confused by talking about these poems. It a rumor that Whitman was gay. In the poem, he says "I throw myself upon your breast, my father!I cling to you so that you cannot unloose me," (Whitman). This shows that he was confused about his sexuality. He does not mean he literal father. Though I find it skeptical that he would even mention kissing another man unless he was gay. The father is God. It is because as we all know in our religion, we call God our father because he put us on the earth to live. That instance is the example of the Christianity part of Self. The poem is a reflection on his life. Whitman did not know what he was telling people. When I read the poem, I was also confused. Whitman was talking about many different things and it was confusing about what he was talking about and trying to wait. The writer of the "Bardic Symbols" review even said that it was confusing. He said that there was no use in trying to find the symbols that Walt Whitman uses. He said that basically no matter how many times someone read the poem, a person was still not able to find any meaning behind the poem. He did say that Whitman was trying to identify himself because he was going through a tough time and he needed something to get away from life. Whitman was a very confused man. The poems he writes all have meaning, but usually only he knows the true meaning. I am not a fan of him because his stuff does not relate to everybody because it is about himself.