Chanting the Spirit Deific

"Chanting the Spirit Deific" is a short poem written by Walt Whitman. In this poem, Whitman describes God as four parts, instead of the usual trinity that God is normally thought to be. Whitman wrote the poem in four stanzas and each stanza counts as one of the four sides. The first stanza is from the point of view of God. The second stanza is from the point of view of Christ, which is more of the Christian God, or Jesus. The third stanza is Satan, and the fourth stanza is the Soul or Santa Spirita.

The first stanza is about God. In the first stanza, the speaker states that he is Jehovah, but also says that he is Brahm, Saturnius, and Kronos. These are gods from different kinds of mythology. Whitman uses these specific gods because they all have specific jobs that are related to each other. Each of these gods are relentless. That is the reason that he used these gods specifically. The God that is the speaker in the first stanza describes himself as "relentless". "I expense from this side judgments inexorable without the least remorse." (Whitman). The God that is the speaker in the first stanza says that he does not feel bad for the judgments that he casts onto people. He also says, "Therefore let none expect mercy" (Whitman). This God is different than what you would normally think of the Christian God as because the Christian God is merciful and forgiving. 


The speaker of the second stanza is Christ. This side of God is a much more caring and comforting God. he describes himself as "Consolator most mild" (Whitman) and "with gentler hand extended" (Whitman). This is the softer side of God that is nicer and more calm. Christ is kind to everyone, not just specific types of people. "Wending my way through the homes of men, rich or poor, with the kiss of affection". Christ is affectionate towards all people. This side of  God also like weaker than the first one, but is described as more mighty, which is a contradiction. "Many times have I been rejected, taunted, put in prison, and crucified, and many times shall be again" (Whitman). This makes Christ seem weak, because he is ridiculed and overpowered by mortal people. In another part of the poem however, Christ describes himself as "The mightier God am I". These two lines show that while Christ is very mighty, he is also humble because he can take the taunting from those who are clearly weaker than he. 


The third stanza is from the point of view of Satan. Satan is much different from the previous sides of the square. Satan is evil. "Aloof, dissatisfied, plotting revolt, Comrade of criminals... Crafty, despised, a drudge, ignorant" (Whitman). Although Satan is evil, he has a kind of a soft spot for the "downtrodden" (Oliver). In the third stanza, Satan describes himself as "brother of slaves". This shows that he has a kind of respect for people who have had a hard time. Satan is as opposite from Christ as he can be. This shows that Whitman believed that their needed to be a balance between good and evil (Oliver). Satan describes himself as "permanent" saying that "nor time nor change shall ever change me of my words" (Oliver). 


The speaker of the last stanza is Santa Spirita, or the Soul. The Soul is a collection of all three other sides of the  square. It is "Including all life on earth, touching, including God, including Saviour and Satan." (Whitman). The Soul unifies all the other sides of the square and is in everything. "pervading all, (for without me what were all?)" (Whitman). Santa Spirita is in everything. It is the "general soul" and is all life. "Life of the great round world, the sun and stars, and of man, I, the general soul" (Whitman). The Soul completes the square tying everything together and unifying all parts of the square deific.


Whitman used a very specific technique to write this poem. He chose to use one stanza per each side of the square to make everything flow better and much easier to understand. His idea of God being a quaternity instead of a trinity was very creative and it was interesting to see how all the different sides tied together and balanced each other out.  


Bibliography
Whitman, Walt. "The Walt Whitman Archive." Chanting The Square Deific. (Leaves of Grass [1891-1892]) -. Web. 04 Apr. 2012. <http://whitmanarchive.org/published/LG/1891/poems/247>.


Oliver, Charles M. "'Chanting the Square Deific'." 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://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCWW082&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 4, 2012).

I heard a fly buzz when I died Journal

Emily Dickinson’s poem “I heard a fly buzz when I died” is about a person who is lying on their death bed, dying peacefully, when suddenly their death is interrupted by the buzzing of a fly. In the beginning of the poem, the speaker is surrounded by his or her family. They are all surrounding him or her in complete silence. “The stillness round my form Was like the stillness in the air Between the heaves of storm” (Dickinson). “The stillness round my form” refers to all the people standing around the speaker as he or she is dying. By using the word “stillness” to describe the speaker’s surroundings, the speaker shows that the setting is very still and quiet. Everyone in the room is quiet because they are all waiting and are anticipating what is going to happen next. “Between the heaves of storm” refers to the speakers breathing. The speaker is breathing very loudly and slowly, and since the speaker says that everything is calm in between the “heaves of storm” the speaker must be struggling with every breath. “The eyes beside had wrung them dry, And breaths were gathering sure For that last onset,” (Dickinson). The people who are surrounding the speaker in his or her last moments are watching quietly as the speaker is struggling to breath. Everyone’s eyes “had wrung them dry”, meaning that everyone has cried a lot and they can no longer cry, or they no longer feel the need to cry because they have come to terms with what is going to happen.“I willed my keepsakes, signed away What portion of me I Could make assignable,-and then There interposed a fly, With blue, uncertain, stumbling buzz, Between the light and me; And then the windows failed, and then I could not see to see.” (Dickinson). The speaker has already assigned away all of their belongings meaning that they are ready to die and have accepted it already. They are ready for their death when suddenly a fly interrupts everything.  

bibliography
Dickinson, Emily. "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died." Web. 02 Apr. 2012. <http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/fly.html>.

Journal 27

A lot of Emily Dickinson’s poems can be sung to the tune of the song “Amazing Grace”. They can also be sung to the tune of a lot of other folk songs and old songs that were sang back in her time. I think that the reason that her poems can be sung to these songs is that they were familiar to her and she liked to write her poems to the tune of songs that she knew. I think that the reason that many of them can be sung to “Amazing Grace” specifically is that “Amazing Grace” is a hymnal and was very popular during her time. Emily Dickinson was religious so she probably knew this song very well. Her whole family attended the Congregational Church. Emily Dickinson was not a very social person and she did not go out in public very much. A lot of people thought that Emily Dickinson was weird because she did not like to go out in public much and she preferred to stay inside and be alone. I think that Emily Dickinson liked to make her poems go to the tune of “Amazing Grace” because it was her way of making sure that other people could relate to her poetry. By making her poems go to the tune of these songs, other people would be able to kind of relate to them and maybe even understand them more. Another possible reason that Emily Dickinson chose to write a lot of her poems to the tune of this song was that she was probably inspired by it. “Amazing Grace” is a very inspirational song, and it probably had an impact on her life. She probably felt that it was very deep and maybe it even inspired her to write some of her poems. The song “Amazing Grace” is very emotional and she probably felt that she wanted to write poetry that was as emotional and inspiring as that song. 

Dickinson Writing Style

The writing style of Emily Dickinson was very original and different from other poets of her time. She was definitely influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson and she read a lot of his work (Wayne). He was a very strong influence on her poetry. Emily Dickinson had a lot of characteristics from the romanticism time period in her writing. She wrote about her appreciation for nature a lot and she wrote about the value of individualism (Wayne).

Emily Dickinson lived a large period of her life in solitude. She did not communicate with the outside world very much, so writing poetry was her way of still being a part of the outside world and her way of communicating with it as well. She said that she enjoyed living in solitude, probably because she liked being independent. She said that living her life the way that she did- in solitude, made her feel liberated instead of trapped like many people believe that she may have felt (Kort).

Emily Dickinson was praised for her writing style. Many of her poems were very short and at first glance seemed to be very simple. She was praised for her originality in her poetry and for her imagery and “stylistic complexity” (Kort). Her poems were very witty, even though they contained some very dark themes, such as death. She always had a way of keeping her poems witty and light. Her ideas came from very simple things. She was inspired by everyday items, such as a blade of grass or a birds song (Kort). When she would be doing her daily chores and inspiration would strike, she would jot down ideas very quickly, and finish writing and perfecting the poem late at night.

Many of Dickinson’s poems were short and light. One very popular poem by Emily Dickinson is called “I am Nobody! Who are You?”. Dickinson kept her poems upbeat sounding by using different punctuation. For example, in this poem, she uses exclamation marks to keep the poem having a happy sort of feel to it. This poem is also very short. The entire poem is composed of only two verses which are four lines each. This is like most of her poems which are very short. In this poem she talks about how she enjoys being a “nobody” she writes “How dreary to be somebody! How public, like a frog To tell your name the livelong day To an admiring bog!” (Dickinson). This poem shows that she appreciates her privacy and she values living in solitude. She would rather be an individual and live her life in peace and quiet alone, than to be a “somebody” and have people admiring her all day with no privacy in her life. This view is probably different than other poets of her time who value being famous and having their poetry read. They wanted to be recognized for their talent, but Emily Dickinson would rather write for her own enjoyment than to have everybody up in her grill.

Bibliography

Kort, Carol. "Dickinson, Emily Elizabeth." A to Z of American Women Writers, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= ffazwmwr0036&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 21, 2012).

Wayne, Tiffany K. "Dickinson, Emily." Encyclopedia of Transcendentalism. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= ETRA104&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 21, 2012).

Dickinson, Emily. "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?" By Emily Dickinson. Web. 21 Mar. 2012. <http://www.online-literature.com/dickinson/448/>.

Whitman writing style

The writing style of Walt Whitman was very different than other poets during his time period. He believed that the poets of his time were very unoriginal. He called their poetry “copious dribble” meaning that it did not really mean anything (Connors). He thought that their poetry was boring because it was all the same with the same rhyme schemes and stanzas. He wanted to change the way that Americans viewed poetry. Walt Whitman set out to change the writing of other poets during his time. He thought that poetry of his time had little creativity and that the writing did not represent the America that he knew (Connors). He wanted to create a “new American poetry” (Connors) that could better represent his country. Whitman wanted to replace the normal exaggerated style and subject of poets in the mid- 1800’s with genuineness and honesty in the way things really are. Another thing that Whitman wanted was for Americans to become more literate. He wanted more Americans to be able to read and be literate in that sense, but mainly, he wanted Americans to be able to digest what they just read and to be able to understand and “absorb what they were experiencing” (Connors).

Walt Whitman’s poetry was revolutionary. He used expressive language when writing and he also used free verse which was new and interesting to readers. The most unordinary thing about his writing during that time was his intensity of his emotions in his poetry, especially when he was discussing love and democracy, both individual and for a whole country. He thought that what America needed was a type of poetry that was more relatable for the reader and that embraced more people. He believed that this was something that only he could accomplish.

Before Whitman was a poet, he was a journalist. He was not very popular as a journalist. He wrote about many things from politics, to crimes, to slavery and fires. His journalism coverage was described as “solid, but forgettable” (Connors). Whitman also wrote some short stories, but those too went undistinguished. Even when Whitman was a poet, he was not very appreciated. He was ignored by other poets and was often “chastised, criticized, and dismissed”(Connors).

            The subject matter that Walt Whitman used was bolder and contained a lot of nature, something that other poets of his time did not write about as much. This is represented in his poem On the Beach at Night Alone. This poem has a lot of references in it to nature and it displays Walt Whitman’s appreciation to nature. “As I watch the bright stars shining, I think a thought of the clef of the universes and of the future” (Whitman). In this poem, Whitman shows the importance that he puts on nature by connecting a piece of nature- the stars- to pretty much everything else in the universe. Whitman had a huge appreciation of nature and even though not many other poets of his time wrote about nature, he did anyways because it was something that he enjoyed.

Bibliography

Connors, Judith. "Whitman, Walt." In Bloom, Harold, ed. Walt Whitman, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2002. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= BCWWh02&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 21, 2012).

Whitman, Walt. "On the Beach at Night Alone, by Walt Whitman." Poetry Archive. Web. 21 Mar. 2012. <http://www.poetry-archive.com/w/on_the_beach_at_night_alone.html>.

Blog 18- LAST ONE :)

The poem that I chose to read by Walt Whitman was “O Captain! My Captain!”. This poem is about Walt Whitman’s hero, Abraham Lincoln. Walt Whitman admired Abraham Lincoln a lot and thought that he was a great president. He wrote this poem after Lincoln died.  (Lorcher)  “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;” (Whitman). In this passage of the poem, Whitman writes about how they had won the victory of the war, but when he looks at his captain, he is “pale and still”. I think that Abraham Lincoln’s death affected Whitman a lot because Lincoln was such a hero to Whitman.  I think that Walt Whitman was very proud of Abraham Lincoln and thought that he was a great leader, because in one part of the poem, he says, “Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills, For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding, For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;” (Whitman). I think that here Whitman is giving Abraham Lincoln credit for the victory in the Civil War. He is saying that everyone is cheering for him and the flag is flying just for him and the bugles are sounding for him.

I believe that Walt Whitman was against slavery. Abraham Lincoln spent a lot of his presidency trying to abolish slavery. He is the president that declared war and ended slavery for good. Since Walt Whitman was such a huge supporter of Abraham Lincoln, I think that he probably held the same views on slavery that Abraham Lincoln held. Walt Whitman was against slavery and so were Emerson and Thoreau. Emerson and Thoreau fought in the Civil War to end slavery. They both believed that the individual was very important and that slavery should not exist. I think that this is the biggest similarity between Walt Whitman and Thoreau and Emerson.

Bibliography

Lorcher, Trent. ""O Captain! My Captain!" Analysis: The Meaning Behind Walkt Whitman's Famous Poem." Bright Hub Education. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. 

Whitman, Walt. "O Captain! My Captain!" By Walt Whitman : The Poetry Foundation. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.

Blog 17

The poem that I read by Emily Dickenson was “I Measure Every Greif I Meet”. This poem is about the grief that Emily Dickinson faces in her life. In the poem, she basically says that she has a lot of grief in her life and she feels that other people’s grieves cannot be worse than her own. She says that they can only be equal or less than hers.  “I wonder if it hurts to live – And if They have to try – And whether – could They choose between – It would not be – to die –“ (Dickinson). In this passage, Dickinson wonders whether people who have a lot of grief would prefer to be dead rather than to face their greives. I think that if Dickinson is thinking of this, I think that her grieves must be pretty bad. If her grieves were not that bad, she would not be thinking of death as an alternative. A lot of people have grieves, but I think that the grieves that Dickinson is talking about are much worse than what a lot of people go through. Some grieves that Dickinson mentions in her poem are Death, Want, and Cold, or Despair. 

Emily Dickinson lived a lot of her life in isolation. She lived with her family, so she was not completely alone, but she did not leave the house a lot. She got homesick very easily so she did not leave a lot. There were also not many visitors that came to her house. ("Emily Dickinson- Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More.")  I think that the fact that Emily Dickinson lived a lot of her life in isolation shaped her writing a lot. I think that this is what makes her similar to Emerson and Thoreau. Emerson and Thoreau also lived their life in isolation from society. They both left society to live their lives in isolation in the woods and that is when they wrote a lot of their more popular pieces of writing.

Biography

"Emily Dickinson- Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More." Poets.org. Poets.org. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. <http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/155>.

Dickinson, Emily. "I Measure Every Grief I Meet (561)- Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More." Poets.org. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.