About Whitman's evaluation, people summarize it as two points: freedom and democracy. Because of these two points, he was called "the father of poetry" as early as19th century in America. The real reason why Whitman pursues and calls for freedom is related to his growing environment. Whitman was born in a poor family with nine children. He dropped out of school early and took various odd jobs to earn subsidies to support his family.
Imagine Whitman
So freedom is very important to him. In the later self-study process, he found that not only the freedom of action was restricted, but also the freedom of spirit was restricted. /kloc-In the 9th century, Whitman experienced many wars and passed away from death many times. Even during this period, he still devoted himself to saving soldiers injured in the war, which was his pursuit of humanitarian and ethical freedom.
The second is democracy. Whitman, who is not from the upper class, has lived with drivers and dockers since childhood. He dropped out of school and entered the society. He has sold newspapers and served as an apprentice. He knows the cruelty of society and the importance of identity to a successful person. However, throughout history, the descendants of the upper class aristocrats will always be aristocrats, and the son of a coachman will always be a coachman, from generation to generation, which shows the importance of democracy.
As an ordinary citizen, it is very difficult to call for democracy and equal rights, but Whitman devoted his life to it. Even in 1873, when Whitman was 54 years old, he still insisted on his democratic thought, and his poetry collection Leaves of Grass fully demonstrated his democratic thought. Many people's comments on Whitman are based on his poems, from which we can see his personality and personality, but basically we can see these two points in his poems: freedom and democracy. Therefore, in the eyes of future generations, Whitman is a poet who tirelessly pursues freedom and democracy.
What are the characteristics of Whitman's poems?
The most striking feature of Whitman's poems is "freedom of language". Therefore, he is also regarded as the founder of western liberal poetry by later generations. Whitman is full of bold and innovative ideas and amazing imagination, which is his unique wealth as a poet.
Imagine Whitman
Whitman's poems are catchy, just like prose poems, with no definite rhythm and rigid format. In Whitman's personal view, to some extent, writing poetry is only to express his feelings, not to impose words for the sake of form. The most prominent in Whitman's poems are his humanistic thought and his beautiful desire for happiness and freedom. Whitman's poems are characterized by strong vitality and unrestrained momentum. Such as the same surging river, moving forward rain or shine, this momentum has a great impact on readers directly.
Secondly, a series of natural artistic conception are rendered through natural images. These natural images are used to awaken people's cherish of life in the war, and also to awaken people's vigorous vitality since ancient times from the original images. Finally, it is Whitman's unique "androgynous perspective" that realizes overlooking the development of the whole poem from a similar perspective, thus finding the best position for himself. The characteristics of Whitman's poems are not only reflected in his style, but also influenced by Whitman's times.
Have a certain pursuit and desire for Whitman's democracy. His poems flow through this area like a river and are reflected in his work Leaves of Grass, so Whitman's democratic thoughts are known to later generations. His Song of Self also emphasizes the true, free and full self, which strongly shows the strength and wisdom of human beings. Of course, it is more the theme that Whitman pursues-freedom!
What are Whitman's poems?
Whitman's poems are a controversial topic. Some people think that his poems are too free and easy and have no certain format, so they can't be called poems. However, some people think that it is because of this looseness that the poet's free individualism spirit can be demonstrated.
Imagine Whitman
Whitman's famous poetry collection Leaves of Grass is known as a romantic poetry collection, many of which involve a lot of vivid descriptions of sex, and the theme and ideas were very advanced at that time. Many of his poems have different specifications and irregular long and short sentences. It can be said that they are a random combination, which completely breaks the very regular poetic style in the United States and creates a new form of "free verse".
Whitman's poems are not only unique in writing, but also quite different in ideological style. Whitman dropped out of school to work in his early years and later worked as an apprentice in a printing house and bookstore. Perhaps because of this, he was not bound by teaching and created his own new poetry format. Whitman also worked as a teacher in the countryside, during which he founded a newspaper, Long Island People. Whitman's life has experienced the baptism of war and the political civil war in the United States and other major events, which have also had an indelible impact on his poetry.
Besides external reasons, Whitman's emotions also play an important role in his poems. As we all know, Whitman has been living with drivers and dockers since he dropped out of school, which laid a certain foundation for his sincere feelings for the same sex. Later, it was discovered by later generations that he always had a same-sex partner and lived with him until his death. Just to avoid public opinion and discrimination, Whitman had to tell the outside world that he actually had a mistress and an illegitimate child.