Whitman's Writings

On the first page of Whitman's notebook, I see that he divided his thoughts with horizontal lines. His thoughts are scattered and written with limited order. The lines might be Whitman's way of separating and organizing his creative thought. A stamp with a Library of Congress seal is on the right of the page. On the second page he describes a brochure with a dialogue between someone and the President Elect, involving some type of "lessons" being taught. On the next couple of pages Whitman has unorganized scribbles about religion, virtue, Christ, and lust. Then he goes on to discuss the Queen of England and Spain. Perhaps he is discussing the limitations of having power? He makes a comparison to a ship facing prevailing winds and clouds of death. This ship is of the World, Humanity, of all Ages, of Promise. Then he includes a sketch of an old tattered man with unruly hair and eyebrows with a thick beard and mustache. This same man is on the next page, except this time he is reaching out his hand. Perhaps he is searching for this ship or even helping to guide it upon shore. In the next sketch this man looks forlorn and is wearing a large Uncle-Sam-looking hat. Another helmet/hat is doodled looking like it is being hung from a wall or door. Whitman sketched a sign "The Bohemian…Saturday Press". Then he has a poem entitled "The Hills of Brooklyn". On the last page there is a skeleton with a sword through his heart wearing a sea captains hat. Perhaps this is the man previously portrayed.

The scattered scribbles I thought were random "notes" were actually various names and addresses. In the beginning of this notebook, the dialogue described was actually the beginnings of Whitman's imaginary conversation with Abraham Lincoln. The two never actually spoke in real life. I was correct in thinking that the stamp was from the Library of Congress. The next section is simply his thoughts on religion, which could have been apart of his dialogue with Lincoln. Whitman proposed a four-sided God. Whitman also includes a poem "Libertad" in which Whitman wishes to show that freedom can extend beyond his own country. His is not talking about "lust" but is saying is all "lost"? He asks many open-ended question to have his readers answer for themselves. "And you" allows the reader (or Lincoln) to finish the conversation. He compares being the president to being the captain of ship and the "clouds of death" to the downfall of a nation. Also, Whitman was facing trials at this time with a mid-life crisis. The sketches were said to most likely to not have been drawn by Whitman, but of Whitman. The "hat hanging from a wall" was actually a harp, which is a symbol of poetry. The last poem discusses the Battle of Brooklyn with George Washington. The skeleton was said to have been an allegory of America itself in the transition of life to death.

Whitman's ideas displayed through his notes, poems, and sketches show his creative nature and his strong ideas about the future about America's leadership and current condition. Perhaps he related to America's depleting success due to his own mid-life crisis, so he creates many allegories.