These evils cause him to live a solitary existence where he did not interact with even the things that he loved. The evil traits of guile, anger, lust, greed, cowardice, and hate that he, like all people, possess. Towards the middle of the poem, Whitman enters a passage that speaks of the “dark patches” that fall upon all people. To assist these devices, lines that bring sudden tension into the poem further disturb the preconceptions of the audience: “Closer yet I approach you,/What thought you have of me now…” Whitman now has the readers of his poem in a vulnerable state – where their minds can be easily swayed and he can preach his theory.
By using these devices, Whitman shakes his audience with the convincing notion that life, as it is normally perceived, is not important. The continuous use of repetitive imagery conveys the feeling that our existence is in fact part of an infinitely moving machine that has no purpose or destination. Sunrises, sunsets, tides, seasons, circling birds, the daily New York commute on the Brooklyn Ferry, and the cycling of generations are woven into the poem.Ī substantial amount of stanzas in the poem all begin with the same word. The second verse of the poem introduces the metaphor of the world being a “simple, compact, well-joined scheme” with the people dissolved into the “eternal float of solution.” Like the mechanical”scheme” that Whitman refers to, much of the poem consists of topics that possess a repetitive or mechanical quality. It would be hard for any person to measure their self-accomplishments on the planetary scale which Whitman is speaking of. The poet questions the significance of a person’s achievements by asking, “My great thoughts as I supposed them, were they not in reality meagre ?” Whitman informs the audience that he has to lead the same life as they, who lead the same life as their children will and their ancestors did. What makes one person’s life different from the next? Whitman leaves the apprehension that the distinguishing characteristics are few.
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