Part IV

One of the major principles of Whitman's technique is parallelism or a rhythm of thought in which the line is the rhythmical unit, as in the poetry of the English Bible. Another feature of Whitman's versification is phonetic recurrence: the systematic repetition of words and phrases at the beginning of the line, in the middle or at the end. Whitman believed that the voice of democracy should not be tied by traditional forms of verse. His influence on the poetic technique of other writers was small during the time he was writing Leaves of Grass. But today, elements of his style are apparent in the work of many poets.
Writing Features of Whitman
Whitman was a singer for the ideals of equality and democracy and he celebrated human dignity. He was the one who kept a lifelong advocacy for the self-reliant spirit and the joy of common American laborers. In fact, his poems go beyond American subject to deal with the universal themes of nature, fertility, and mortality. The frequent topics of Whitman's poetry are songs for himself, for the labour of the common American people, for natural creation, for the independence of the country, for love and friendship, and for the memorizing of President Lincoln.
“Because I could not stop for Death—”
The poem is discussing death, a very gloomy subject, but it is done with a rather light tone. The tone is light just because the poet does not take death as a catastrophe, instead, she treats the god of death as a very polite gentleman, as a long-missing guest. Giving up her work and leisure, putting on her fine silky dresses, she accompanies death in the same carriage to eternity. All the beauty of this work lies in the poet’s open-minded attitude toward death.
The English Romantic poet John Keats wrote the famous lines: “Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all ye know on earth and all ye need to know.” In this poem, Emily Dickinson shared Keats’ belief that beauty and truth are closely related: they are one. Therefore, she deliberately misspelled the word “themselves”.
Style
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Poems without titles Severe economy of expression No regular rhyme Capital letters and faulty grammar Rhetoric techniques– personification
Emily Dickinson(1830-1886)
“I died for beauty—but was scarce” This is the poem conveying Emily Dickinson’s aesthetic view that beauty and truth are closely related.
1. truthful treatment of material (a straightforward or matter-of-fact manner) 2. focuses on commonness of the lives of the common people (common characters and everyday events) 3. open-ending (Because life is complex and cannot be fully understood. Much room is left for readers to think by themselves.) 4. presenting moral visions
Language
1. honest, undistorted images of different aspects of America of the day---use of montage to make colors and images fleet past the mind’s eye of the readers 2. oral English
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“I heard a Fly buzz—when I died”
This poem is the description of the moment of death. The poet made use of a very strange image of a fly to symbolize her last touch with the human world and, moreover, the perspective of a decaying corpse. The fly appeared as something which was able to fly between the two worlds of life and death. Besides, the word ―fly‖ was very cleverly used . On one hand, it referred to that insect; on the other, it might indicate ―free flying‖ . Before death, the fly was buzzing around, I heard it. After death, it might lead me to go far and forever, I was flying. The fly was inconsequential, implying perhaps that death was the same.
Walt Whitman(1819-1892)
“Song of Myself (1)” “I Sit and Look Out”
“I Sit and Look Out”
Being a sympathetic person, Whitman felt rather sorrowful for all the unkindness existing in this world. He was shameful but he felt unable to do away with them. As a poet with strong social responsibility, Whitman accomplished his duty to expose, to condemn, to appeal for a reform, however, nothing further could be done. A sense of guilt made him suffer but it could by no means be shaken off. Consequently, a strong implication of selfreproach is added to the last line.
Historical Introduction 1. Political Background
2. Literary Characteristics of the Age
William Dean Howells, Henry James &Mark Twain
Theme:
Howells---middle class James---upper class Twain---lower class
Technique:
Howells---smiling/genteel realism英国式的现实主义，绅士现
实主义
James---refined realism/psychological realism心理现实主义 Twain---local colourism地方色彩文学，西部边疆现实主义
Characteristics of Realism
PART IV
• THE LITERATURE OF REALISM
In American literature, the term “realism” encompasses the period of time from the Civil War to the turn of the century during which William Dean Howells, Henry James, Mark Twain (Three Giants of American Realism) and others wrote fiction devoted to accurate representation and an exploration of American lives in various cash
1. For emphasis 2. As a substitute for the colon 3. To introduce interruption or abrupt shift in thought 4. Connects and separates 5. An infinite rather than definite end