He resolves all tongues into his own, and bestows it (pt.4, The rest of the book)

In the poem, "Faces" by Walt Whitman, Whitman explores the beauty in diversity and focuses on the spectacular beauty of the face. He explores the beauty from the face "bitten by vermin and worms" to "the most smeared and slobbering idiot" even to "a lifeboat". His focus on the specific part of the body goes deeper than just him choosing any random organ or limb. He writes about the face possibly because the face is who we are; our mouths express our opinions and thoughts, our eyes and noses take the world in to form opinions, and our ears hear the world around us. The face is a representation of who we are and that is why it is the focus of Whitman's poem. In "Song of the Answerer" the topic is purpose, or more specifically Whitman's purpose as a poet. He expresses the opinion that he feels that society comes to poets as the mediators and interpreters of the world. I feel that Whitman almost voices his belief like he feels like this task is a burden, however; he voices his opinion quite clearly and never implies the burden of his job. I didn't appreciate this poem as much which is why its blurb is much shorter. Whitman adds political spice with both "A Boston Ballad" and "Europe: The 72nd and 73rd Years of These States". These poem isn't really much more than an anti-war poems and nationalist poems which frankly is all Whitman needs it to be to get his point across that war is never the answer and that America is a good country. In Whitman's, "There was a Child Went Forth" he discusses the building of character. He shows how events in a lifetime lead the man or woman to the type of life and opinions they have today. It tells the story of young children and how they take everything with him to later be the people they are at the end, taking from parents to environment to life experiences and creating a pathway for themselves because of it. I did like this poem because I agree with Whitman that the world forms the man and later on that man grows up to form the world for a younger generation. Whitman creates a connection between the reader and the writer in, "Who learns my lessons complete". He is simply putting out there that the writer is speaking to the reader and sending them a message with his or her words and it is the readers job to interpret them. I'm not really sure how I feel about this because I've read things and felt really moved by them but then again I have read loads of pieces where I've put down the book or article and just felt underly moronic. Maybe not all things are interpretation and some things are all interpretation. Hemingway wrote blatantly but underneath it all there was so much to interpret that gave the reader such literary freedom. I suppose I do agree that the writer is speaking to the reader but I don't always think they're speaking the same language. In Whitman's final poem of the book, "Great are the Myths", and he couldn't have ended the book with a more perfect poem. While the book was completely full of life lessons by Walt Whitman in the end he reminds us to celebrate everything. Though the stanzas of this poem may be obvious they are strung together in a way that can't keep you from smiling. Both life, death, and everything in between are great and we need to remember that. I agree with him because even though it is so easy to get wrapped up in the most minute things you need to celebrate everything you have. This poem kind of replaced every negative vibe I was feeling towards Whitman. I really liked this poem and generally the whole even though it is the epitome of transcendental. Whitman shares some of the same philosophies as yoga about the sacredness of things and that is what I noticed throughout the book. I enjoyed reading the book and I say it was a successful attempt at reading a book of poetry.

Animals and vegetables! if I realize you I have satisfaction (pt.3 A Song for Occupations, To Think of Time, The Sleepers, I Sing the Body Electric)

In the first poem of this entry, "A Song for Occupations", Walt Whitman writes about the simplicity of things with a patriotic undertone. In a way his patriotism almost resembles that of a car commercial, the way he name drops states and the middle class to almost appeal to nationalists. He also uses literary devices that he is very well known for such as repetition of words such as were, if, and is, and also the imagery he creates towards the end of the poem in describing jobs. This poem really stands out as the one that is specifically focused on work. I personally didn't like this poem as much as others. I sometimes get tired of Whitman's nationalism but I don't get tired of stanzas such as, "We consider the bibles and religious divine...I do not say they are not divine, I say they have all grown out of you and may grow out of you still, It is not they who give the life...it is you who give the life; Leaves are not more shed from the trees or trees from the earth that they are shed out of you" (Whitman, 169). That so much is all I have to say about the first poem in this entry. In Whitman's poem, "To Think of Time" Whitman talks about the unavoidable topics of life, death and immortality. He speaks like a poet and stays true to his nature of repetition and imagery. He tells the story of a mans death and many others in the same sense in his poem. I really just felt this poem was a typical time passing poem and it just seemed like Whitman was saying what many others have said. However, Whitman was one of the first poets of his kind and its possible that I am jaded by poets that are in fact copying Whitman. "The Sleepers" may be my favorite so far out of Whitman's poetry. In it Whitman becomes some sort of entity that moves from dream to dream, bedroom to bedroom, and shows the more personal side of dreams and souls. Whitman speaks of how our souls are connected through dreams and that when asleep, our empathy is most deep for each other. He also notes the diversity among humans with the variety of personalities he writes about. I personally feel that when Whitman is writing about the human soul he writes with the most clarity. The last poem I'm writing about is, "I Sing the Body Electric" . This poem is all about the connection of the soul and body and is considered one of Whitman's most controversial poems because of its "erotic" content. Its all about celebrating yourself and your body as a temple. Later on the a song from the movie Fame uses this title for one of the most well known songs in the movie. The song, like Whitman's poem is about celebrating yourself and in a sense just being the best you you can be.