4. I Saw in Lousiana A Live Oak Growing Flashcards
Context
“I Saw in Louisiana a Live-Oak Growing” is a key poem of the Calamus group and it is perhaps the most anthologised poem in the series.
It is debated to be the most autobiographical poem in LoG
Themes
Dilemma of the need to create versus the need to share the creative venture
very american to register having friends as lace space and time for productivity
Homosexuality
Romanticism- Human Connection - the speaker believed that nature facilitated connections between human beings over time, distance & superficial differences as all human beings interact with the same elements of nature.
Nature - Whitman portrays nature as all-powerful as is forms a uniting bridge across any chasm - ideological or physical.
Isolation - the image of solitude in the live-oak seen through phrases like “all alone stood” and “solitary in a wide flat space” serves as a stark contrast to the relationship that the speaker seeks - one of companionship & love.
Byrne Fone
solitude and connection
Byrne Fone has shown that the need for affection and the impossibility of solitude which “Louisiana Live-Oak” ultimately assert are pervasive themes.
Parallel: Walt Whitman and the Oak Tree
“uttering joyous leave of dark green” - parallels whitman writing leaves of grass.
“rude, unbending and lusty” - walt whitman too refused conformity. Oak Tree is also a phallic symbol- represnts this unadulterated masculinity.
“moss” - moss is the support whitman doesnt notice, they are both connected through connection.
Michael Moon
“Whitman recognizes in the live-oak’s ability to “utter joyous leaves” while “standing alone” a reflected image of his own poetic practice.”
Symbol: Keepsake
the keepsake for whitman becomes an emblem of strength. a reminder he too can survive alone.
Refrain
“I know very well I could not”
The refrain is an epiphany for Whitman. Important reminder of what sets him apart from the tree.
Structure
The form is not that interesting other than two instances of white space within the poem.
The repetition of a few lines in the end gives the poem a circular effect. It is in free verse and sounds more anecdotal and free speech like than most of his other poems.
The poem has been noted to have a sonnet like quality- despite the absence of an iambic pentameter or any meter. The poem is intimate, sonnets are associated with desire: for centuries poets have used the frame of the sonnet to explore the complicated human experience of romantic love.
