Unti 3 Whitman Poetry

Question 1

Miracles

Answer 1

1. He lists miracles he sees in common, ordinary life occurrences
2. From strangers in cars to the wanders of nature, every hour and every square inch is a miracle

Question 2

Oh Captain! My Captain!

Answer 2

1. Fearful trip= Civil War
   Ship= the U.S.
   Prize= Victory over South
   Port= Unification of U.S.
2. Next 4 lines mourn Lincolns assassination. Next 4 show Whitman’s disbelief in his death. Final 4 show how he will not be around to see his dream realized

Question 3

When I heard the learned astronomer

Answer 3

1. Comments on contrast between art and science
2. Speaker is “sick” after hearing the lecture
3. Leaves lecture and goes into “perfect silence” outside
4. He knows nature through experiences, not a lecture

Question 4

I hear America singing

Answer 4

1. Celebrated the blue-collar workers who are the backbone of America
2. Catalogs the “varied carols” experienced through labors.
3. Poem celebrates workers by day and enjoyers by night

Question 5

Oh Me! Oh Life!

Answer 5

1. Ponders questions such as who we are and what our purpose is
2. We crave light and goodness but consents it with “objects mean” that don’t satisfy us
3. What’s the point of it all? That we are here and life exists
4. The fact we exists and are just here is a miracle and a great poem

Question 6

S.O.M. #1
(introduction)

Answer 6

1. Introduces poetic project as a celebration and offering of himself
2. He will share what he has learned of himself, America, and the natural world
3. “Every atom that belongs to me, belongs to you too”
4. Begins journey at 37 and says it set aside the rules learned in school to speak unchecked

Question 7

S.O.M. #6
(grass flag)

Answer 7

1. Decides the grass will be his flag to symbolize himself: it is common and ordinary yet hopeful and of God
2. Grass is “handkerchief of the Lord”
3. Smallest sprout proves there really is no death
4. When we die, we are placed in earth to grow again

Question 8

S.O.M. #10
(his experiences)

Answer 8

1. Whitman catalogs his experiences in America
2. Stanza 1 tells us his joy when he is hunting in the wild mountains
3. Stanza 2 reveals his excitement for sailing
4. Stanza 4 he details a marriage between a white trapper and a red girl
5. Stanza 5 he assists a runaway slave for a week

Question 9

S.O.M. #33
(heroes)

Answer 9

1. He understands the “large hearts” of heroes
2. First is a skipper who comes across a rudderless ship at sea
3. Next he tells of a firefighter trapped under a collapsed building with breast-bone broken, then saved and notices the beauty of the world
4. He details the honor of the dying general who is not worried for himself, but instead for the men in entrenchments
5. These people are heroes that suffer and sacrifice

Question 10

S.O.M. #52
(union with nature)

Answer 10

1. He declares his union with nature and his involvement as a companion with each of us
2. His poetic voice is like a hawk, spontaneous, natural, and untranslatable by standards of beauty
3. He will sound his barbaric yawp over the roots of the world
4. If we fail to connect with nature, keep looking, it is always waiting for us