(-A-)--沃尔特惠特曼-Walt-Whitman

WaltWhitmanIhearAmericasinging…“Icelebratemyself…”WaltWhitmanwasbornMay31,1819onSouthHuntington,LongIsland,NewYork.Hewasalmostentirelyself-education,especiallyadmiringtheworkofDante,Shakespeare,andHomer.Hismotherdescribedhimas“verygood,butverystrange.”Hisbrotherdescribedhimasbeing“stubborner[sic]thanaloadofbricks.”CareerApprenticedtoaprinter.Taughtschoolat17.EditorofTheBrooklynEagle,arespectednewspaper,butwasfiredforhisoutspokenoppositiontoslavery.CivilWarnurse.Whitman’sPoetryWhitmandeclaredhispoetrywouldhave:Longlinesthatcapturetherhythmsofnaturalspeech.Freeverse.Vocabularydrawnfromeverydayspeech.Abaseinreality,notmorality.PoeticFeaturesWaltWhitmanwasoneofthemostimportantAmericanpoetsinthenineteenthcenturyandoneofthegreatinnovatorsinAmericanliterature.IntheprefacetohisLeavesofGrass,hesaysthatoneofhisfocusesisonthesortofpoetAmericarequiredandthesortofpoetryAmericaneeded.ThegreatAmericanpoetwouldcreatebothnewformsandnewsubjectmatterforpoetry.Intermsofcontent,AmericanpoetrywouldnotechothesadcomplaintsoftheGraveyardschoolnorfollowthemoralpreachingofdidacticpoets.Asamatteroffact,WhitmanhimselfwasthatpoetandhisLeavesofGrassisanexampleofthatpoetry.Whitman’spoetryistypicalofAmerica’s.LeavesofGrassgrewandchangedasheandhisnation,America,grewandchanged.Hesawrealityasacontinuousflow,withoutabeginningorend.Hedislikedthenineteenth-centurypoeticformsthatarestiffandpatterned.MostofthepoemsinLeavesofGrassareaboutmanandnature,especiallycommonpeopleandordinaryAmericans.Hewantedhispoetrytobeforthecommonpeople.Hewasdetermined“tomeetpeopleandtheStatesfacetoface,toconfrontthemwithanAmericanrudetongue”.Intheareaofpoeticform,Whitmanmadehisgreatcontributions.Throughhim,AmericanpoetsfinallyfreedthemselvesfromtheoldEnglishtraditions.ThroughouthislifeheadvocatedacompletelynewandcompletelyAmericanformofpoeticexpression.Thepoeticformheemployedisnowcalledfreeverse----theversethatdoesnotfollowafixedmetricalpattern,theversewithoutafixedbeatorregularrhymescheme.Whitmanthoughtthatmessagewasalwaysmoreimportantthanform.Sohealwaysdevelopedhisstyletosuithismessageandtheaudiencehehopedtoreach.Heabandonedconventionalandhackneyedpoeticfiguresanddrewhissymbolismfreelyfromhisexperience.HeremainsoneofAmericanmostimportantpoetsbecauseheannouncedandinstructedacompletelynewage.LeavesofGrassThefirstversionofhismasterpiece,LeavesofGrass,appearedin1855.EmersonpraisedWhitman’spoetryas“themostextraordinarypieceofwitandwisdomthatAmericahasyettocontribute.”Whitmanusedthesewords,writtenbyEmersoninalettertoWhitman,inalaterintroductiontoLeavesofGrass.Emersonwasnotamused.JohnGreenleafWhittierthrewhiscopyofthebookintothefireplace.Anothercriticdismisseditas“justabarbaricyawp.”Longfellow,Holmes,andLowellwereequallyunimpressed.EvenThoreauwasappalledbyWhitman’spoetry,andhewascertainlynoconformist!What’shisdeal?WhyweresomanywritersshockedbyWhitman?Hislackofregularrhymeandmeter(freeverse)andnontraditionalpoeticstyleandsubjectmattershockedmoretraditionalwriters.Healsowrotepoetrywithunabashedlysexualimageryandthemes,someofthemhomoerotic.ExamplesincludetheCalamuspoemsand“ISingtheBodyElectric.”OCaptain!MyCaptain!WhitmanwrotepoetryinpraiseofAbrahamLincoln“WhenLilacsLastintheDooryardBloom’d”(anelegywrittenafterLincoln’sassassination).“OCaptain!MyCaptain!”memorializesLincoln’spassingasthedeathofagreatmanandthedeathoftheerahedominated.ItwasusedtogreateffectinDeadPoets’Society.Whitman’sInfluenceAlongwithEmilyDickinson,WaltWhitmanstandsasoneoftwogiantsofAmericanpoetryinthenineteenthcentury.Whitman’spoetrywouldinfluencesuchHarlemRenaissancewritersasLangstonHughesandJamesWeldonJohnson.(1)WhitmaninfluencedBeatpoetssuchasAllenGinsburg.ChileanwriterPabloNerudaclaimedtohavebeeninfluencedbyWhitman.Whitman’spoetrywasamodelforFrenchsymbolists,suchasStéphaneMallarmé,PaulVerlaine,andArthurRimbaud.ModernistpoetssuchasEzraPound,T.S.Eliot,andW.H.AudenwerealsoinfluencedbyWhitman.(2)“OutoftheCradle,endlesslyrocking…”WhitmandiedonMarch26,1892,oneyearafterthefinaleditionofLeavesofGrasswaspublished.Hisautopsyrevealedhiscauseofdeathasemphysema.TheLeastYouNeedtoKnowWhitmancreatednewpoeticformsandsubjectstofashionadistinctlyAmericantypeofpoeticexpression.Herejectedconventionalthemes,traditionalliteraryreferences,allusions,andrhyme—alltheacceptedformsofpoetryinthe19thcentury.Heuseslonglinestocapturetherhythmsofnaturalspeech,freeverse,andvocabularydrawnfromeverydayspeech.