Whitman Journal 1

By Jessica Granse

March 12, 2009

"Borne hither ere all eludes me, hurriedly, / A man, but by these tears a little boy again, / Throwing myself on the sand, confronting the waves, / I, chanter of pains and joys, uniter of here and hereafter, / " (26).

In these lines, Whitman presents the contrast between man and boy, especially where he says "A man, but by these tears a little boy again," because it seems to be an examination of a moment of growth where a boy becomes a man.

I view this poem as an observation of this moment when a boy learns his relation to nature and learns about death, thus, in Whitman’s book, becomes a man. He seems to be observing nature very closely. He’s listening to the bird, considering what the bird is trying to express in his song and translates it. He’s also listening to the waves. This boy is using nature as a type of companion it seems. He’s all alone in nature and he simply listens and attempts to understand nature, especially when he tries to translate the bird’s song. This also seems to represent the maturing of a poet. The boy is learning to look around him and listen to what the birds and waves are saying. This is exactly what a poet must do and thus, what Whitman does. He puts this question of boy or man in this poem to show this growth. He is now a man because he has the ability of observation. He is able to see and hear all around him. He also is able to, rather than continue to cry, ask nature and try to understand the importance of himself. He calls himself a boy because of his crying, but he seems to cease when he really starts to observe nature. This is a reason that I view this poem as a poem of growth for this boy. Not only does he examine this growth of his ability to understand what is happening around him, but he also is able to present this question about the obsession the living seems to have with death. Many ask what the point is of life, and questions of this nature at one point in their life at least. In this case, I view his question of "The word final, superior to all" as a question of that nature. He listens to the waves for his answer and the return back death as the word. I think this is Whitman’s way of almost saying that’s the "Why?" in life. Everyone wonders "Why?" like why are we here? Or what’s the point of life? By the answer to the boy’s question being death, it makes me think that he’s trying to show you the irony that in life we are obsessed with death. We try to accomplish as much as possible before death, what makes one most sad is death, everyone fears death, everyone wonders what happens after death. I believe he’s showing this at the end of the poem by making death the most important and final word. Maybe he’s trying to get the lesson across that you should just enjoy life rather than being so obsessed with death. This is a really interesting lesson.