Whitman and Olsen, Research Paper Example

Whitman’s Leaves of Grass and Olson’s The Maximus Poems

Whitman’s Leaves of Grass differs in the tone of Olson’s Maximus Poems in their tone; Whitman shows curiosity and awe whilst Olson shows more of reminiscing about his place in the community as well as his relationships. Whitman’s Song of Myself suggests his belief in nature is that it is interconnected with people, society and God. Being a transcendentalist writer, Whitman believes that the truth lies in one’s connection with the spirit of nature. His poem of Crossing Brooklyn Ferry shows more that he is curious of people, and is less of nature which surrounds him. He seems to be disconnected from the people he sees, as if he were a different being. His poem, Song of Myself speaks of him, as a man, and his innate relationship with nature. He believes that he was born with this connection, and it should be celebrated, and nature is calling out to his soul. Not only does it speak of his connection with nature, but nature has connections in a multifaceted manner, and brings about the unification of very diverse people and the universe. It speaks of not an independent soul, but one who is able to connect as well as interact; this can be seen also in his views of people in Crossing Brooklyn Ferry. Olsen is seen relating to people, he recounts events where he interacts with them, this can be seen in Maximus to Gloucester, Letter 27. He does not simply watch the people, he is one of them and can relate to them he is seen as celebrating the human community and brings consciousness to the reader that it is he himself whom he addresses in the poem. Also, in his Maximus, Letter to Himself, he displays this by going into his isolation. Even in his isolation and destitute he recognizes that people are not supposed to be alone, that they are supposed to be around each other. Both poets go in a different direction with tone; Whitman’s is oddly bi-polar in his feelings for people and the people around him, he seems to not understand them and holds himself as a greater being. Whilst Olsen relates to people and admits he needs to be in a community. His poems reflect on how he believes there is a need to celebrate the human community.Whitman’s all-encompassing voice glorifies himself above all things, and Olsen’s persona is being washed away in the crowd of people.

There is one stanza, nearing the last section of the poem Song of Myself which greatly caught my attention. This is found in the third section of the last stanza in the second line:

As the hugging and loving bed-fellow sleeps at my side

through the night, and withdraws at the peep of the day

with stealthy tread,

This makes you wonder about who Whitman is talking about, and in the poem, we realize that he is speaking of nature and gods. He is content switches from him interconnection with nature to revealing himself to take on the persona of nature, or gods of the same spirit of nature. This is evident in the following stanza as well:

Divine am I inside and out, and I make holy whatever I touch

or am touch’d from,

The scent of these arm-pits aroma finer than prayer,

This head more than churches, bibles, and all the creeds.

Whitman’s connection with nature and his belief of nature being a part of him, or related to him is seen in these stanzas. He expresses that he is part of something bigger than himself, and bigger than anything anyone can perceive in society. It is a relationship which is deeper than any human can comprehend, and cannot be compared to worldly institutions such as church or any of the sorts. This can be connected with his feelings towards people in his poem Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, found in the 90^th line:

Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt;          

Just as any of you is one of a living crowd, I was one of a crowd;

Even though in this line he speaks of knowing the things people have felt, there is a sense of disconnection. It is as if he is trying to make sense of his relationship with people, yet does not really feel is on the same level as they are. This may be because he speaks of the future in this poem, of an unborn audience. Even though he has common fellowships with the people he speaks of in the poem, there are no real or meaningful interactions between them which can be seen as something which he longs for. He seems to be distant from other people.

In the first stanza of Olsen’s Maximus to Gloucester, Letter 27, it shows him interacting and being involved in a community. He refers to his connections to people as what he remembers in the past, and his use of the words “we” shows that he can relate to them. This is seen in lines 2-6:

where my father shot his scabby golf

and the rest of us played baseball

into the summer darkness until no flies

could be seen and we came home

to our various piazzas where the women

buzzed.

He here acknowledges that he is a part of a community, and he can relate to other people. His relationships in this first line are established and he is seen to know his place within the community, acknowledging that he is part of something.

that we are all late

in a slow time,

that we grow up many

And the single

is not easily

known

In his poem Maximus, Letter to Himself Olsen shows that people may be alone, but they are not meant to be. In his celebration of the community, he also showed what it would be like for a person to feel loneliness. In this line, he comes to say that singleness is not something normal, and is not something which should be experienced. It is portrayed here in this stanza as something which should be feared, and something that is not fully understood.

For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

The poem by Whitman, Song of Myself, is not only about his connection with nature, but his place with it. He believes that his relationship with nature puts him in a place where he deserves glorification. That it was the beauty and creation of nature which made his being possible, thus the need to celebrate him.

In the second stanza, he speaks of the purity of his soul in connection with nature:

The atmosphere is not a perfume, it has no taste of the
distillation, it is odorless,
It is for my mouth forever, I am in love with it,
I will go to the bank by the wood and become undisguised
and naked,
I am mad for it to be in contact with me.

Before this, Whitman speaks of intoxicating perfumes. This symbolizes the bastardization of society, for those who do not see the purity and beauty of nature, and nature alone. He does not want to fall in love with that which is not pure, and to him purity is found in nature. The line in which he states that he wants to go undisguised and naked seems to mean that his clothes are hiding him from what or who he was born to be. That he was created the way he was by nature, and this is how he wants to live and portray himself. When he speaks of the tasteless atmosphere, he compares this with the simplicity of nature, and judges society for sensationalizing everything, this was symbolized by the perfume. He makes it clear that he wants no part in society and with the people in it.

Felt their arms on my neck as I stood, or the negligent leaning of their flesh against me    as I sat,          

            Saw many I loved in the street, or ferry-boat, or public assembly, yet never told them a     word,  

            Lived the same life with the rest, the same old laughing, gnawing, sleeping,          

            Play’d the part that still looks back on the actor or actress, 

            The same old role, the role that is what we make it, as great as we like,     

            Or as small as we like, or both great and small.

Here, in Whitman’s Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, he speaks of his interactions with people, and how he resents them. He brings on a tone of curiousness, and how he cannot relate to them even though they are of the same. He has spoken to people and known them, yet his relationships with them were not established and concrete. He shows that he does not feel like he belongs within the midst of people.

  I have this sense,

            that I am one

            with my skin

                    Plus this—plus this:

            that forever the geography

            which leans in

            on me I compell

            backwards I compell Gloucester

            to yield

Olsen here, in his poem Maximus to Gloucester, Letter 27, recognizes that he is one with himself, yet he is more within a community which is bigger than he. He acknowledges the place he lives and his geography as being an important part of his life. He is compelled by where he lives, and that there is significance in him being there as being part of something which is whole.

But sitting here

            I look out as a wind

            and water man, testing

            And missing

            some proof

Here again, in Olsen’s Maximus to Himself, he speaks of being alone and how there is something missing within him. That through loneliness, you are missing some types of proof, and you cannot even learn who you are through isolation; you need to be in a community.

Whitman’s tone in his poems seem lighter and more curious, the direction he is going in is to celebrate himself, and to focus on himself and all that nature gives him. He seems to glorify those things around him and does not really recognize the need for people in society; he cannot relate to them therefore he does not feel the need to bother with them. This greatly differs from Olsen’s poems which celebrate community and society. He recognizes his place within people and knows how to appreciate community life. He does not see himself as greater than society or other people. In fact, he claims that he needs people to be able to fight loneliness. Whitman’s poems glorifies himself and nature as being the only important thing within the world, whilst Olsen’s poems is more self-searching and a celebration of the community.