Final Project

I sat and thought at my kitchen table, trying to come up with something for this Whitman project, sitting staring at my coffee wasn’t doing much so I began to ask myself a series of questions regarding Walt Whitman and the class. The professor wants us to show what we have learned from Whtiman, what do we know about Whitman?

What doI know about Whitman?

Well I know he is very visual, he sees everything and takes in everything, he has a way of bringing you into what he is watching, and how he is feeling. So I read song of myself, trying to feel, trying to cling on some words, to perhaps feel what Whitman felt when he wrote them. Then, finally, I stopped at a verse that I particularly liked,

"The city sleeps and the country sleeps, 
The living sleep for their time, the dead sleep for their time, 
The old husband sleeps by his wife and the young husband sleeps by 
his wife; 
And these tend inward to me, and I tend outward to them, 
And such as it is to be of these more or less I am, 
And of these one and all I weave the song of myself."

As I thought more and more about this verse, I realized how much it had to do with me. Since this class has mostly been about us, our own personal relationship with Whitman, it seemed appropriate for me to make a project that entangled myself. Like Walt allows one to see what he sees, this is what I saw with this verse and I did my best to make it as it was in my mind...but what was in my mind was wayy better, but this should do it. (keep in my mind, I'm only one person! haha and I am not the best at technical stuff)

Thanks Walt Whitman, 

I will always look for the Leaves of the Grass

Ginsberg

The way in which Ginsberg lists what the kind of people he sees is relate able to Whtiman. He is bringing attention to these people who might otherwise be overlooked,
"angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient"
Ginsberg includes America in his poetry as Whitman does, 

"who thought they were only mad when Baltimore gleamed in supernatural 
  ecstasy,
who jumped in limousines with the Chinaman of Oklahoma on the impulse 
  of winter midnight streetlight smalltown rain, 

who lounged hungry and lonesome through Houston seeking jazz or sex"


A super market in California,
Just the title reminds me of Whtiman, in it's simplistic, very "American-like" sense, just a super market in California but it holds such significance to the country and what it means to Ginsberg. 
And to point out the obvious that he addresses Whtiman in this poem is very clear that Whitman has influenced him greatly.
It's difficult for me to decide whether Ginsberg is questioning Walt's way of looking at things or if he is glorifying him. 
This part in particular suggests maybe that Ginsberg never knows where Walt is going with his poetry and the questions he poses,

  "Where are we going, Walt Whitman?  The doors close in
an hour.  Which way does your beard point tonight?"

Or maybe be is trying to see the way Whitman saw things, Walt saw America in such a positive light, with hopefulness and ability where as Ginsberg seems a bit put down at the current state of the country. Ginsberg suggests that Walt would be confused and ask a lot of questions, 

 "I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber,
poking among the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery
boys.
          I heard you asking questions of each: Who killed the
pork chops?  What price bananas?  Are you my Angel?"

Rukeyser's Book of the Dead

I think Rukeyser is allowing the reader to become the one she is writing about. She wants the reader in the shoes of the ones she is talking about or have the ability to be in the position. 
She says,
 "These roads will take you into your own country" this line has the ability to relate to anyone, she is pointing out that this poem has regards to the reader.




I feel that in Whitman's, When Lilacs, he wants the reader close and to have a good view but not in the shoes of himself, Whitman I feel, likes to show and illuminate what he sees so that you will see it. He kind of tells you what you're doing, 
"as you drooped from the sky, low down as if to my side"


She uses you, to point to everyone reading the poem, to make the reader realize this poem is for them. 
"and you young, you who finishing the poem" She is speaking to the reader.


Whitman uses "you" as a sort of invitation, or to feel what he is doing or feeling.
 "I saw on the rim of the west how you were full of woe"


The ending of each poem holds a sense of the ability to carry on, though tragedy.Both poets give homage to the people involved to the memory and the way it will remain. 
"comrades mine and I in the midst and their memory ever to keep in the dead I loved so well"


Whtitman ends with " Lilac, and star and bird, twined with the chant of my soul"
It is forever twined within him, not soon to be forgotten.


Rukeyser ends with a sort of calling for those that are living to commemorate the people,


"Carry abroad the urgent need, the scene,
to photograph and to extend the voice,to speak this meaning.
Voices to speak to us directly. As we move.As we enrich, growing in larger motion,this word, this power.
Communication to these many menas epilogue, seeds of unending love. "





From this tragedy we grow, we can enrich ourselves and be able to be the epilogue.

Project Idea...

I was thinking of further exploring Walt Whtiman's use of  women in his poetry. I have always been interested in gender roles and attempting to break out of the role given to us by society, or digging deeper into why these roles exist and why people continue to allow roles to guide them. I noticed in Whitman's poem, Song of myself that he uses woman to portray someone locked up, behind a glass door, or in a motherly way. I thought it would be interesting to compare the 1855 version to the 1860 version, to see if any of the women's roles or positions had changed. I realize its only a five year difference, but I'm willing to do some ore research regarding women in this time period and what happened in society during this time.
I would also look at reviews from women and articles written by women for Whitman's work.
As far as evidence of learning, I was thinking some sort of visual drawing to depict women in those times and now, but also maybe re-writing verses (or keeping them, but only reading the lines regarding women) that include women to go with the times now. And if times allows, get various women to read these lines and I can record them and put together a compilation.

Peter Doyle

Peter Doyle was an emigrant from Ireland, also known to be Walt's companion for a very good chunk of time in his life. He was raised in the south and was actually a confederate soldier. They met on a horsecar that Peter was the conductor of and Whitman was the only passenger.
 Doyle was present at the Ford's theater when President Lincoln was shot. He recollects that night and some believe he was the inspiration and main contact in writing "O Captain! My Captain!" He was quoted saying,
 "I needn't tell you what I felt then, or saw. It is all put down in Walt's piece"
A poem also uses the name Pete,
"Come Up From The Fields Father," is unique in its use of a first name to identify the poem's fictional hero. The name used is "Pete". In no other poem does Walt give name to any character or model used. 
Walt's calamus poems are frequently reverted back to Peter Doyle and the realtionship they has with one another, "love of comrades" celebrated in Whitman's "Calamus" poems.
His letters from Walt are published and allow for us to further study Whitman and his words.




http://whitmanarchive.org/criticism/current/encyclopedia/entry_3.html

Martin F. Tupper, Proverbial Wisdom

Martin F. Tupper was a writer and poet born in 1810 in London. He wrote the perverbial philosophy which was "long series of didactic moralisings". A well known one was, 
"Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech"
This book was released in volumes, numerous amounts, which is relateable to Whitman's Leaves of Grass and his different editions.The two were often compared to one another in written reviews of their works. Tupper was in New York  in 1851 and at the time Walt was working and living in Brooklyn. At this time he was developing an aesthetic theory that would later become, Leaves of Grass. 
A writer that was molding his own would have picked up a work that was getting so much publicity and would undoubtedly have influence on Whitman. 

I saw a post that made me a little upset, Female Nurses for Soldiers. I thought it would be Walt revering in how much these women are helpful and how caring, beautiful and unique each woman is, but no. True, he does pay a bit of respect to the volunteers, but they aren't good enough. I know these men deserve a lot, but these women volunteered out of the goodness of their hearts and he is not satisfied. He says, the nurses should be mothers, or old ladies and I agree that mothers have a certain touch and way about caring for people but someone who volunteers to help wounded men, have a certain heart as well. At the end he says,
"There are plenty of excellent clean old black women that would make tip-top nurses. "
This reminds me of the stereotype of the "mammie". I just didn't think Walt would have a thought as this.
And I think being around any kind of woman is helpful for a soldier that has seen the worst of things.

Whitman in Pop Culture

I found an America Opera Project featuring Walt Whitman in song. It says it is a callaboration between Composures and the voice and the Walt Whitman project, "a Brooklyn-based community arts organization, devoted to exploring the life and influence of this great American writer through readings of his poetry and prose and performances of musical compositions based on his works. Whitman spent much of his life living and working around New York City, including in Fort Greene, Brooklyn - the home of American Opera Projects"

http://operaprojects.org/whitman.htm
There is a connection between poetry and music, and who better to bridge that connection than Walt Whitman? Even though the stretch between opera and a poetry reading may be long, there is emotion evoked in both forms, and Walt enjoyed every creation. I've never seen opera live, but I'm guessing the emotion will be explosive. 

I found a children's book, When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer. Really amazing pictures to go along with the poem. 

About the book:

http://www.lorenlong.com/astronomer/learnd_astronomer.html

sketches:

http://www.lorenlong.com/astronomer/astronomer_sketches.html
I love that this poem was made into a children's book. This allows children to be exposed to poetry and a great poet in a way are used to, with pictures. Children have amazing imaginations, and poetry is the perfect way in which they can explore their minds, because it can hold so much meaning. 

Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac put out a solo album and used Whitman's writing from the poem, "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" on his album cover and to go along side to his collage of phtotographs on the album. The title of the album was, "Out of the Cradle".

Also Found a fun song called, "Walt Whitman's Niece" that was written by Woodie Guthrie, described as,

" raucous, irreverent, and sexually charged in a way that other evocations of Whitman have not been"

In using Walt Whitman in both these musical forms, uses him as a toll to get a tone across to the listener. I read that he was used as a peace symbol, a rowdy symbol, a personal symbol, this shows Walt's work is universal and the man himself, stands for something for everyone. 

Peculiar and new things

I looked through the reviews and the few that caught my eye were either one of three things; over the top, excited about Walt's work, totally dismissing it or calling it "rubbish" and lastly, just confused and not sure what to do with it.
The first reviewer seems enamored by his work. he enunciated on his way of describing things in a beautiful way, how Walt is fully American and not haunted by European style writing, he likes how he is natural and true,
"Along his words spread the broad impartialities of the United States. No innovations must be permitted on the stern severities of our liberty and equality. Undecked also is this poet with sentimentalism, or jingle, or nice conceits or flowery similes. He appears in his poems surrounded by women and children, and by young men, and by common objects and qualities."
He keeps drawing on the importance of Walt's "freshness" and "new" ways,
"He leaves houses and their shuttered rooms, for the open air. He drops disguise and ceremony, and walks forth with the confidence and gayety of a child."

The next reviewer is a woman, I looked specifically for, and she was super excited about Walt's work. When asked if any parts of the review were over the top, I would have to say that her entire review is over the top. I dig that she is so excited about it though, she just can't contain herself; she lists random parts of his work that she loves. She clearly shares his way of fresh though and defiance for the "ideal". Her favorite she mentions lastly,  

"The wife—and she is not one jot less than the hus-

      band,

The daughter—and she is just as good as the son,

The mother—and she is every bit as much as the

      father."

This shows she was an advocate of gender equality/importance. An idea that Whitman wrote about, in the era it was written, a very new, rebellious thought.

The last reviewer I looked at just was confused and unsure of Walt. His title was, "A Curious Title". This guy can't even understand the title, if he is not open minded enough to think about the title, realize it's meaning and significance then he is definitely not going to understand what is actually inside the book. He also describes the cover of the book. (Tip: Don't judge a book by it's cover)

He calls him a "perfect loafer, yet a thoughful loafer" which seems to me like a back handed sort of compliment.

He just kind of says, if you're into this kind of thing then you should read it, but the traditionalist should not. The quote is,

"we advise all who are fond of new and peculiar things to procure it"

That made me laugh. Because, you do have to be fond of peculiar, new things to want to read a book of poetry called, Leaves of Grass. I know I am. 

I clicked on one last one randomly and this reviewer actually mentioned Fanny Fern, the woman reviewer I talked about. This person despised Walt's work, along with Fanny's Fern Leaves. 

His ending sentence was,

"The fields of American literature want weeding dreadfully." 

This review was very short and anonymous. Dont know if it holds much merit, but it's an opinion of one person who is uncomfortable with Walt's new way of thinking and acting.

The assumptions about poetry in this era seem to be that poetry should be flowery, in line with society, for mere pleasure and unconcerning, and avoiding disconcertion at all costs. The thought seems to be that a poet is not allowed to take such a public societal stand against the ideal, that he should write for the pleasure and comfort of the people. Walt writes to make people uncomfortable, he is true and raw he pushes them out of their caves with his poetry; the complete opposite of what society wants their poets to do. 

These days, I think we want our poetry/writing to challenge thought, to challenge societal views, bring up what is wrong with society and to question what is considered normal. We encourage the new and peculiar.

Frances Wright

Speak of change, and the world is in alarm. 

And yet where do we not see change?

Frances Wright was born in Scotland, she was a writer, feminist, and abolitionist. During college she became intrigued with the newly independent United States,

"A two-year tour of the United States with her sister provided Frances Wright with the material for her Views of Society and Manners in America(1821), an enthusiastic account of Americans' patriotic idealism."

She was an advocate for Women's Rights, concerning abortion, birth control, and liberalized divorce laws.

She lived in New York, where I'm sure, Walt had met and talked with her.

Walt was quoted saying, "We all loved her, fell down before her, her very appearance seemed to enthrall us, She was sweeter nobler, grander-multiplied by twenty-than all who traduced her"

I found out that Walt was brought up with influences of deism and quakerism. Deism, which was handed to him through his father and who subscribed to the Free Enquirer, which was edited by Fanny Wright, a deist. Deism puts all religions on the same levels and tried to extract from the basic moral principals.

They both show signs of this in their writings and beliefs. The morals of human rights, compassion and equality.

I found that he would go and listen to her lectures.  I can imagine how well the two would  get along. Fanny, as she was called, spoke out against misogynistic treatment in churches, society and advocated for women rights. She didn't lay down and accept the roles given to her, she wanted to break the mold. This is much like Whitman and his ways, I can imagine  how they would adore each other, share ideals and thoughts.

http://www.librarycompany.org/women/portraits/wright.htm

http://books.google.com/books?id=G7RgMU3eC9sC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=fanny+wright+and+walt+whitman&source=bl&ots=TXiuxpfUcf&sig=GJ07V_BR6dDKjGwzdfGWlCH-xTk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cfZOT6L0MMrFtgf0sNCoDQ&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=fanny%20wright%20and%20walt%20whitman&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?id=oLZa9nDWz1AC&pg=PT17&lpg=PT17&dq=fanny+wright+and+walt+whitman&source=bl&ots=8kQdooLmgu&sig=37aXga7sTWZVT5jffCBQ3dCdbkA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cfZOT6L0MMrFtgf0sNCoDQ&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false

A melodic hum under my roof...

I have read a few of Specimen Days deciding which to write about every week and I am enamored at Walt's compassion and empathy for the wounded soldiers he goes to visit. He just sits with them, listens with them, watches them, feels for them and wants to be near, helping as little he can,

"He had turn'd over on his left side to get a better view of the singers, but the mosquito-curtains of the adjoining cots obstructed the sight. I stept round and loop'd them all up, so that he had a clear show, and then sat down again by him, and look'd and listen'd."



This entry, Home Made Music, caught my eye, (had no idea it would be about wounded soldiers) because I had just been singing out loud in my house, just because I was in a good mood I guess, but it turned out to fit into my blog :)
I love to see that Walt is always entranced by life's little beauties, he notices the
"the shadows down the lower and upper parts of the ward" or takes note of the " voices up to the high, whitewash'd wooden roof, and pleasantly the roof sent it all back again" 
I like that he notes back to his love of New York as well, mentioning the New York opera and saying he had just as much pleasure in this moment of home made music as he has the best opera.
I usually pick a entry that moves me and this is just such a beautiful moment of peace,captured by Walt, for men that have been under an intense amount of stress. Home made music for the pure enjoyment of it. I think I'll go make my own...

The Bowery B'hoys: Wicked rather than virtuous out of conformity or fear...

The Bowery B'hoy was a term deemed to a certain type of man in the mid 1800s New York, he represented the rise of commercial culture and decline in the status of skilled trades. Often associated with drinking and rowdiness. His lifestyle was a fun, adventurous and colorful sub-culture. They mocked the dress and manners of aristocracy, and are seen as "icons of working class high spirits and urban Americans" 

Barnum's American Museum's often attracted people of this type, a place Whitman had been and wrote about, once even studying the people that visited it's slightly askew and interesting exhibits. 

Whitman was enamored with the Bowery lifestyle and slang. He often mingled with the men who made up the b'hoy population as their slang and vigorous outbursts was often a demeanor that Whitman was not afraid to accentuate in his poems. he wanted to capture the essence of a bowery b'hoy, one that stands up against what is and fights for what he wants,

he writes, 

"The boy I love, the same becomes a man, not through derived power,

  but in his own right, Wicked rather than virtuous out of conformity or fear"

It is said that Whitman is the "Bowery b'hoy of Literature"

The Bowery Boys frequented the five points of New York, which reminded me of the movie Gangs of New York. I found a clip where the Bowery B'hoys are mentioned in the beginning very quickly and I'm almost positive, the character Danilel Dae Lewis plays, "the Butcher" was a bowery b'hoy. As they were often, butchers, firefighters, ship builders or other working class men of that sort. 

And this video is just a crazy, intense opening scene of the movie, also as shows what i believe to be the fashion of the Bowery b'hoys, (the men behind Daniel Dae Lewis, The Butcher)

http://books.google.com/books?id=3ECRp9xNojoC&pg=PA91&lpg=PA91&dq=Bowery+b%E2%80%99hoy+and+walt+whitman&source=bl&ots=O6CUjMTysi&sig=Ezo587DpayPYSTSOQGgy-lkjkcs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=bbhFT6vNMKSdiAKYzoCWCQ&sqi=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Bowery%20b%E2%80%99hoy%20and%20walt%20whitman&f=false


http://www.boweryboogie.com/2010/11/bowery-slang/

Comparing the years; is bigger really better?

The first thing I noticed about The editions was in the 1860 edition is much longer than the 1855 edition. He added a lot more work to the later edition. Song of Myself is just titled, "Walt Whitman"
the use of  "-ed" is replaced later by  " 'd ". On Page 35 of the bluebook he marks certain words with this notation, he changes the word "entered" to "enter'd" and "leaned" to lean'd".
 I read about the differences, that Marki Ivan had illuminated on and it just seems like Whitman would go back and tweak it here and there.I didn't notice any other  huge differences other than the length. I noticed the 1860 edition is over 400 pages, while the 1855 is only a bit over 95.
The length alone speaks to me in a way that says Whitman was becoming more confident in his work and more risky, allowing everything to flow out.

In his bluebook markings i was surprised to see all the little things he went back and changed. Things I thought sounded good, but you are your harshest critic after all. He probably went over it a hundred times trying to make it better, but I don't think there was a need to change words like "leaned" to "lean'd"
 I understand his need to write more, but if it were me, I would let the masterpiece simply be.

SD: The White House by Moonlight

This was beautifully written, I really loved reading it and had to read aloud to my roommate. It shows the kind of writer Whitman was, one who took the moment in completely, was able to intertwine his thoughts about a subject and relay it to the reader. I like how he added words like, "illusion", "drama" and "reality" because Whitman saw things in  a beautiful light but also in a true light. One can romanticize about a structure like the white house and try to connect it to all things just and true, but the white house is a representation of our American Government, of our country and though it is beautiful and dazzling to a person, it also holds reality of sometimes being a tragic drama of our reality.

Whitman and his peers

 In the Village Blacksmith, I am reminded of the part of Whitman's poem when he is describing the farmer, or the slave working. He speaks about his strong arms and the way his hair looks. They both write about the obvious hard work and strength of these men, but Whitman's is more of just a view, presenting the man as he is. In Wadsworth's he draws form this man a lesson, he creates a story with him as oppose to Whitman allowing you to create the lesson for yourself. He speaks about him going to church, hearing his daughter sing and he gives him thanks for teaching him a lesson,

"Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
 Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
 Each burning deed and thought."

I also looked at Smith's, An Incident,

It was similar to Whitman in the way that she sees animals and draws conclusions on life from them.

I noticed these poets are not as forward as Whitman is in his works. They write about what they see, how they perceive things.They are also more rhythmic and focus on themselves more. I know Whitman does focus on himself but he does it in a way that can be transferred onto the reader. 

Motif: Women and Whitman

I would like to explore the use of women in Song of Myself. As I was reading I realized, the woman always has some reference to being a mother, getting married, being trapped or another role of that sort. I wonder what Whitman's stance as on woman's rights, because he alludes to the fact that women are commonly trapped or have certain roles. I found these lines,



"I saw the marriage of the trapper in the open air in the far west,
the bride was a red girl, She had long eyelashes, her head was bare, her coarse straight locks 
descended upon her voluptuous limbs and reach'd to her
feet."
This one was interesting because the man that is marrying the woman is a trapper. I don't know if Whitman intended it to be that way, or I'm just noticing this little pun. Also, he just describes the way she looks, her long eyelashes, straight hair, and voluptuous limbs. It's interesting that he describes her like this, when he seems to hold women in such high stances in other motifs as barers of life, or important roles as mothers. Perhaps he is seeing her the way the trapper is. Only what she looks like. not the importance she holds.

"Twenty-eight years of womanly life and all so lonesome.
She owns the fine house by the rise of the bank,
She hides handsome and richly drest aft the blinds of the window."
In this passage, The woman is watching the 28 bathers, swimming naked. She is behind a glass window, she is trapped and there is a barrier. She is lonely in this big house, she "hides" because she can only imagine herself swimming with them and would never be able to actually do so. and she is "richly dressed", in comparison to being naked, this holds meaning in that she is not only trapped in the house, but is trapped within herself as well.



"The spinning-girl retreats and advances to the hum of the big wheel, "
 I notice that he uses the word "retreats" this word holding a negative connotation, like returning  to safety, withdrawing, or giving up.  As oppose to using a word like, "returns" which wouldn't hold such a
"the hum of the big wheel" is the spinning wheel you use to make thread for cloth, which would be a common role for women.


"The bride unrumples her white dress, the minute-hand of the clock moves slowly"
I loved this line. It's so haunting and intriguing to me. She is a bride, flattening or straightening out her dress. Perhaps getting ready to walk down the aisle and preparing her dress to look its best. "The clock moves slowly," maybe in a positive light can be seen as timeless. In a negative light, maybe showing that her life after marriage will be slow paced and will hold nothing more than the unrumpling of clothes.

Some more lines I found,
"The quadroon girl is sold at the auction-stand, the drunkard nods by
the bar-room stove,"


"The young sister holds out the skein while the elder sister winds it
off in a ball, and stops now and then for the knots,
The one-year wife is recovering and happy having a week ago borne
her first child,
The clean-hair'd Yankee girl works with her sewing-machine or in the
factory or mill, "


"The mother of old, condemn'd for a witch, burnt with dry wood, her
children gazing on, "


"On women fit for conception I start bigger and nimbler babes. "


"Come my boys and girls, my women, household and intimates"


"The young mother and old mother comprehend me,
The girl and the wife rest the needle a moment and forget where they
are,
They and all would resume what I have told them."



He still speaks to man and womanly equally, as shown in these lines,

"Do you see O my brothers and sisters? "

"And I say to any man or woman, Let your soul stand cool and composed
before a million universes."


Which shows me he was definitely not one to divide people into societal rank.


I believe Whitman thought highly of woman, he appreciated the body and gave thankful recognition in child bearing, as he uses this motif often. He gives mothers important roles and I noticed every time a woman is happy in the poem is when she is with a child or about to give birth to a child. Was Whitman is trying to illuminate the fact that women are held in certain roles, often trapped by forced marriage or the ideal wife role? or was he merely speaking of what he saw?

SD: Growth- Health-Work

 Whitman obviously adheres greatly to children, as they are a constant motif and theme in his poem, Song of Myself. He gives great recognition to youth, the essence of children and being young. A complete blank slate, not yet influenced on societal views and worldly demands, they only hold questions (sometimes answers), they wonder, they are the perfect example of being natural, and still believe anything is possible. In this entry Whitman again gives recognition to his youth and the things he did and learned. He says he Went to plays, read novels, basically giving the example that your youth should not be wasted and it does matter. What happens in your youth holds significance. That is when you are not jaded, when you're open to ideas and are able to ask questions and should continue to hold these qualities throughout life. In his poem he writes, "I am not a bit tamed, I am untranslatable"

Walt did it. He did it naked.

Barnum's American Museum: Before the Circus...

Barnum's American Museum was in New York on the intersection of Ann and Broadway.This was an area Whitman lived in at a time and went to often. Whitman interviewed Barnum for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on this museum and went into the museum at least twice. Whitman, being himself, found the people that attended the museum far more interesting than the displays that were constructed to view. He sat a chair in front of a window, back turned to the museum and watched the New Yorkers shuffle and rush by.
 After sitting in this chair, just watching he came to a conclusion and "he divides the scene into three groups: omnibuses and their drivers, fashionable women, and imitators of European aristocracy" He probably went through many thought to get to that.
 Although, he could sit and watch the people that came to sit and stare at displays, was also in deep appreciation for museums and the thoughts that they can conjure up in people. Walt was interviewed and says,

 “there is probably nothing in New York more deeply interesting” than the

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Building

museum and recommends it as “a place to go when one would ponder and evolve
great thoughts” (Whitman 1936: 40)

                                                             







I also enjoy doing this at crowded places. A very fond pastime I call, people watching. The thoughts you can think up when watching all the people you share this planet with.
The other day while walking I watched a kid running across campus and he stopped because he heard something drop from his backpack. It was a pen, he stopped to go back but he was obviously in a hurry and looked at the pen with disdain, shuffled his feet toward the place he was suppose to be and looked like he made the rash decision to leave the pen on the ground. Poor kid looked so torn between picking  up his pen or being where he was suppose to be on time. He would have to continue his life without this pen. It must have been the only pen he had on him, his very last pen, he could have had this pen for a long time and grew fond of it.
After many thoughts going through my head, as to why he would be so attached to a pen, or how it could make him late to simply bend and pick up this pen, I finally realized that I knew this feeling. The feeling of being torn between a tedious decision and having to make it quickly. Now I have a way to describe it,

"Its like dropping your last pen on the ground while rushing to catch a bus"
This may not be an evolved thought right now, but it sparked other thoughts, and it may very well lead to a great one.









Whitman uses metaphors in his works and museums were able to

(http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1117&context=libraryscience)

"I wear my hat as I please, indoors or out"

"Whimpering and truckling fold with powders for invalids
conformity goes to the fourth remov'd.
I wear my hat as I please, indoors or out. "

This line made me laugh and nod agreeing. He is saying conforming is for the truckle and invalids. Or the weak, or those that submit easily. Then goes to make sure he will do what he pleases, including wearing his hat indoors or outdoors. He is displaying that some things that society denotes is so absurd, like putting a rule on when to wear your hat.
I always say, "I do what i want" but not in a way that puts others at danger or risk but just to push the norm, live outside the box. Ill hang my pictures on my wall crooked  because it drives my roommate crazy and I just think it is hilarious that something like that makes her uneasy. Its just a picture, its crooked, i tell her its ok to venture into the unknown., go against the norm. And if something like wearing a hat indoors made people uncomfortable id be donning a hat when I walked through every door.
Whitman, is the perfect example of nonconformity. everything he did pushed the norm. I admire that about him. This line will forever be with me.

A happy hours commend; Specimen Days

Whitman is reminiscing in this entry. He takes out everything he has done and meshes it all together. I imagine him just surrounded by papers, writings and scraps looking at them all fondly knowing they make up the big picture. He realizes though he has so much representing certain times, that not every moment can be documented and later looked at.I like the last line of his entry,
 "Probably another point too, how we give long preparations for some object, planning and delving and fashioning, and then, when the actual hour for doing arrives, find ourselves still quite unprepared,"
All this memorabilia he is looking at gets him to one thought and another and in the end realizes that though we can plan and prepare for something, when the actual event comes up we can still be quite unprepared. 
Whitman's Song of myself seems to me like a lot of observations put togother in an eloquent wheel, when i read this line,
"May-be, if I don't do anything else, I shall send out the most wayward, spontaneous, fragmentary book ever printed." 
I thought of Leaves of Grass. Not that it is not well planned or thoughtful but in the sense that it has a beautiful array of what life is or was to him. It's an example of what life  and own's thoughts should be like; spontaneous and wayward, fragmented but eloquent. You can look at all the fragmented pieces later. 

Wilmot Proviso

The Wilmot Proviso was an amendment put before the house of representatives in 1846. David Wilmot proposed the amended that non of the territory acquired in the Mexican war should be open to slavery. This was another factor that added to the animosity between north and south, regarding slavery and the new territory that was to be claimed. Whitman openly supported the Wilmot Proviso and the free soil movement in his editorials that he put out.
Whitman, would very much agree with this amendment. In his poem, Song of Myself, he talks about housing a run away slave, feeding and caring for him and sharing his home. Whitman held no shame in helping a slave and contributed to the slave's journey north into new territory where he could be free.