Present Is For The Conscious

As I dived into Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass I noticed how his poems directly focus on how to approach the reader, using repetition and explanations completely reflecting his consistent style. Whitman begins his poetry collection by embracing the reader as an equal to the poet. Whitman begins by stating: “I CELEBRATE myself; / And what I assume you shall assume; / For every atom belonging to me, as good belongs to you.” (1-3) By leveling himself with the reader, Whitman shows how his topic will be all of us, because we are made of the same valuable material. Pure lines of empowerment continue as Whitman characterizes human nature as being pure and innocent, open to whatever inner yearnings will emanate from it. By exposing his humbleness in a simple yet powerful way, we are guided to follow his teachings in the first three lines of the poem. Whitman’s writing is vibrant, youthful, fresh and original, so different from any stale cliché that tries to unite humanity.

Another aspect of Whitman’s writing is his constant repetition, something I noticed in the third poem. He explains how the present is what really matters as “There was never any more inception than there is now, / Nor any more youth or age than there is now; / And will never be any more perfection than there is now, / Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.” (32-35) Whitman gives us new supporting ideas to the Carpe Diem concept by saying that there isn’t something of a valuable nature that the past and future can give and the present can’t. Using the same line construction Whitman states that there are new beginnings, young and elderly, perfection, and good and evil right now and that there isn’t more in the past and future. Whitman’s charmingly light yet profound poetry shares the basic concepts of Buddhist thought in a timeless yet split second fashion, pure magic.

In the first ten poems of Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, we are given unique input in matters of life by dissimulating straightforward messages through the use of repetition and metaphors. I look forward to continue reading this piece which seems very promising.