ENG 250W Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Transcendentalism, Manifest Destiny, Free Verse
Document Summary
Monday, oct. 30: walt whitman, song of myself (norton b, 1312-1356) Didn"t grow up in transcendentalist country (new england) Spends some time writing for a newspaper in new orleans. One of the first early writers to discuss sexuality so deeply in his writing. Manifest destiny - the god given destiny for the united states to spread out across the continent. Narrating a runaway slave that came to his house. Writing during the time where the us union was being divided. First volume of poems- leaves of grass (1855) Leaves of grass is a metaphor for regeneration. Three major themes the idea of the self the identification of the self with other selves the poet"s relationship with the elements of nature and the universe. Universal nature and the cycle of life- 7. Significance in everything, no matter how small- 31-33. The soul is not more than the body- 48.
