Blog Post 14- Witty Whitman

The first page of Whitman’s notebook displays five different ideas or pieces of information that are all separated with lines in between them. There is also a stamp about mid-way down the page. On the second page, the word “brochure” is written big and clearly on the top of the page. This brochure is to have a dialog between two people, one of which being the “president elect” and is involving lessons. The third page is slightly messy and hard to read, but Whitman has a lot of things crossed out, showing his change in mind over the particular subject. Words that I can pick out include, “religious”, “crash”, and “question”. On the next few pages he goes on to discuss the Queen of England and the Queen of Spain. With this, Whitman is perhaps talking about the effects that religion has on being a leader and having power. Following this is a description of a ship of the World, Humanity, of all Ages, of Promise that he welcomes with joy. Next comes several drawings of men that all look rather similar when it comes to the long beard, bushy eyebrows, and messy hair. The first picture is just a profile of a man’s face, the second is the same but with his hand reaching out, and the third man is in a tall hat. The last drawing is a purse or satchel-type bag. Whitman then draws a sign that reads “The Bohemian. Saturday Press” and writes a poem about Brooklyn. The last page is picture of a skeleton head with a sword through its heart. This is perhaps the man on the last few pages after his heart was broken.  

The first page of Whitman’s notebook is actually a list of different addresses with lines that separate them. Following this is a made up conversation between him and Lincoln, although they never actually met in person. The next section displays Whitman’s views on religion, as he proposed a four-sided version of God, which included Christ and Satan. In Whitman’s wish to show that freedom can be extended, he wrote the poem, “Libertad”. He later added to word “perhaps” to the poem to add hope. Whitman also uses the phrase, “and you”, representing an unanswered thought. This brings in the thoughts of the reader to finish the conversation. At this time, Whitman was facing with a mid-life crisis. The sketches at the back of the notebook were said to most likely not have been drawn by Whitman, but are actually pictures of Whitman. The last poem in his notebook discusses the Battle of Brooklyn with George Washington. What I believed to be a bag of some sort was actually a harp, a symbol for poetry. The skeleton on the last page was said to possible be an allegory of America itself in the transition of life to death. Whitman's ideas displayed throughout his notes, poems, and sketches show how creative he was and his strong ideas about the future. These ideas were about America's leadership and the condition that America was in now. By related to America's depleting success, Whitman was perhaps tying it to his own mid-life crisis by the many allegories he creates.