WHITMAN!

Diamond Bell
AP English
Spontaneous Me
10/13/09

Walt Whitman was a man of every emotion possible. Walter Whitman was born May 31, 1819 and he soon grew to be an American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist. Whitman was somewhat of a renaissance man. He was a part of the transition between Transcendentalism and realism; he incorporated both views in his works. Whitman was one of the most influential poets in history. His work was very controversial in its time. He had sexuality and sensation in some of his writings. Even though he was criticized for his writings the writings still went down in history and were popular amongst many people. He had a creative side of him in which he could make imagery out of anything. The poem, Spontaneous Me, embodies something much more than just a regular poem that rhymes. It has randomness and spontaneity in it. The first topic that Whitman speaks of is nature. He mixes nature and human nature in the poem. “Two sleepers at night lying close together as they sleep, one with an arm slanting down across and below the waist of the other.” That quote is one example of human nature. He creates pathos with the sincerity of his words and how heartfelt he is about his writings. He uses sexuality many times in this poem. “The hairy wild-bee… that gripes the full-grown lady-flower, curves upon her with amorous firm legs, takes his will of her, and holds himself tremulous and tight till he is satisfied” I can understand why Whitman was criticized for his writings back then just because of the previous quote used. He had the ability of creating a poem with so many different things and made all of it make sense. He had the ability to capture the reader’s attention and allow his true feelings to come out. He used similes and great diction all over Spontaneous Me.