Here I sing---Views on "Leaves of grass" from Whitman

It is usually hard to figure out what is the motive of a poet to compose poetry. He does not have the awareness of writing it in purpose. Every poem is the claim of the heart, why do we claim for reason? Expression of emotion does not need any reason. Here stands the man singing. If there was a reason for Whitman to write “Leaves of Grass”, it could be nothing but singing---pull out the every single marrow of your mind and thoughts. Why consider reason? Go ahead and do what you like, take out your pen and write what you want! Do not care about the so-called rules. “But it is based on experience.”Here comes Emerson with his transcendentalism,” Surpass the experience!” Whitman draws a parallel with Emerson with his unrestricted delivery of mood.

Just as the argument on motivation, neither can we easily find out what was Whitman trying to accomplish. In my opinion, the achievement is a conversation between him and himself. He had been asking himself for times in the poem. They discussed Air, God, women and various topics. It is such a particular way of man thinking, which is talking to your mind. “Clear and sweet is my soul, and clear and sweet is all that is not my soul.” As we reach here, what he is trying to achieve is clarified---the universal agreement which leads to self-determination. Question, answer, review, and determine. “I have said that the soul is not more than the body, and I have said that the body is not more than the soul.” The quote indicated his view of comprehensive unification from in and out of oneself, and the insuperable resolution of recognition, which were his goal.

Similar to Thoreau, Whitman is also an individualist. Does he have something to do with his community? Individual does not mean isolated, everyone plays a role in his community. Even though Whitman was in a status of self-consideration, his voice jumped out of the book. He contributed to his community in the way that Thoreau did. As I already stated in my passage “grey contribution”, the contribution was unconscious. However, the difference is that they emitted their own colors. On the contrast of Thoreau’s articles, Whitman’s lines were full of passion. He abandoned the unnecessary disguise, standing beside the lake, embracing the pure air, speaking for himself.

A·I·R

Under the mosaic ceiling sits what I am,
Sits amusing, sarcastic, and even mindless,
Looks around, there is nothing but floating air,
Steps out, marches in and plays a role of the universal spectator.

I pull my head up and gain the thoughts,
Have I been excessively softhearted, with the pathetic disguise of kindness?
Have I been painstakingly obedient, pleased by the white lie of willingness?
Have I been numbly tolerant, along the edge of wrathful roar of justice?

The world is screwy like the disorder pattern above,
And inside me emotions make their masterpiece of random world.

I listen to the words of the passer-by,
I hear the overlord from my back.

He has the shadow overlaps me,
I have the body occupies him,
His advent is inevitable, just as the darkening of the vicious angel,
His advance is insuperable, simulates the dawn of mighty devil,
His override is unmerciful, along with Osiris' frozen sentence.
And I beg for his supreme darkness over the world,
Exchange with my excessive soft heartedness,
And I beg for his martial path sweeping the land,
Exchange with my painstaking obedience,
And I beg for his conquering footprints crushing the road,
Exchange with my numb tolerance.

It is not a beneficial deal,
But it is an essential deal.

How about the woman?
Have not I liked the body of her?
Have not I liked the smile of her?
Have not I liked the concern and unruliness of her?

All those are obvious illusions,
Take advantage of my three characters.

And now I am going to trade them with the overlord,
I look for joy from disillusion and victory.

Now the specter betrayed his identity,
The impure composition makes me feel sick,
I would rather take off all my clothes now and run to the lake,
To get rid of its fakeness.

How can I find a better inspiration than this?

Get rid of its fakeness,
Question his inevitable advent,
Which will be degenerated by my awareness of life,
Question his insuperable advance,
Which will be blocked by my resolution of struggle,
Question his unmerciful override,
Which will be disintegrated by my reasoning of sensibility.

How about the woman?
Why should I cease to love women?
Why should I abandon the right to draw us together?
Although the time have not come,
She will be mine,
I will be hers.

You are not wandering meaningless under the chaos top of room,
You are not the spectator,
You are the anonymous guide of life.

Accolade, Illumination, Resolution,
You are A·I·R.

Release

Although often linked with Emerson’s transcendentalism, Whitman’s has his own color of expression. The very first image of his ideas to me is release. Release, aye, release. How about throw all the cumbrous clothes away and sitting on the band in the woods? Then I saw his figure of individualism.---“I have said that the soul is not more than the body, and I have said that body is not more than the soul, and nothing, not God, is greater than one’s self is…” Soul and body fuse into an individual, which may surpass God in some way. He is also a self-questioner. If he were living today, he might say something about getting rid of the over-materialized world. Back to the nature, feel it with all your skin. Drop down the unnecessary electronic devices and take more time to use your brain to examine yourself. Let the body return to the sacred territory of soul. Whitman think in abstraction, however, who can say it is not a kind of realistic thinking?

Grey Contribution

After working out, I walked around the peaceful lake and its surroundings. Never had the current of my thoughts run so vigorously in such a calm order. Perhaps the so-called man thinking sparked, just a little while, in my mind. Although often recognized as negative words, solitude more than once proved to be inspiring the deep thoughts of people.

When Thoreau was living in the woods, he wrote great pieces. His attempt was simple---looking for a simplified life. However, his ideas were contributing. In the excerpt from “spring”, his description of ice reflected his firm will on life. Simple, endless, never give up.

The status of man thinking can take place in various ways. Even when sitting in a station after dropping his car, Dillard made his way to the very bottom of his heart. Separating feeling from materialized world, he paced into another dimension and reflected back to now---catch it if you can, live purely in the present.

Neither of them thought in order to contribute to their community, however, they unconsciously left great spiritual treasure to others when they marched in their world of consciousness. Solitude is grey, but the grey contribution is great.

Some gossip

Maybe it sounds shortsighted and superficial, but the very part of Chinese law which I strongly opposed with is a small one---in a car accident, all the obligation leaves to the driver. For a country of such large population, there can be tons of car accidents a day. Also, drivers appear to be nothing compare to the quantity of pedestrians. Although it seems to obey the principle of minority follows majority, it is hard to say that this is a rational law. I walked to school when I was still a middle school student, every day I saw my classmates cross the street when the light is red. Even well educated teenagers disobey the rules, how about the vast insufficient educated adults due to the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s? Maybe you will say that the teenagers are just playful, but it is nonsense that playing against the rule is interesting to them. As so many pedestrians don’t obey the traffic rules, how come the driver is always responsible for the accident? Discovering the leak of it, some people cause an accident on purpose to get indemnity. The law violates its purpose, making the roads more chaotic. I don’t know if it is altered now, but it has been an unreasonable existence.

Finding marrow

What is the marrow of life?

In Thoreau’s opinion, he thinks that simplicity is essential to the search of it. Withdraw yourself from any unnecessary needs; go into the woods, live deeply. The marrow, in my opinion, is simply living.

Are you living? Do you know it? What is it?

Living cannot be simply identified as a biological action. Why Thoreau intend to move into the woods? Life is too complex. Some of us may know, but few of us realize the truth that in most situations we are not living but lived on. The miserable fact derives from the excess desire of materials. Just settle down for a while and take some consideration. Think of those questions. As you think, you will find the things around you are mostly unnecessary, because you don’t live on them. However, you may also question that it is approach animal-like life. What is human? In my opinion, the greatest thing that human can do is to abandon. That is, to use intelligent eyesight to identify the truth behind the substances. Once you achieve the abandonment, you are living.

Based on the idea, I find my way of sucking the marrow of life. Although I cannot go into the woods and live there, I can avoid being influenced. Just as Confucius says “Don’t be delighted by materials, neither be sad by yourself.”

Some Q&A on “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” by Henry David Thoreau

Q1:Thoreau’s method as a writer is often to move from the small fact to the larger truth. In the first sentence, he tells the reader that his unfinished house allowed the air to blow through. How does this simple fact become important in the discussion of the “winds” in the last part of the paragraph?

A1:The first sentense indicates the materialize insufficiency of Thoreau's living place. The last sentence illustrates the spiritual pleasure which he gets from the wind. The fact of the first sentence is important to the discussion in the last part because it helps the writer to show his idea that sipritual value is not disturbed by materialize factors.

Q2:The theme of the next paragraph is the effort to “live deliberately” in order to “live deep.” In what way did living in the woods enable Thoreau to improve the quality of his life?

A2:It makes him withdraw from the interfere of superfluous life, enabling him to approach closer and give more thoughts to life.

Q3:The final paragraph asserts that “we live meanly, like ants.” What explanation does Thoreau give for this way of life? Why does he place so much emphasis on simplicity?

A3:He says " it is error upon error, and clout upon clout, and our best virtue has for its occasion a superfluous and evitable wretchedness. " He places so much emphasis on simplicity because he thinks that details draw life away.

Q4:What paradox is expressed in the final sentence of this passage?

A4:We don't control materalize advantages; it is them who gain advatages upon us.