Whitman Answered The Call, by Christina Woodson, no use of this work permitted without written consent

 Christina Woodson

Professor Mannone

English 211

2 February 2022

Whitman Answered The Call

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a renowned essayist whose works continue to astonish world readers every day. He was an advocate for the ideas of self-reliance, beauty in nature, and treating this life as a gift in all ways possible. Though he was able to convey those ideas thoughtfully and persistently in his essays, there came a time when he wanted and encouraged a new voice in American Literature. In his essay, The Poet, he beckons that there should be a new poet who is “The sayer, the namer, and represents beauty… a beholder of ideas, and an utterer of the necessary and casual.” Walt Whitman began writing Song Of Myself a little over ten years later, immediately portraying a direct answer to Emerson’s request. The influence of Emerson is scattered throughout the whole poem and is a work that is consistent with the ideas that society should consider and take more into consideration. Through direct quotes and analysis, this literary critique will expose how Whitman answers Emerson’s call to be the poet he felt he and society needed.

One of the highlighted ideas that Emerson is looking for in a poet is someone who represents beauty in the form of necessary and important ideas, and that those ideas must be spawned from a new voice. Arguably, there are countless instances of this contained within Songs Of Myself, but the first one that catches the attention of readers is 

“There was never 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.” (Whitman, passage 3, lines 2-6) At a time when the puritanical rule is still the majority of religion and lifestyle in America, this passage is bold and daring, and unrequitedly new. It expands on the idea of transcendentalism, creating a new way of observing. Emerson has his famous essays on transcendentalism, but they are comparably more reliant on imagery and exaggerated personification of items in nature. This stanza from Whitman is bringing a peaceful diversity of how multiple truths can be contained. Whitman emphasized the diversity in America literally and, like this stanza, metaphorically all the time. This highlights how it was also relatively new. America, at the time these poems were written, was just coming out of early developmental stages into a new society that held values and ideas that carried from Puritanical rule. To combat and bring awareness to these views, Whitman utilizes juxtaposition as a literary device frequently, just as he does in these previous lines. During a time in America, when society developed as a capitalistic industrious staple, with harsh religious views as the background for it, not enough people were able to or wanted to stop and look at life for its beauty. With the industrial aspect, people focused on creating and working, and their only downtime was spent in church serving religious aspects. “There was never more inception than there is now,...” this is a direct quote that answers the part of Emerson’s call that this poet must write about things of necessity. The necessity here is that takeaway is needed from religion. While most Christianity sectors, such as the Puritan religion, believe that the making of the universe and earth was the only important birth of creations, Whitman is writing to speak to the creative inception that people should focus on. Emerson was a firm believer in people living in the moment, essentially, and thought it was a necessary tool for humans to evolve and reach their full potential. He thought that it was one of the only ways for someone to truly live. Surely, Whitman believed and agreed with this notion, therefore in this specific passage he is noting the things that distract and take from the human experience as a whole. This specific line was the religious aspect of life, which directly ties into his views of transcendentalism. Therefore, through his use of juxtaposition, Whitman was able to convey and convince the audience of the necessity of living life with an authentic experience, uninfluenced by materialistic or dogmatic ideas. Through this, he can answer Emerson's call of necessity through a new voice, as he strays very far from previous writers who would dare not question the religious sector or system in place. A voice so new it led to Songs Of Myself being banned for a very long time, but having topics that are still necessary to understand and comprehend in today's society that the work is now revered for the greatness it is. 

While Whitman has already proved that his voice throughout the work is new, his aspects of society, which usually include a heavy emphasis on equality and happiness for everyone, are what can be viewed as answering the necessary call from Emerson. 

“Backward I see in my own days where I sweated through fog with linguists and contenders,

I have no mockings or arguments, I witness and wait.” This is a necessary idea for Whitman to have touched upon, because of the context of the people he is describing. Linguists and contenders, people who are highly educated, are rooted in and benefit from societal elitism. When people become too caught up in these things and ideas, they usually lose sight of and value empathy and understanding. At the time of these writings, America had become an institution based on elitism, causing a despairing class system where inequality soars for a few people to thrive. An issue that still occurs to this day. This quote criticizes it and also comments on the necessary empathy people in society should have. He criticizes the study of linguists and contenders by marking that the knowledge they hold is comparable to an uncomfortable fog because sometimes, they get too caught up in arguments without acknowledging that there are usually two or more truths. Especially when examining any of the humanities, there can not necessarily be one right answer to a lot of questions, and considering Whitman has a pure love for poetry and philosophy, it probably clicked to him that these things do not need to be debated and argued. If someone is there to view and understand any side, they can gain more knowledge than someone who refuses to have an open mind can. This is a very necessary idea for Whitman to talk about because even today this is an issue in American society especially. People can get caught up in the educational or class ideas, and think that because society has placed labels on them, they are better than others. When someone can stand back from them and understand and empathize with their thought processes and ideas, an important trait for someone to have, they can conduct arguments and ideas so much more rationally. This piece of writing was necessary then, answering Emerson’s call for a conversation to be brought up on topics that need to be understood. This is especially impactful because it speaks to America as a current culture and continues to be a necessary topic, to boast the importance of empathy and critical thinking that is not influenced solely by books. 

In addition to the call for necessity, the call for new ideas, and the call a new voice, Emerson is also looking to call out for a poet that is representative of beauty. Towards the end of passage 51, Whitman writes a line that represents beauty. The beauty in his writing, in his life, and in all of humanity as a whole. Whitman writes 

"Do I contradict myself? 

Very well, then I contradict myself. 

(I am large, I contain multitudes.)" (Whitman, lines 4-6) to begin his conclusion. This line is representative of Whitman, but also every human being. Indeed, humans are constantly contradicting themselves, no one person can ever say they have not contradicted themselves at least once. In that, we are an ever-evolving species, and there is nothing wrong with it. Whitman is highlighting and showing that there must be acceptance of this idea. As humans, to know you are living a good experience in life, naturally, you need to grow and contradict an old thought you previously had. In that is beauty. It is a beautiful idea to be able to grow and evolve as a person because it means that you have been able to have enough experience to understand and learn or unlearn the things you once thought and knew. Not only this, it is beautiful to accept that humans are naturally contradicting, because it promotes empathy which Whitman knew about, and the reader knows this through his literary devices of writing from multiple people's points of view. The idea that people are contradictory by nature is beautiful because it ties into society's core values as well. Not only does it touch society as a whole, but American society is special when reading this quote. America is built and made up of the most diverse groups of people, sometimes diversifying the diverse. If there is room for understanding why and how people are contradictory, it opens up possibilities for open-mindedness and can bring about change. Because of the way people grow and change and contradict themselves, society can impose this idea on each other to promote growth within each other. And this quote also relieves people of the materialistic view of death and the questions of life, because if we can contradict ourselves, that means that there is no need to worry about questions about life unanswered. If there is one truth, there must be another as well is what Walt Whitman is arguing. It's everything and nothing. Within this, there is a new beauty, a new way of thinking, and an absolute truth that no one can deny. Absolutely, through this quote Walt Whitman conveys a thought so beautiful and provocative of others' beautiful thoughts, he undoubtedly is answering Emerson’s call for beauty. The quote can draw so many different conclusions, and seems to never stop promoting one's thoughts, and that in itself is a beautiful thing. The beauty that is poured into Whitman’s work is probably the most important aspect of the writing as a whole and proves that he was able to effectively answer Emerson as the impact of this work remains a staple to this day.

Whitman successfully continues to be impactful in society because he knew how to write about topics that are necessary to critically think about in a way that embodies beauty in his words, thus answering what Ralph Waldo Emerson called for in his essay The Poet and making a unique new work that stands to be revolutionary. His work is undoubtedly American in the way that it was also new. As the country and society around him continued to evolve so did he, and through this, he was able to grasp the idea of pulling back from this society and celebrating the quirks and darker sides of it, such as the diversity and how it was so special it should grant everyone equality. The work as a whole is beautiful and conveys a necessary discussion on topics that readers go through every day. The beauty of the works is also dependent on the fact that they can change over time. Just as Whitman wrote about himself being contradictory, so is the reader. As the reader grows and experiences things, their understanding of what Whitman was trying to say continues to change and evolve, making the piece almost ungraspable. Walt Whitman knew what Ralph Waldo Emerson was asking for of a poet, and he was able to answer it, as well as revolutionize literature as a whole by creating a piece that is still such a new, rare-found voice that emulates beauty through literary devices. The work is uniquely beautiful, American, new, and sought after just as Emerson asked for.

Works Cited

Whitman, Walt. Song of Myself. 1892

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. The Poet. 1841-1843