The Beginning Is The Hardest

I many times struggle to start writing a paper. Or even a blog or essay. For me, it is one of the most important part's of writing, and is essential for setting the mood for the reader. It also helps the reader understand the writer's personality, and feel the tone that will be used throughout the book. Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass starts in a way that I would have never expected a poetry book to begin. "I CELEBRATE myself; And what I assume you shall assume; for every atom belonging to me, as good belongs to you"(1) As we all know, nothing in literature is done without thought. Whitman is clearly trying to make a statement, and show his personality just with his first stanza of his first poem of the entire book. He starts of by making the reader feel that he is equal to Whitman. This is key because it makes the reader feel as if he is going through the same life problems, and living the same life, as the reader.

Something that should also be looked at in every poet's work is their style. Whitman repeats sentences a lot, typically changing a couple words, but leaving the main or strong word there. He also sometimes doesn't change any words except the main one. "There was never any 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." (3) This is a clear example of how Walt Whitman plays with the words, and will repeat himself to make a point. Not only is the style in which this idea is written, but what this stanza is actually saying. It is pivotal to understand that Leaves of Grass was written during the 1840's in the United States. There were many different political ideas, and it was a time of a lot of division from ideas. One lifestyle that many different people tried to live with was the utopian lifestyle, which happened during the 1840's. "And will never be any more perfection than there is now"(3) is a very utopian-like idea that the world is perfect, and it will never be able to be as perfect as it currently is. It is sad to hear that shortly after, in the 1850's, utopian societies failed, and were taken out of the United States.

I am interested in reading the rest of this poetry book because I would like to keep linking the current times in the United States, and their situation, and what Walt Whitman writes to see if I can make any more links between them.