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Courtney Desir'ee Williams
6th block PDP English
project
The poem that I chose for this project was, "In Midnight Sleep," by Walt Whitman
tran·scen·den·tal·ism
noun
an idealistic philosophical and social movement that developed in New England around 1836 in reaction to rationalism. Influenced by romanticism, Platonism, and Kantian philosophy, it taught that divinity pervades all nature and humanity, and its members held progressive views on feminism and communal living. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were central figures.
Citations
1819–1892
Image:
https://www.awesomestories.com/images/user/49ed77ba44.jpg.
Poem:
Whitman, W. In Midnight Sleep.
http://www.bartleby.com/142/188.html
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works.
Article:
Silverman, R. (December 12, 2014) Walt Whitman News. New York Times. Retrieved: 2/20/15
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/walt_whitman/index.html
Poetry Foundation, (2012.) Walt Whitman Biography
Article #2
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/walt-whitman
Devices In Depth
In this stanza, Whitman is describing a horrific image.
There are three stanzas in this poem.
In this heartbreaking poem, we are seeing the war through Whitman's eyes. He talks about what he sees:
I believe Whitman did an amazing job of making the theme of war clear and evident.
Whitman sets a very emotional and dark tone in the first stanza of this poem:
IN midnight sleep, of many a face of anguish,
Of the look at first of the mortally wounded—of that indescribable look;
Of the dead on their backs, with arms extended wide,
I dream, I dream, I dream.
There is no rhyme scheme in this poem
"...of many a face of anguish"
Anguish - "Severe mental or physical pain or suffering
This quote relates to the many people dying in war, and the pain they are left to deal with.
Of the dead on their backs, with arms extended wide,
I dream, I dream, I dream.
Poetic Devices found:
Dark
War
Powerful
IN midnight sleep, of many a face of anguish,
Of the look at first of the mortally wounded—of that indescribable look;
Of the dead on their backs, with arms extended wide,
I dream, I dream, I dream.
I believe Whitman made the mood so dark to give the reader a sense of what it was really like here.
The mood turns very hopeful in this part of the poem
Poetic Devices found:
"..scenes of nature fields, and mountains"
"I dream, I dream, I dream"
Of scenes of nature, fields and mountains;
Of skies, so beauteous after a storm—and at night the moon so unearthly bright,
Shining sweetly, shining down, where we dig the trenches and gather the heaps,
I dream, I dream, I dream.
Devices In Depth
The mood is much more hopeful. In this point of the poem, Whitman starts to talk about the things he wishes for. The topic changes from war, to nature. The nature topic relates to transcendentalism
"...Of skies, so beauteous after a storm—and at night the moon so unearthly bright,
Shining sweetly, shining down, where we dig the trenches and gather the heaps,..."
It is very easy to imagine the scene in the readers mind.
I believe Whitman used this repetition to make a statement, and make a point in this poem
"I dream, I dream, I dream"
is in all three stanzas of this poem
Long, long have they pass’d—faces and trenches and fields;
Where through the carnage I moved with a callous composure—or away from the fallen,
Onward I sped at the time—But now of their forms at night,
I dream, I dream, I dream.
Poetic Devices found:
The mood is enlightened here
once again, "I dream, I dream, I dream"
Devices In Depth
There is no rhyme scheme in this piece of poetry
Whitman goes back to the war theme.
Whitman mentions the trenches, by including this, Whitman goes back to the war theme. This reassures the reader of the real reason of writing this poem.
This poem is a free verse poem
Free Verse -
poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter.
Similar to a regular speech
*
"...--But now of their forms at night,
I dream, I dream, I dream."
side note