美国文学之惠特曼《船长》-Walt-Whitman-O-Captain!My-Captain!

ITOPIC:WaltWhitmanandOCaptain！MyCaptain！A)IntroductiontoWaltWhitmanB)MajorworksandspecialfeaturesC)StudyofOCaptain！MyCaptain！WaltWhitman(1819-1892)Topic1―IntroductiontoWaltWhitmanLiteraryposition◆manofthepeople:work—thecountry’sdemocraticspirit.◆LeavesofGrassalteredthecourseofAmericanpoetry:free-verseform;sexuality;democraticsensibility;extremeRomanticassertion◆WhitmanisoneofthemostimportantfiguresinAmericanpoetichistory.(choosingfreeverseashismediumofexpression.)◆“IamnotblindtotheworthofthewonderfulgiftofLeavesofGrass…Ifindincomparablethingssaidincomparablywell…Ifindthecourageoftreatmentthatsodelightsusandwhichlargeperceptiononlycaninspire…Igreetyouatthebeginningofagreatcareer.”―Emerson◆“Agreatcareer,whichyetmusthavehadalongforegroundsomewhere,forsuchastart.”―Emerson◆“EmersonfreedWhitmanformysticalinsightsthatwerebeyondhisownken.”―Spiller◆“…Whitman,becauseofthefavoringcircumstancesofademocraticidealandanopensociety,becameperhapsthegreatestofmodernbards.”―Spiller◆D.H.Lawrence,theBritishnovelistandpoet,accuratelycalledhimthepoetofthe“openroad.”◆NotonlytheformofWhitman’sfreeversebutalsohisthoughtofdemocracyhavebeeninfluentialinworldliterature,andremaintheinspiringsourcesoftwentieth-centuryliterature.Topic1―IntroductiontoWaltWhitman◆Brooklyn,LongIsland,NewYork.sonofcarpenter◆personofmixedblood(DutchandNewEnglandBritish)◆anofficeboy/theLongIslander◆Americanfreeversepoet◆ademocrat◆anindividualist◆anationalist◆apantheistPointsofview（1）Worldoutlook◆WhitmanwasstronglyopposedtothesouthernsideduringtheCivilWar,favoringthedemocraticnorth.Forhim,slaveryabusedhumanity.Peopleshouldbeequallytreated,whethersouthernersornortherners,WhitesorBlacks.“SongofMyself”canbestudiedasacaseinpoint,whichrevealssuchaworldofequality,voidofrankandhierarchy.◆Heisfirstlyanindividualist.Asanindividualist,artistically,hetriedtofindawaytoexpresshisuniquefeelingsabouthimself,thenation,andthecosmos.Accordingly,hecreatedastyleandlanguageofhisown.WhitmanwasgreatlyinfluencedbyEmerson,thetranscendentalmaster,buthisindividualismisnotself–exclusion.Instead,hethinksthatmanypeoplecouldrealizeacommunitywhileremainingindividuals.Pointsofview◆Heisalsoanationalist.OneofthemostobviouscharacteristicsofLeavesofGrassisindeedthatitisfirmlyanddeeplyrootedinAmericansoil.Theword“America”and“American”recuragainandagain;theUnitedStatesandthesestatesareconstantlyreferredto.Moreover,herespondsenthusiasticallytotheexpansionofAmerica,thenewlyfoundedprogressiverepublic.Heisveryconsciousofhismissionasapoet,forheconsidersthatpoetrycouldplayavitalpartintheprocessofcreatinganewandbetternation.HeisveryoptimisticofthefutureofAmerica,whichheidentifiesasachildwhowentfortheveryday.Thischild,theyoungAmerica,wouldsurelygrowstrongerwitheachpassingday.◆However,Whitmanisnotanarrowindividualist,noraradicalnationalist.TheequalitythathecelebratesisthatofallpeoplenotonlyinAmericabutalsointhewholeworld.Heattachedsomuchimportancetothefraternityofallpeopleandallracesthathesaid,“Allnationshere－ahomeforeveryraceonearth.British,German,Scandinavian,Spanish,French,Italian,Mydearestdreamisfortheinternationalizationofpoemsandpoets.”Pointsofview（2）PantheisticideasReligiously,Whitmanisapantheist.InthefirsteditionofLeavesofGrass（1855）theauthordeclaresintheprefacethattheidealpoetmustbeacompleteloveroftheuniverseanddrawhismaterialsfromnature.Whenheusedthewordheaven（usuallyplural）hemostlydesignatedtheregionofthestarsandplanets.Theideaofresurrectionalsooccursfrequentlyinhispoems,butitmainlyappliestotheanalogyofthelifecyclesofplantsandanimals,thatis,thesequenceofseed,germination,growth,death,andrebirthfromanotherseed.Whitmangottoknowevolutionfromlecturesandbooksongeology.HewastaughtthatGod’struerevelationwasinNature,notintheBibleorotherreligiousdocuments.Therefore,hesometimesjuxtaposedthenotionofhistoricalchangesandnaturalchanges.Tohimtheriseandfallofnationsarejustlikethebirthanddeathofplants.Pointsofview（3）ArtisticinnovationLiterally,WhitmanisoneofthemostimportantfiguresinAmericanpoetichistory.Hedeclaresthatthemostimportantfeatureofanyartisticworkissimplicity.Nothingisbetterthansimplicity,andthesunlightoflettersissimplicity.Hecarriedonasortofexperimentontheformofpoetrybychoosingfreeverseashismediumofexpression.Freeverseisamoreflexibleandvariablepoeticform,simpleandprose-like,whichallowshimtoexpressfreelyhisideasincolloquialEnglish,regardlessoftheprevailingprinciplesofrhymeormeter.Inhiscaseitprovestobethemosteffectivewaytoconveystrongfeelingsofthecommonpeoplethroughthemouthofthepoet.Topic2―MajorworksandspecialfeaturesMajorworks：（1）LeavesofGrassItisacollectionofWhitman’spoems,hislifelongachievement.Themostfamouspiecesare“SongofMyself”,“ThereWasaChildWentForth”,“Pioneers！Pioneers！”,“WhenLilacksLastintheDooryardBloom’d”etc.Whitmanexperimentedinhisworkswithnewpoeticformoffreeverseandorallanguage.ThusLeavesofGrasshasbecomealandmarkinAmericanliteraryhistory,whichrepresentsthepoet,thepeople,andthenationinthe19thcenturyAmericaandcelebratesthefutureofthenationandtheidealsofequalityanddemocracy.“SongofMyself”isthelo