Walt Whitman Homoeroticism in Leaves of Grass Essay

Leaves of Grass is Walt Whitman’s life legacy and at the same time the most praised and condemned book of poetry. Although fearful of social scorn, there are several poems in Leaves of Grass that are more explicit in showing the homoerotic imagery, whereas there are several subtle – should I say â€Å"implicit† – images woven into the fabric of the book. It is not strange, then, that he created many different identities in order to remain safe. What Whitman faced in writing his poetry was the difficulty in describing and resonating manly and homosexual love. He was to find another voice of his, a rhetoric device, and his effort took two forms: simplified, and subverted word play. The first was to understand and render the experience in†¦show more content†¦The difficulty is, however, that there is no language of sexuality by which this knowledge can be conveyed. As seen above, the majority of homoerotic images is concentrated in a cluster of poems titled Calamus. It is noticeable that Whitman tried to express his sexuality directly, but ended up fabricating â€Å"a persona that obscured his true nature† (Bergman 387), thus it is only a bit more particularized than Song of Myself. In The Base of All Metaphysics the lyrical subject speaks of â€Å"the attraction of friend to friend† (Whitman 141), the Socratic notion of love, and it is this kind of love that Whitman seems to be most interested in. Worth mentioning is that in Whoever You Are Holding Me Now in Hand, for example, Whitman has abandoned his mission to be the bard of democracy and took on his own private voice. According to Davidson, â€Å"He has become assertive, even arrogant: the ordinary reader is, as it were, pushed aside† (55), and the reader is supposed to understand it deeply, fully, or understand nothing at all. In the middle of the poem the lyrical subject challenges the reader: â€Å"Here to put your lips upon mine I permit you, / With the comrade’s long-dwelling kiss or the new husband’s kiss, / For I am the new husband and I am the comrade† (135). Another poem interwoven with homoeroticism is To aShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Frances Willard And Walt Whitman Essay1276 Words   |  6 PagesFrances Willard and Walt Whitman are two significant nineteenth century American figures. Although Willard and Whitman are famous for different reasons, they do have one characteristic in common: they have both been accused of being homosexuals. However, most people do not know this because it is not put in history textbooks or taught in the classroom, for good reason. Public school students should not learn about Willard and Whitman’s homosexuality through their textbooks and teachers because itRead MoreWalt Whitman: An Omnisexual Poet2586 Words   |  11 Pages The homosexual themes displayed in Walt Whitman’s works, especially in his most famous collection of poems Leaves of Grass, raise the question of his own sexuality. Many of his poems depicted affection and sexuality in a simple, personal manner, causing nineteenth century Americans to view them as pornographic and obscene. Based on this poetry, Whitman is usually assumed to be homosexual, or at least bisexual. However, this assumption does not account for major influences of his writing such

How Far Do You Agree with the View That the Limited Appeal Free Essays

Mazzini was an important figurehead for the unification of Italy, historians such as Pearce and Stiles state that that ‘no one else campaigned for so long or so tirelessly in the cause of a united Italy’. He had extremely radical and liberal ideas about how Italy should be unified, and some historians Mazzini’s ideal was that Italy should be unified ‘from below’. He wanted the people of Italy to rise up from their high-powered oppressors, while still maintaining the opinion that if monarchs were prepared and wanted to fight against the Austrian domination, then they should be supported and not hindered. We will write a custom essay sample on How Far Do You Agree with the View That the Limited Appeal? or any similar topic only for you Order Now He wanted a ‘brotherhood of the people’ to all move toward greater social equality (Denis Mack Smith described him as having ‘contempt for xenophobia and imperialism) so that all of the people of Italy would unite in order to unify their country. Mazzini also stressed that Italy should be unified ‘by its own efforts’, wanting to avoid any outside help- especially from France- in fear that they may just replace one outside domination by another. However, the limited appeal of his ideas were shown when Italy was eventually united and done more-so from above than it was below- he was described as being ‘disgusted’ by this and criticized the new Italian unified state, describing it as a ‘dead corpse’. It could be argued that Italy could have been unified earlier under Mazzini’s watch if it had not been for how his ‘one overriding aim’ distracted from the main goal of a united Italy. It could also be argued, as Robert Pearce details, that Mazzini was ‘absent from Italy’ for such a long and extended period of him (totalling in ‘all over 40 years’) that he became ‘out of touch’ with this situation. This then caused him to over-exaggerate the ‘national identity’ of Italians. This meant that he dis-appreciated the revolutionary potential of the peasants/ the common people, as he had little to none contact with them and knew little about them. As a result of this blindness, his further attempts to cause unification failed, an example of this is an organised mutiny within the Piedmont that then failed- but the most obvious was the failure of the planned uprising in Naples, in which Mazzini went on the assumption that the peasants were ‘a volcano about to erupt’-whereas this was not the reality of the situation. We can also see examples of his disassociation to the ‘real’ people of Italy in his political society ‘Young Italy’; despite being hailed as ‘Italy’s first real political party’, their membership was extremely limited to well educated, young, middle-class men. It was here that one of Mazzini’s major weaknesses became apparent- that as a result of his ‘complex thinking’ as well as his studies of law and medicine, his ideas became too intellectually advanced for most people to grasp and most certainly too radical for the ‘cautious, middle-class reformers’. This prevented many from joining the cause- leading to failed coups in Piedmont as well as uprisings in Naples and Savoy. His supporters described him as the ‘greatest, bravest, most heroic of Italians’. His deeply radical approach led his political enemies to accuse him of being an ‘enemy of Italy’ and a ‘terrorist’. His ideas were of democracy, rights, and equality for all (he even campained for the rights of women, wanting to give them the vote). These ideas were exteremely liberal and were far from limited in the sense that they were not censored or right-wing and they inspired many to the cause. However, his ideas were unrealistic for the times (women would not get the full vote until after World War II), but it was the fact that his ideas were extremely modern and remarkably radical that converted people to Mazzini’s idea of a ‘democratic, self-governing state’. This would suggest that his ideas were not limited, but appealing to the people of Italy. How to cite How Far Do You Agree with the View That the Limited Appeal?, Essay examples

Ojt Termpaper free essay sample

Students who want to work onboard international and domestic vessels after graduation can take advantage of programs that link schools to the real world of work of seafarers. OI offers courses accredited by Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and in-house courses that uses vessels in partnership with 2GO Group (previously Negros Navigation-Aboitiz Transport System), as floating classrooms, as the main training environment. Oceanlink Institute envisions itself to be the preferred provider of skilled and competent maritime, hospitality, and culinary arts professionals Anchored in excellence, they are committed to: Develop students’ competence through the delivery of quality education to meet global requirements of the shipping and other service industries. Provide a harmonious working environment for the employees, suppliers, customers and other stakeholders. Comply with the Safety and Environmental Policy and uphold its Corporate Responsibility Program. A. New knowledge, attitudes, and skills acquired I acquired and learned various skills through effective application of the theories and concepts learned in our formal education. We will write a custom essay sample on Ojt Termpaper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page exposure and hands-on types of learning are imperative for they teach the students the first-hand experiences and professionalism in the real business world.