Wondering about Whitman...

Hi. Me again. I am writing this blog on Sunday because would it truly be a blog post written by me if it were not? Probably not. Anyway, I am sitting on my bed in my pajamas at four o'clock and I am ready to write. This is going to be an interesting blog post because we are looking through Whitman's journal today. Journals are cool because the writer never really intends for them to be read. Because of this, journals are really honest; an unfiltered glimpse into somebody else's brain. The whole act of looking through another person's journal feels like an invasion of privacy but I guess since Whitman has been dead for a while now we can let it slide.

At first glance, Whitman's journals seem like a mess of random writing. It is almost as if he thought more quickly than his pen would move. But if you look closer, one can observe writing that is very Whitman-esque and adheres to his exploration of how the world connects to personal experience. The worn leather cover of his journal makes me think he took it everywhere to collect his feelings at a moments notice. One particular page I can make out states "Welcome the storm-welcome the trial- let the waves...Why now I shall see what the old ship is made of...Anybody can sail, a far wind, a smooth sea." This nature imagery is very Whitman. It is significant because it compares a universal truth, nature, to struggles everybody can relate to. This section reveals that Whitman is a truly introspective person that could be caught deep in thought at any moment in the day. That is why a journal was a necessity for him; to unload burdensome thoughts and to try to maintain some semblance of peace.

When looking through the notes that reveal what Whitman actually said in his journal, I saw that the line he actually said in the page I referenced was "Welcome the storm – welcome the trial – let the waves/Why now I shall see what the old ship is made of/ Any body can sail with a fair wind, or a smooth sea." According to the notes section, this page refers to the ship's captain which is parallels to a new president taking "the helm of the nation" and having many struggles ahead of them. This reveals that Whitman worried about the future of the country in a time of division and hatred following the Civil War. The notes section also says that Whitman carried the journal in his coat pocket. I love the idea of Whitman carrying this journal in his pocket as he roamed the streets of the cities he lived in. To me, this confirms the notion that Whitman really lived creativity in his daily life, which is cool.

Ok, that's it for me. Thanks for reading!