The Book of the Dead"

The "you" functions very differently in Rukeyser's "Book of the Dead" versus Whitman's "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd." Whitman only uses the word "you" once in the first 14 stanzas and when he does in the second stanza he is addressing "spring" as "you."  When he uses "you" again it isn't until section seven, stanza 15 and in this case "you" is "death." Later in the poem the "you" is used to refer to both the star and the bird. This is unlike Rukeyser's poem where the "you" is used in the first line and refers to the reader. The "you" in her poem pulls the reader right in and in a way holds them partially accountable for the tragedy. A main difference of the mourning in this poem versus Lilacs is that this tragedy was absolutely avoidable (The inspectors wore gas masks when they came to the construction site for short visits yet the men working there every day went without any protection. It wasn't a matter of ignorance to the danger; it was a matter of apathy.) While Whitman's poem is very personal, it is more personal to his own grief rather than inclusive of everyone's. He does write about the Nation mourning in section six, but largely the feel of the poem is of his own grief. Rukeyser's poem shies away from the sentimental and has an angrier tone. She takes the tragedy of of the Hawk's Nest Incident and uses it as a springboard to accuse America of it's "Nothing will stand in the way of progress" mentality. And rightly so in my humble opinion.

Obviously both poems are elegiac in tone and I can't help but wonder if Rukeyser had Whitman in mind when she wrote this. It not only reminds me of "Lilacs", but her style, the long sentences, the repetition, the painting a picture of America(albeit in a more negative light than Whitman,) reminds me a lot of other poems in "Leaves of Grass."

Whitman ends on a tone of honoring the fallen president though not naming him. His grief will go on, but he is able to manage it. There is transformation, but not a call to change. If he was attempting to do what Rukeyser did, then maybe there would be some mention of Booth, or a tone of anger that this terrible event wasn't thwarted somehow. Rather he focuses on the management of grief; finding a way to cope. By the end of the poem, "Book of the Dead"as dark as it is, there is a bit of hope in it as Rukeyser aims  to expose the lie of America, the "land myths of identity" and call for change. At least change is possible. She writes, "and you young, you who finishing the poem/wish new perfection and begin to make." 

National Tragedy

The themes that presented themselves to me after reading the 9/11 poems were time, and the people who are left/how we go on.

Time and our relation to it seems to always become so important in the face of a tragedy. In the poem “September Twelfth, 2001” by X.J. Kennedy the actual time is featured in the title and the last lines evoke not only emotion, but the sense that time is fleeting; not simply being whisked away on the wind, but violently disintegrating: “Alive we open our eyelids on our pitiful share of time,/ we bubbles rising and bursting in a boiling pot.”

“These things that happen in the particle of time we have to be alive,” is a striking line from “War” a poem by C.K. Williams which tries to deal with tragedy by relating to human tragedy throughout the ages. Thinking about our history as a speck of time raises the question of how important or unimportant we are. This poem is ambitious and remarkable; it is hard to describe how the poet intertwines our “complicity, contrition, grief.”

Of all the poems I read, Szymborska's moved me the most. The attempt at suspending time for the victims plunging to their death was a noble elegy. The last lines were very beautiful and powerful,

“I can only do two things for them-

describe this flight

and not add a last line”

However I think the most similar to Whitman's “When Lilacs Last in The Dooryard Bloom'd” is the poem “Try to Praise the Mutilated World” by Adam Zagajewski. Reading this I assumed that this poet wrote this with “Lilacs” in mind He writes of the “thrush,” he writes of “praising” the mutilated world, just as Whitman wrote of praising the universe and all it contains which includes death. Of “joyously sing[ing] the dead.” Zagajewski even writes of the “gentle light that strays and vanishes

and returns.” Just as the “western star” keeps returning to “hold” whitman, the grief unrelenting as the passage of time, the light in this poem functions the same way.

Zagajewski's poem also attempts to encompass more than just New York. Whereas many of the 9/11 poems in this online collection are presented as a snapshot, (perhaps because of the nature of the tragedy, the shock that set in would maybe allow for a narrow focus), Zagajewski's poem spans time and seasons. He is never specific in pointing toward New York as the subject, but the poem is one of loss which all people can relate to. Just as Whitman never mentions Lincoln, he attempts to heal with a more universal stroke of the pen.

Project

I have been reconsidering my project and I don't think I really want to explore the theme of death in Whitman's poetry. Even though he does have a more zen approach I think spending that much time on that topic would be morbid and not too fun for me. The other blog that I had the most fun with besides the motifs one was "Whitman in pop culture." I would like to explore how Whitman is represented in the modern day. From all of the examples that the class shared the modern layperson would probably have a skewed view on what he was all about.

Specifically, I think it could be interesting to see if I can find anything more in pop culture relating to Whitman and his sexuality because two of the shows in the '90s that featured him heavily used Whitman as a springboard to highlight equality issues.

I think that comparing society's take/interest in Whitman's sexuality in our generation with that of his own generation and how it was examined and received would be interesting and would also allow an entry point into his poetry (i.e. where critics and public 1st saw homoerotic lines and passages.)

I am not sure how I want to present this project. Maybe in a multi media presentation including clips from Whitman in pop culture and writings from the past. Any ideas? :)



My other idea is quite different, but I think might be very inspiring. I loved finding favorite lines from Whitman and it was difficult to narrow them down to a favorite. I find this particularly interesting because (and with no offense) Whitman is definitely not my favorite poet, yet there are lines that are just so amazing they can take your breath away. I do think these can stand out on their own as well. I am curious about exploring a project based on writing a series of poems taking these as inspiration. For instance I could make a found poem using these favorite lines, and could write another poem using one line as a springboard, I could see if a majority of the favorite lines share a theme and write on that, or track if it's the certain images in the chosen favorite lines that seem to inspire me and write on that. This would be a particularly satisfying project for me because while immersing myself and learning more about Whitman's poetry, I would also be gaining valuable writing practice and perhaps, hopefully create a good poem or two. Since I'm working on my M.A/M.F.A in creative writing, and exercises based on response to other works/authors has always been an excellent method for me to generate ideas, I think this project may suit me well.