Walt Whitman's-This Compost
Walt Whitman's 'This Compost", similar to most of his poetry, is written is free verse; therefor, instead of using rhyme and meter to create an underlying rhythm, he creates a rhythm with his gradual flow of thoughts and abundant use of repetition. Also similar to many of Whitman's poems, "This Compost" emphasizes nature, the physical body, sexuality, and the phenomenon of common, ordinary things. The poem is written in first person and is merely the thought process of the narrator as he reflects on self-proposed questions. The main question the narrator asks himself or more accurately proposes to nature is how the earth can create new, non-diseased life from the infectious waste that is put into it. The overall meaning of the poem is also the answer to this question, but what is this answer, how is it related to the title of the poem, and how is it gradually revealed from stanza to stanza? The first stanza introduces the narrator's love of nature as well as his first conception of the poem's main question. He describes his love of the woods, pastures, and the sea; however, the very first line introduces the fact that he is forced to leave these woods because something has startled him. The wording of the first line impl
ies that he is startled by something concrete such as an animal or disaster; however, it is later revealed that the narrator is startled by the idea that everything must be diseased because it was formed from particles that were once diseased. The narrator no longer feels confident in the purity and cleanliness of nature and thus no longer feels safe living in it. In this first stanza Whitman uses the anaphora "I will" as well as the simile, "I will not touch my flesh to the earth as to other flesh to renew me." Whitman uses these poetic devices to convey his love of nature by comparing nature to man itself. The second stanza is composed of five lines, each a rhetorical question centered on the poem's main inquiry. The narrator asks why the ground itself cannot become ill like plants, animals, and people. He also asks how the ground can supply health to life on earth if it is constantly being filled with dead corpses and infectious waste. In this stanza Whitman utilizes metaphor as he refers to the ground being the "blood' of herbs, roots, and orchards. Whitman also in a way personifies the ground by inquiring why it doesn't get sick, acknowledging the fact that it is possible that it could become ill, a trait reserved for living things such as humans. The third stanza begins with more questions as the narrator continues to sift through his thoughts and feelings about the purity of nature. By now the narrator wishes to know where all the dead corpses and piles of waste go after they are put into the ground. He is sure that he will stumble upon the "foul meat" of past generations when he pierces the sod with his spade, because if not, where else would it have gone or could it have gone for that matter. However, when he does run a furrow with his plow, he doesn't discover piles of dead corpses and mounds of waste; instead he sees a compost, the very title of the poem. But why does he see a compost? What could this possibly mean? By now it seems the narrator h
Some common words found in the essay are:
Walt Whitman's, Dooryard Bloom'd, annual rebirth, stanza stanza, dead corpses, meaning poem, implication annual rebirth, author's implication annual, overall meaning poem, poem meaning, poem written, infectious waste, implication annual, author's implication, overall meaning,
Approximate Word count = 1340
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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