Walt WhitmanWalt Whitman1819- 18921819- 1892

Who was he?Who was he?Son of a house builderSelf taught, read the classics- Dante, Homer Worked as a printer, teacher, journalist, editor, clerk1855, Whitman took out a copyright on the first edition

of Leaves of GrassRoyalty provided him modest livelihood

Leaves of GrassLeaves of Grass 1868 and 1886 editions of Leaves of Grass selected

poems - the 1868 edition introduced Whitman to England's literary elite, the 1886 edition, was aimed at bringing Whitman to the working class.

Walt Whitman," was initially thought to be a poet who wrote of "sentimental valley of rose and nightingale" but later Leaves of Grass is seen as "a new poetry of love and comradeship at this time of social misgiving, when rich and poor alike make us keenly feel the need of the spirit of human love“

Was perceived to "sings of the new, purer Democracy"

StructureStructureDialogue format of poem: Speaker asks and the reply

constitutes the poem…. Two ways in which ‘I’ is used.Interchangeable?... The 2 Is merge..All of us are part of the universal one!Emphasis on self and its qualitiesUse of archaic language ‘Who art thou?’ shows reverence for

the rain, thus sets the tone of the poem --- one of reverence and awe for the force of nature.

Collocation ‘art, whence, eternal’ with ‘’impalpable, reck’d, atomies’ contrast shown between eternal quality of rain and the perishable nature of all other things

Who am I?- gentle rain in various forms such as cloud, eternal, untouched by human hand etc

What do I do?- alleviate suffering on earth, rejuvenate, keep the life cycle going on

Who I am most like?- a clear hearted song sung from the depths of one’s heart

Characteristics of The RainGentleNaturalEternalOrigin in EarthUntouched by human corruptionChanges forms seamlessly- an ethereal qualityAlleviates human sufferingRejuvenatesBeautifiesBrings love

The Rain Cycle

Shelley’s The Cloud - a recurrent themeShelley’s The Cloud - a recurrent theme

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,From the seas and the streams;I bear light shade for the leaves when laidIn their noonday dreams.From my wings are shaken the dews that wakenThe sweet buds every one,When rocked to rest on their mother's breast,As she dances about the sun.I wield the flail of the lashing hail,And whiten the green plains under,And then again I dissolve it in rain,And laugh as I pass in thunder.

I am the daughter of Earth and Water,And the nursling of the Sky;I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores;I change, but I cannot die.For after the rain when with never a stainThe pavilion of Heaven is bare,And the winds and sunbeams with their convex gleamsBuild up the blue dome of air,I silently laugh at my own cenotaph,And out of the caverns of rain,Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb,I arise and unbuild it again.