"Welcome the stars - welcome the trial - let the waves / Why now I shall see what the old ship is made of / Any body can sail a .. fair wind ... / Ship of Libertad / Blow mad winds! / Rage boil seas your wide ... waves, / Crash away - / Tug at the planks - them groan - fall (full?) around, black clouds - clouds of death / Come now we will see what stuff you are made of Ship of Libertad / Let thus ..."
"I want to see what ? before I die, / I welcome this menace - I welcome thee with joy"
"Ship of the world - Ship of Humanity - Ship of the ages ? (Ship that circlest the world) Ship of the hope of the world - Ship of Promise" followed with illustrations of men's profiles, with variations of hats and features, followed by a sketch of a harp (?)
"Here stood Washington / The last war" followed with illustration of Washinton-esque skeleton, with a skewered heart- this seems like a commentary by Whitman on the Civil war threatening the bonds of the States of the time
- From my observations of Whitman's journal I was only able to interpret some of the lines. I really enjoy his work in Leaves of Grass, and this is just further proof that his work is truly significant, even in its roughest form. His lines about ships seem to mirror his ideas about versatility and strength in adversity; he suggests that one of the two men in the conversation is suggesting that the "Ship of Libertad," most likely the United States, should welcome the struggle to strengthen itself in the end. It seems a beautiful image, and a hopeful tone is there despite the topic. He continues with the theme of ships, testing various names of the ship, all with diction that has relatively positive connotations; this seems like brainstorming, maybe still in reference to the United States. The last couple pages in the file are about George Washington and have a darker mood; the illustration of the skeleton and sword-skewered heart is in contrast to the earlier illustrations of people, hats, and harps. In my opinion, this seems to reflect Whitman's disappointment in conflict and maybe he is criticizing the United States for slipping back to such conflict after not listening to the founder's advice.
- Looking at what Whitman actually wrote, I felt okay with my original observations from the journal. There were significant parts of the journal that I was not able to read which had been deciphered, including the opening pages. I was especially interested by his page on religion which did not seem to belong in this presidential dialogue, but which alluded to another part of his work and himself. Heading in to the work on the conversation with Lincoln, I felt that I had been headed in the right direction with my observations; Whitman respected Lincoln but was conflicted about the war on the horizon. Whitman reveals that while he desires a more accepting nation, a stronger bonded nation, he detests violence or conflict and the damage it yields to the people when using later metaphor to a ship. He compares Lincoln to the captain and as I assumed, the United States is the Ship of Libertad, the Spanish word for liberty. Something I had not thought about was the global ramifications of these events but this is something explored here too in the various names of the ship.
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Cool post Baelee. I like the format of this which is kinda weird but I like how you communicated what you could read along with what you see in a condensed way. You did a pretty good job of reading it before ... reading it. He definitely has an understanding of what was unfolding in America. I think it's inspiring how he observes from afar but is still so informed. He seems very wise because of how he can depict torrid events with simple lines and pictures. You also pointed out that some of his writings and drawings didn't fit in with the dialogue with Lincoln which is interesting because it seems like he isn't just playing a part, but he is really engaging in a conversation about bringing peace and hope to America, even with ideas that haven't surfaced yet.
ReplyDeleteGREAT response- I appreciate how you looked at the big and little picture, and the details and support you provided as you processed and analyzed the journal
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