Walt Whitman Poem Questions

3a. According to Whitman, what is the greatest of all poems?

America itself is the greatest poem of all

1a. What subject does Whitman address in the first paragraph?

Americas attitude toward the past

1c. How dpes he view his relationship with other people?

He views all people the same because they are all part of the same life cycle

1b. How does he view his relationship with nature?

He views himself as a part of nature

2a. What does Whitman describe the laborers doing at night?

At night the workers share leisure time singing

1b. What do his actions reveal about his character?

He wants to experience things personally

2a. In Section 17, what natural images does Whitman use to communicate the idea that his thoughts belong to everyone?

Grass growing, water, and air breathed by everyone

3a. In lines 3-4 of "By the Bivouac's Firful Flame", what sights does the speaker look upon?

He is looking upon an armed camp, the camps fire, and the darkness around him

1a. In "When I heard the Learn'd Astronomer", what does the speaker do in reaction to the lecture?

He leaves the lecture hall to look at the stars himself

3b. What does he suggest will happen to his spirit and message to his spirit and message after he is gone?

He suggests he will be "somewhere waiting"

1b. What does his catalog of occupations suggest about his vision of America?

He views America as a vigorous and vast place to be formed by great physical energy

2a. According to Whitman, what makes America different from all other nations?

It has the fullest poetical nature

2a. In what ways does the "perfect silence" in the last stanza contrast with the lecture?

Lectures consist of words and numbers (noise) and the outside is silent (peaceful)

1a. In "I Hear America Singing", what occupations does Whitman attribute to Americans?

Mechanics, Carpenters, Shoemakers, Mother, Wife, etc...

1b. What does Whitman mean when he says "the corpse is slowly borne from the eating and sleeping rooms of the house"?

Old habits die hard, and history is not quickly forgotten

2b What is the meaning of Whitman's notion that the United States is " a teeming nation of nations?

The cultural diversity of American people

3a. In Section 52, where does the speaker say readers can find him?

The earth under your, boot soles

3b. In line 7, what are the "measureless oceans of space" with which the speaker's soul is surrounded?

They are the world around the soul, the world of people to whom the soul forge came from

3b. Based on this statement, how is Whitman redefining the idea of a poem?

Usually a poems highly organized group of words on a page. Whitmans metaphor seems to replace line with and words with human beings

2b. Which elements of these images convey a belief in the spiritual unity of all natural forms ?

Whitman links these images to the "Thoughts of all men in all ages and lands"

2b. Why do you think the poem ends as it does?

Whitman wants to emphasize his celebratory vision of America and its workers by leaving readers with an image of singing

4b. Is the procession he refers to in line 9 the same one refereed to earlier?

Yes because it is revealed that the procession is composed of the speakers thoughts

2b. What is the speaker saying about the value of silence verse a personal experience with nature?

a personal experience has much more purpose than a science lecture

4a. Where does the speaker's mind go as he gazes upon the scene before him?

his friends and family at home

1a. From what does Whitman say his tongue and blood are formed?

soil and air

3b. What is the procession to which he refers in line 27?

unit of soldiers (military marching)

3a. In line three of "A Noiseless Patient Spider", what surrounds the spider?

vast open space surrounds the spider