A few weeks ago in English class my professor assigned the class to read four poems from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. I looked at this assignment with disdain because, I am not a big fan of poetry. I especially had a hard time reading Whitman's poetry because it is very idealistic and I am more realistic. Another problem that I had with Whitman's poetry is that I find it hard to decipher the meaning behind poems, and Whitman's poetry was no exception. Although I do not like poetry I and had a hard time reading the poems, I found that one of Whitman's poems did have some meaning to it. The meaning was relevant even for the New York City of today. I found "A Broadway Pageant" addressed a situation that is still relevant to New York City, diversity. Whitman mentions all the different types of immigrants coming to New York. New York City does not have one culture but many cultures. New York City is still known for its diversity today. This was obviously relevant over 100 years ago, which is when this poem was written. We see this because as Whitman says in "A Broadway Pageant":
"For not the envoys nor the tann`d Japanee from his island only,
Lithe and silent the Hindoo appears, the Asiatic continent itself
appears, the past, the dead,
The murky night-morning of wonder and fable inscrutable,
The envelop`d mysteries, the old and unknown hive-bees,
The north, the sweltering south, eastern Assyria, the Hebrews, the
ancient of ancients,
Vast desolated cities, the gliding present, all of these and more
are in the pageant-procession."
Lithe and silent the Hindoo appears, the Asiatic continent itself
appears, the past, the dead,
The murky night-morning of wonder and fable inscrutable,
The envelop`d mysteries, the old and unknown hive-bees,
The north, the sweltering south, eastern Assyria, the Hebrews, the
ancient of ancients,
Vast desolated cities, the gliding present, all of these and more
are in the pageant-procession."
New York City is truly one of a kind. Growing up in New
York was quite an interesting experience. I was exposed
to a lot of different cultures. One of my babysitters was from
Barbados and introduced me to mangoes. I grew up near
China Town and developed appreciation towards Chinese art.
I also have a deep appreciation for Indian food. Although my difficulty with Whitman's poetry was so great, that I wrote that "Walt Whitman can go f*ck himself" as my Facebook status. So Walt Whitman's poetry although difficult for me was somewhat relevant to my
life.
I lol'd at your Facebook comment. I wrote the same exact thing after reading Whitman. It is difficult but his poetry is truly amazing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing such this nice article. Your post was really good. Some ideas can be made. About English literature. Further, you can access this site to read Imagery in Whitman's Poems
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