Walter Whitman

POB: West Hills, New York, U.S.

Some interesting stuff about Walt Whitman I think you would like to know:

American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist (Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.)

-collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sensuality.

-At age 11, he left formal schooling to go to work. Later, Whitman worked as a journalist, a teacher, and a government clerk.

- Leaves of Grass, was first published in 1855 with his own money and became well known

- he went to Washington, D.C. and worked in hospitals caring for the wounded.

Whitman's influence on poetry remains strong. Mary Whitall Smith Costelloe argued: "You cannot really understand America without Walt Whitman, without Leaves of Grass ... He has expressed that civilization, 'up to date,' as he would say, and no student of the philosophy of history can do without him."^[4] Modernist poet Ezra Pound called Whitman "America's poet ... He is America."^[5]

 "The proof of a poet is that his country absorbs him as affectionately as he has absorbed it." 

Now, lets go to our main subject

First of all, the poem is full of crossovers between other poems from Leaves of Grass.

Second of all, even thought the poem is centered over the American civil war, I deeply feel like it's about industrial revolutions sometimes.

To read the poem click here

In my words and understanding the text says (Summary)

Let the days come from the depth of the future, let the soul dance and absorb the beauty of earth as I have gone exploring the north watching the Niagara falls poring.
I lived, But now its more of a thrilling to go on with our adventures around the world but not through earth nature this time, but through the world of industrial cities where instead of the falls of Niagara it's falls of men and that made  me question myself, where is the sea? Where is the clear sky? Is it only the pipe of death piping all over here, it's so deadly and so savage.
Yet there with my soul I fed, I fed content, supercilious.
Is this what democracy all about? Is this dark smock spreading all over the city what we really should absorb?
We should go to the wilderness in order to refresh our spirit cities are not where we should be, cities are slowly ending us.

The author used specified themes and messages such as 

     A-      The difference between the nature and the city

B-      The search for our selves

C-      What is the purpose of the democracy walk?

When it comes to Levels of rhetoric, The author starts his poem like a dream, sending us to fly with him over the Niagara fall, over the seas and oceans, into the wild, and then after filling our spirit with fresh air, we go to where the nature didn't make, the manmade word, the city and its industrial life, where everything is toxic and hard but yet somehow, delivers dreams to the homes and families and after trying both, he decides to glorify the city and it's people.(?)

I think the text also relates to many other things like Charlie Chaplin - Factory Scene - Modern Times

 also Nearly all hallmark movies that are about a country main character going to the cities.

and finally  Soul's comeback by Tawfiq Al hakim which in details explored the theme of going to the city

When it comes to me Honestly I believe that the text resemble a very strong part of my dreams and worries over the future, I'm a city guy who always thought about the calmness of the wild life, I remember a quote from a show called joe Pickett " Animals are honest, they are either black or white, and if they are evil, they are honest about it, unlike mankind"
Also at the same time I can't really leave the city, where I can still save money, enjoy lots of many resources the 21th century cities provide.
When it comes to democracy I think the world is using this chance in a horrible way, manipulating people opinion and stuffing us with trendy feed most of the time, I think slowly, democracy is fading away.

that's it, I'm interesting to know your thoughts!!,

Resources :

Wikipedia

see ya!