Class of 6/10

Today in class, we discussed Walt Whitman, and his poem "Song of the Open Road". Mr. Lazarow told us that Whitman could be considered the ideal Romantic poet, the best of the best, as he so dramatically changed the structure of poetry. While poetry before Whitman was still restricted by rhyme scheme and meter, Whitman pioneered the free verse and paved the way for almost all modern poetry writers. Whitman is even greater than William Wordsworth, the great English poet. Afterwards, we began discussing the actual poem, "Song of the Open Road" itself. Various people mentioned the romantic aspects found in the poem, such as the individual journey and some of the nature imagery. Mr. Laz added here that Whitman's true strength was to discuss philosophically deep concepts in a simple manner. One can read Whitman for pleasure and still receive a symbolic meaning, as opposed to reading Emerson or Thoreau, where one will in all likelihood have to study the text. Mr. Laz also added that Whitman was not much of a nature poet, but rather one that reveled in city life, especially New York City. For Whitman, the cities was where the true nature, human nature could be found. We then discussed the idea of the individual journey. Nothing can be bad because everything is a learning experience. Furthermore, Whitman is inviting us to join him on this magnificent journey of his, but thats all he can do, as he (or anyone else), lacks the power to make us do what he wants. We continued this discussion about individualism and the focus of the individual - such as a contrast between the primarily outward capitalism and the inward romanticism. Finally, apparently many of the lines from the poem could be used as senior quotes. Warrior woman for tommorow.