The Great City
by Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
The place where a great city stands is not the place of stretch'd wharves, docks, manufactures, deposits of produce merely,
Nor the place of ceaseless salutes of new-comers or the anchor-lifters of the departing,
Nor the place of the tallest and costliest buildings or shops selling goods from the rest of the earth,
Nor the place of the best libraries and schools, nor the place where money is plentiest,
Nor the place of the most numerous population.
Where the city stands with the brawniest breed of orators and bards,
Where the city stands that is belov'd by these, and loves them in return and understands them,
Where no monuments exist to heroes but in the common words and deeds,
Where thrift is in its place, and prudence is in its place,
Where the men and women think lightly of the laws,
Where the slave ceases, and the master of slaves ceases,
Where the populace rise at once against the never-ending audacity of elected persons,
Where fierce men and women pour forth as the sea to the whistle of death pours its sweeping and unript waves,
Where outside authority enters always after the precedence of inside authority,
Where the citizen is always the head and ideal, and President, Mayor, Governor and what not, are agents for pay,
Where children are taught to be laws to themselves, and to depend on themselves,
Where equanimity is illustrated in affairs,
Where speculations on the soul are encouraged,
Where women walk in public processions in the streets the same as the men,
Where they enter the public assembly and take places the same as the men;
Where the city of the faithfulest friends stands,
Where the city of the cleanliness of the sexes stands,
Where the city of the healthiest fathers stands,
Where the city of the best-bodied mothers stands,
There the great city stands.
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This is sooo Walt Whitman, with the idealistic views and repetition. It is interesting that this nation already had so many problems even at the time when it was written. This nation does base itself on manufacturing, skyscrapers, and wealth, so I think his vision is even idealistic by today's standards. It's interesting that he promotes so much independence since I usually connotate patriotism with unity.
ReplyDeletei like walt witmans style of writing. as ms will-stew saidits broken up into two parts and the first is sort of stating a question or even just a statement and the second half goes into almost a supporting info role (the repeated "where this, where that")the poem resembles the "i have a dream speach" closely and upon first reading of the poem thats what first came to me
ReplyDeleteI like how in this poem Witman begins describing what this great city is now and then goes on to how he believes it should be like. In class we compared it to an "I have a dream" speech where he talks about how things should be like. He thinks that America shouldn't be such a consumer society, we should be focused on more important values like family values and such...
ReplyDeleteI think this poem could be my favorite of this category. I really enjoyed how Whitman painted the picture of what would be considered a great city and then goes on to tear down that picture by stating what truly makes a great city. I love how all this new things that make a great city are non-materialistic. his ideas are higher minded and very idealistic as Cristina said, and this it what brings such beauty to the poem. The idealism brings an air of innocence by wanting this perfect Utopian society.
ReplyDeleteYou are completely wrong. Dumbo. Learn Dumbo. Learn!!!!!
DeleteWitman outdid himself on this poem lol. he did an amazing job that was just over exemplified when we saw the repetition and the overall structure of the poem. also i found it absolutely interesting the way that ms williams pointed out that witman only has two sentences in this whole poem.
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