Journal #39: Bardic Symbols and Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman was a prominent poet of the early twentieth century in America. He wrote many books of poetry one of his most famous being "Leaves of Grass." In this book, there are many separate poems that discuss one of Walt Whitman's common topics, Self. One of these poems is "Bardic Symbols." This poem is somewhat confusing to understand as William Dean Howells says. "No one, even after the fourth or fifth reading, can pretend to say what the "Bardic Symbols" symbolize" (Howells).

"You oceans both! You tangible land! Nature!
Be not too stern with me,—I submit,—I close with you,—
These little shreds shall, indeed, stand for all.


X.

You friable shore, with trails of debris!
You fish-shaped island! I take what is underfoot:
What is yours is mine, my father!


XI.

I, too, Paumanok,
I, too, have bubbled up, floated the measureless float, and been washed on your
shores.


XII.

I, too, am but a trail of drift and debris,—
I, too, leave little wrecks upon you, you fished-shaped island!


XIII.

I throw myself upon your breast, my father!
I cling to you so that you cannot unloose me,—
I hold you so firm, till you answer me something." (Whitman)

This is a little section from "Bardic Symbols." My interpretation of this poem, whether right or wrong, is that the land is a father, the ocean is a mother, and the debris is a child or children. The debris goes back and forth, from ocean to land, ocean to land. The debris never settles itself with one or the other, it is always lost between the two. Just so, the child is always lost between the father and mother; he or she does not settle between the two. This fits in with the everyman principle of Self, because many families deal with that, where the child loves the mom one minute but then loves the dad more the next. However, this is still uncertain, because the poem is hard to discern whether the poem deals with childhood and families, with Christianity, or with another part of Self. This is due to the fact that Walt Whitman uses symbolism that is hard to tell the real meaning of it. It is in fact up to the reader to discern what the poem means, or what Walt Whitman meant.

Works Cited

[Howells, William Dean]. ""Bardic Symbols"." The Daily Ohio State Journal (28 March 1860): 2.

Whitman, Walt. "Bardic Symbols." Leaves of Grass (1891-1892). The Whitman Archive. Ed Folsom & Kenneth M. Price, 1995. Web. 2 Mar. 2011.