THE SOCIAL SENSIBILITY IN WALT WHITMAN S CONCEPT OF DEMOCRACY

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Marjory Strickland
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1 THE SOCIAL SENSIBILITY IN WALT WHITMAN S CONCEPT OF DEMOCRACY PREFACE Walt Whitman was essentially a poet of democracy. Democracy is the central concern of Whitman s vision. With his profoundly innovative contributions to the theory of democracy, Whitman has often been a controversial figure. He understood democracy in a humanistic perspective. For him the equality of man, the importance of the common man was fundamental to any interpretation of democracy. His theme was always democracy in all its human applications and universal implications. In other words, Whitman s attitude to democracy was fundamentally humanistic. Hence its underlying tone was naturally guided and moulded by a sense of social sensibility. Though an enormous amount of work has been done on Whitman and his theory of democracy, the social sensibility of Whitman as expressed through his concept of democracy has never been the subject of serious study. Whitman s perception of social sensibility was built upon a humanistic understanding of the word democracy. Democracy for Whitman is more a humanistic way of social endeavours than a political doctrine. He believed that any political doctrine had any relevance only if it stood for the cause of the common man. His democracy had a strong and solid basis on his spiritual

2 humanism. In Whitman s theory of democracy, the political doctrine of democracy derives sustenance from the spiritual. Whitman s concept of democracy was built upon his highly idealistic and uncompromising eulogy of the average man or woman. It is a proclamation of his strong conviction that no man or woman is better than another, or greater than another. His songs were about the American people, the divine average of American citizenship and American democracy. His songs were not about kings and nobles and priests. They were all about the common men the black smith, the Negro tea master, the butcher, the farmer and the soldier and a variety of such ordinary men and women filled his pages. In other words, his concern was for the weaker section of the society. In his preface to the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass Whitman gives us an elaborate exposition of his gospel of democracy. His concept of democracy assures complete harmony between the individual and society. He saw in true democracy the seeds of universal peace, tolerance and brotherhood. Even in his songs of separate individuals he visualized common humanity: ONE S SELF I sing, a simple separate person, / Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse. (Leaves of Grass 3, hereafter referred to as LG). Whitman has repeatedly told us that he himself stood for the average man in the nineteenth century America and his songs are the songs of every man. From the beginning of his career he wrote with great rapture about the glories of democracy as a new political ideal and about the common man and woman who, he believed, must now appear in poetry in the place of the

3 traditional romantic heroes and heroines. Though he changed his mood from moment to moment, he praised democracy as an abstract ideal everywhere and included the idea of equality in his democracy and regarded the average man as a real asset to every country. Whitman s concept of democracy included the ideals of universal love and universal brotherhood. It was with this faith in the Christian concept of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man that he wrote every thing and declared that Leaves of Grass was not just a book Who touches this, touches a man (LG xviii). This faith in the equality of man created in God s image was his principal subject. As Sculley Bradley says: Fundamentally his faith in his work sprang from his faith in his principal subject. Whitman thought of democracy as the order of nature, it was in fact a universal law. It embraced every conceivable condition of life for mankind. Its essence was love, extending in universal justice around the world (Bradley viii). Whitman s concept of democracy emerged from this sense of the equality of man. His primary concern was universal justice. Hence he did not hesitate to raise his voice against any social injustice, especially against the poor and the downtrodden. Whenever he spoke of democracy, either in his verse or in his prose, he projected this view of equality and justice with the missionary zeal of a prophet. The Objective The objective of this study is to highlight Whitman s social sensibility as it reveals itself in the expression of his concept of democracy. The thesis

4 examines Walt Whitman the man and his experiences at various levels as a journalist, poet, and social thinker in order to bring out his social dimensions and the factors that transformed the good gray poet into a social reformer and prophet of democracy with a very high degree of social sensibility. Whitman has expressed his concept of democracy mainly in a few of his poems: Song of Myself, Song of the Open Road, Drum-Taps and in his most important prose work, Democratic Vistas, in the collection of his most famous work, Leaves of Grass. The thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter, Introduction is a study of Walt Whitman The Man. It lays special emphasis on his biographical background, journalistic experience, and his personal involvement in the free-soil movement against slavery. It begins by introducing Whitman the poet as the prophet of American democracy inspired by the spirit of social commitment. The chapter analyses the long fore-ground (mentioned by Emerson) that serves as the breeding ground for Whitman the poet. The analysis leads to the survey of Whitman s domestic environment, the influences of his parents on his personality and his formative years in and around Brooklyn with a special mention of two strong influences that went into the mental making of Whitman, the social reformer and author of Leaves of Grass. The chapter then makes a detailed study of young Whitman s career as a worker, particularly as a journalist. A focus on Whitman s first involvement against slavery through his free soil journalism an expressive instance of his social sensibility adds strength to the argument. It then observes closely how

5 with a definite mission and programme in mind Whitman moves about among the people absorbing the popular thoughts of the day and reacts against quite a good number of social issues that needed to be rectified. It then proceeds to a study of Whitman s brief but memorable stay in New Orleans. The New Orleans experience explains how Whitman turns into a reformer who tries to bring about a change in the attitude of the people. The chapter ends with the exposition of the evolution and growth of the first edition of Leaves of Grass in the social and cultural context of Whitman s life time. Chapter II, Whitman s Concept of Democracy begins with a brief study on democracy from its Greek origin and the evolution of the concept through Hobbes and Rousseau in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to Whitman s concept of democracy in the nineteenth century reaching its culmination in Woodrow Wilson, the twenty eighth president of America in the twentieth century. A study of the different kinds of democracy and how Whitman associates democracy with his favourite theme of equality and freedom and the unique worth of the individual follows. Discussing Whitman s social philosophy, the chapter dwells on the effect of American and French Revolutions on Whitman s concept of Social Philosophy. It passes on to the cultural and political aspects of democracy and how Whitman resolves the tension between the concepts of equality and the importance of the individual. The study proceeds to Whitman s involvement in politics when it interfered with the rights of the common man. It also highlights Whitman s concepts of Spiritual Democracy as the custodian of the different aspects of

6 democracy and establishes that the doctrines of liberty, equality and fraternity are not mere political concepts but spiritual principles. The latter part of the chapter is a discourse on how Whitman with his democratic sensibility embraces all kinds of people with the vision and spirit of a prophet of democracy. It concludes with the discussion of the missionary zeal of the poet and how as a prophet of democracy, Whitman points out the duty of a poet as an equalizer or equable man, to bring about the oneness of mankind and how he establishes the rights of the common man through his Leaves of Grass. The chapter ends with an attempt to bring to limelight Whitman s sensibilities as a true democrat. Chapter III is an exposition of Whitman s respect and reverence for the importance of the individual and the common man. It is from the vantage point of this regard for the concept of the individual and his concern for the cause of the common man that Whitman later develops his arguments on the ideas of the Divine Average and the concepts of Democracy and Equality. The chapter begins with the importance that Whitman attributes to the individual. Whitman exhorts the society to recognize the infinite worth and the divine nature of the individual. Whitman himself examines these attributes on the basis of the principles of democracy, liberty and equality. He blends these qualities of the individual with his social sensibility and attempts to propagate the concept of personalism and the love of comrade with his philosophy of humanism. The chapter then proceeds to shows how this concept leads Whitman to identify himself with the American people. It explains how finally Whitman s concern for the divine average inspires him to establish his affinity to America.

7 The affinity is such that Whitman s poetry evolves from the soul of America with ever so many remarkable and unforgettable pictures of American scenes and people belonging to all categories. They march through his poems as if in a procession with Lincoln taking the lead as the captain of a ship through a tempest tossed sea of the American civil war and the fight against slavery. The concluding part is a description of the role of the divine literatus in influencing the course of American civilization so as to be a nation of the divine average, a term that Whitman uses with a sense of divinity to denote the common man. Chapter IV deals with Whitman s humanism and his humanistic attitude to the divine average. It projects Whitman s humanism as a democrat and his active involvement in social issues and his personal efforts and contributions to abolish the social evil of slavery. It makes a study on Whitman s Humanism and His Attitude to the Divine Average. Beginning with a study of Whitman s concept of personalistic humanism and how it is supported by his philosophy of humanism, the chapter examines Whitman s ideas on humanistic nonviolence and his favourite concepts of personalism and the divine average. It is from the strong footings on these concepts of humanistic personalism and the divine average that Whitman takes a humanistic perspective on social issues like slavery and civil war which reflects his social sensibility and social doctrine that at times go beyond the comprehension of his critics. Whitman s involvement in social matters, particularly on issues concerning the sufferings of the poor and the oppressed ultimately transforms him into a champion of equality and social reformer.

8 Chapter V is a summing-up of the various factors that have gone into the making of Whitman s Social Sensibility, the driving force behind all his works to uplift the poor and the downtrodden. It is an exposition of Whitman s favourite concept of en-masse which, in essence, is the motivating force that stimulates Whitman s social sensibility founded on the sound principles of democracy, equality and liberty. The study is extended to Whitman the humanist s role as an editor and the extension of his social activities to the war camps in the role of a nurse and wound dresser. Whitman with his total commitment to mitigate the sufferings of the wounded soldiers subsequently turns into a wound dresser with the caring love of a nurse and the sensibilities of a compassionate father. The discussion proceeds to Whitman s views on slavery as a social evil and the issues of immigration and free-trade and his involvement in anti-slavery activities. It also examines Whitman s concern for the weaker section of society and highlights Whitman as an ardent supporter of women. The cosmic outlook of Whitman and the reforms that he tries to bring about in politics give an added impetus to his social sensibility which extends itself in supporting the cause of women who were denied social justice and equal place with men in society. The chapter ends with a note on Whitman s social dimension as a bard of America who, with his powerful social sensibility, became the poet of democracy. Whitman, acclaimed as the greatest poet of America, does not have many credentials to fall back upon. Born in an obscure family in New Orleans, Whitman grew up in a domestic atmosphere that built up personality that went

9 into the making of such a powerful social sensibility that when he put himself into action and words, he became not only a social reformer but a great bard of American democracy. As Emerson remarked, Whitman has had a long foreground that served a great deal of formative influence on the personality of Whitman. He was gifted with a great power to absorb quite a good amount of what passed through his senses. Whatever perception he had, became fertile raw materials for the evolution of a man of high sensitivity. This is how we can explain the long foreground that later evolved into Walt Whitman, the social reformer who became a champion of the oppressed and the downtrodden as well as the author of Leaves of Grass.

3. Liberty, Fraternity and Equality in Walt Whitman s Poetry

3. Liberty, Fraternity and Equality in Walt Whitman s Poetry Dr. P. N. Meshram Principal R.D. College, Mulchera Walt Whitman is a born democrat and he believes in the inherent dignity and equality of all