Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 -- Criticism and interpretation
"His shape arises
Arrogant, masculine, naïve, rowdyish,
Laugher, weeper, worker, idler, citizen, countryman,
Saunterer of woods, stander upon hills, summer swimmer in rivers or by
the sea,
Of pure American breed, of reckless health, his body perfect, free from
taint from top to toe, free forever from headache and dyspepsia,
clean-breathed,
Ample-limbed, a good feeder, weight a hundred and eighty pounds,
full-blooded, six feet high, forty inches round the breast and
back,
Countenance sunburnt, bearded, calm, unrefined,
Reminder of animals, meeter of savage and gentleman on equal terms,
Attitudes lithe and erect, costume free, neck gray and open, of slow
movement on foot,
Passer of his right arm round the shoulders of his friends, companion
of the street,
Persuader always of people to give him their sweetest touches, and never
their meanest.
A Manhattanese bred, fond of Brooklyn, fond of Broadway, fond of the
life of the wharves and the great ferries,
Enterer everywhere, welcomed everywhere, easily understood after all,
Never offering others, always offering himself, corroborating his
phrenology,
Voluptuous, inhabitive, combative, conscientious, alimentive, intuitive,
of copious friendship, sublimity, firmness, self-esteem,
comparison, individuality, form, locality, eventuality,
Avowing by life, manners, words to contribute illustrations of results
of These States,
Teacher of the unquenchable creed namely egotism,
Inviter of others continually henceforth to try their strength against
his."
XIII
Whitman was determined, at whatever risk to his own reputation, to make
the character which he has exploited in his poems a faithful compend of
American humanity, and to do this the rowdy element could not be entirely
ignored. Hence he unflinchingly imputes it to himself, as, for that
matter, he has nearly every sin and dereliction mankind are guilty of.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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