AN ARMY HOSPITAL WARD

In this passage, Whitman is talking about a typical encounter with an army hospital. I was particularly interested in this section of his writing because I think, despite Whitman's reputation for writing about nature, he writes about the human condition with just as much gravity and grace. He writes: "You may hear groans or other sounds of unendurable suffering from two or three of the cots, but in the main there is quiet -- almost a painful absence of demonstration; but the pallid face, the dull'd eye, and the moisture on the lip, are demonstration enough." The silence Whitman uses to describe the soldier's suffering speaks louder than most other words could. The reader is painfully aware of Whitman's opposition to the war that is tearing his nation apart. He writes: "Look at the patient and mute manner of our American wounded as they lie in such a sad collection; representatives from all New England, and from New York, and New Jersey, and Pennsylvania -- indeed from all the States and all the cities..." The reader senses Whitman's distress at the lack of unity being displayed by his nation. It is a stark contrast to the sense of unity (between men, and between men and nature) that pervades his "Song of Myself," and his writing in general.

Inception, Youth, Age, Perfection, Heaven, Hell

“There was never any more inception than there is now,

Nor any more youth or age than there is now,

And will never be any more perfection than there is now,

Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.”

With these lines, Whitman seems to be commenting on the importance of the current moment as it is encountered. I enjoy the notion that Whitman is not talking “of the beginning or the end” (as he mentions in the line before), but rather focusing on what the present has to offer. The repetition of the word “now” at the end of each line draws the reader’s attention to this message. “Now” serves to bring the reader into the present moment, and does not allow focus to shift away because ultimately, no matter where each line takes you, it comes back to rest in the present. Whitman says, “There was never any more inception that there is now.” There was no more beginning previously than exists now; there is as much beginning now as there ever was throughout time. This makes one’s possibilities endless. Instead of viewing human existence in the form of a timeline, with the Beginning at one end, and the End at the other, Whitman focuses constant cycle of all things. His motion toward “youth” and “age” serve to reinforce this cyclical relationship between life and death.

The second set of lines immediately reminded me of Miltion’s Paradise Lost: “The mind is its own place, and in itself/ Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n” (1:254-255). I think the significant sentiment that both sets of lines share is the importance of perception. If “there will never be any more perfection than there is now”, then it stands to reason that it is up to the individual to create his or her own version of the perfection that has always existed. Furthermore, in these lines Whitman creates a sense of balance; he pairs youth with age, inception with heaven or hell. There seems to be an inherent balance between the different phases of life in the world Whitman creates for his reader. Everything already exists in the proper quantities, waiting to be experienced.

All of the conditions Whitman mentions in these four lines (inception, youth, age, perfection, heaven, hell) are part of the cycle of life. When removed from the poem, they stand on their own as the various stages of human existence. He seems to be making the point that, there will never be more than there is now, because these conditions exist in a balanced cycle. Ultimately, it is up to each individual person to make the most out of each phase as they encounter it.