Poetry Review – Walt Whitman – Transpositions
@arthurchappell (44998)
Preston, England
September 9, 2015 4:15pm CST
A short 1856 poem advocating or prophesizing a an anarchic, apocalyptic revolution as prison reformers are suppressed and incarcerated when convicts take over control of the law itself. Judges, jailors, and other judicial figures are arrested and imprisoned as Whitman declares that those with no sense of the worth of their own lives start passing judgement on the lives of others.
There is no context to the poem or any clues as to how the terrible revolution starts. This was Whitman in a depressive state of melancholy, convinced the World was going to rack and ruin.
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3 responses
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
10 Sep 15
So what did you think of the poem, like it? hate it? And why are you reading what sounds like a bit depressing poetry?
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@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
10 Sep 15
I love it. I am steadily reading through a complete edition of Whitman's work. I do like dark depressive verse. I think it is important not to just read happy fluffy verse, but to capture all aspects of life and feeling.
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
10 Sep 15
@arthurchappell very nice. I like some, depending. Have always liked Poe. Been awhile since i have read much poetry although I do write some now and then.
@GardenGerty (160708)
• United States
25 Sep 15
Although I read a lot of Whitman, I had not come across this poem, or at least is does not ring a bell. I believe poetry often reflects where our mental state is, but it also provides release and resolution of those states of being.
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@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
25 Sep 15
great definition of poetry - given my own verse it makes me worry about my own mental state lol
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
10 Sep 15
I suppose that there have always been cases of injustice and there's no point in writing a poem that's not supercharged with emotion. I always think we are very lucky that the world doesn't always go the way that fervent reformers want it to. We could find ourselves in some very interesting times.
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