Category : Blogs
Sub Category : World
I SIT AND LOOK OUT
- Walt Whitman
Easy summary
The greatest poet Walt Whitman wrote his " I sit and look out " poem from his deep grief for the unfair works which he saw in his eyes . The poem was published in 1860 edition of "Leaves of grass " . The tone of the poem is pessimistic and the imagery presented in the poem is apocalyptic . The poet saw all the sorrows of the world . The world's all oppressions and shames wounded the poet's heart so badly .He observes with disappointment the miserable plight of the poor mothers who are neglected by their children and consequently they become desperate and die .The man who did unfair work repents so deeply after the deed is done . In the patriarchal society the poet saw how a woman bears the intense torture of her cruel husband. Walt Whitman feels sorrow and anger to say
" I see the treacherous seducer
of young women " . Now the world is such a place where jealousy rankles in everyone's mind and here the love is unrequited . The false love is
hidden behind the duplicate attitude of love . The poet feels deep grief as he sees these sights in this earth. When the famine comes it becomes necessary to the unkind rulers of the ships to throw away the sailors from the ship to save the lives of the rest . The poet can not tolerate the scenes of battles,pestilence and tyranny . For many cruel warriors so many humans loses their lives .
The poor , laborers and the negroes are slighted and degraded by the arrogant people . The powerful people enslave the negroes . These dismal situations of the world shakes the poet so much. But the poet could not protest against the unfair deeds . Because he could not come out from his comfort zone . He neither tried to solve the problems nor he thought to do it . So he said in the last line of the poem —
" All these—all the meanness and agony without end I sitting look out upon,
See, hear, and am silent "