Kaitlyn Powell
English – Pd. 2
Song of Myself #10 by Walt Whitman
OVERVIEW: In Song of Myself #10, Walt Whitman describes a variety of
perspectives. He talks about four different people, through four different
perspectives. Each person has a different lifestyle and a different way of living. He
explores the diversity of Americans’ lifestyles during this time period.
Line
Explanation/Analysis
“Alone far in the wilds and mountains I hunt”
He is hunting by himself in the
woods/mountains
He is walking around astonished by his
gracefulness and happiness for hunting
As its getting later, he decides to find a spot to
sleep for the night
He makes a fire and cooks the wild animal he
had just killed
He previously gathered leaves, which he now
slept on next to his gun and his dog
The Yankee Clipper is referring to a very fast,
American ship; Sky-sails are small square
sails in a square-rigged vessel; so it’s saying
this Yankee Clipper ship has these square
sails above it
Sparkle refers to the sparkling blue ocean
water and scud refers to the windblown sea
spray/foam; so it’s saying the ship sails easily
through the ocean
The sailor shouts excitedly as he sees land
“Wandering amazed at my own lightness and
glee”
“In the late afternoon choosing a safe spot to
pass the night”
“Kindling a fire and broiling the fresh-kill’d
game”
“Falling asleep on the gather’d leaves with my
dog and gun by my side”
“The Yankee clipper is under her sky-sails”
“She cuts the sparkle and scud”
“My eyes settle the land, I bend at her prow or
shout joyously from the deck”
“The boatmen and clam-diggers arose early
and stopt for me”
“I tuck’d my trowser-ends in my boots and
went and had a good time”
“You should have been with us that day round
the chowder-kettle”
“I saw the marriage of the trapper in the open
air in the far west”
“The bride was a red girl”
“Her father and his friends sat near crosslegged and dumbly smoking”
“They had moccasins to their feet and large
thick blankets hanging from their shoulders”
“On a banks lounged the trapper, he was drest
Clam-diggers are people that harvest clams at
low tide; so the other crew workers and clamdiggers got up early and waited for him
He tucked the ends of his pants in his boots
and went to have a good time
Chowder-kettle is a pot filled with a vegetable
and seafood soup
A trapper is someone who traps animals,
usually for their fur; He saw the trapper get
married outside in the west
The bride was a Native American girl
The bride’s father and his friends were sitting
together without talking while smoking
They wore moccasin shoes and thick blankets
The groom sat on land alongside a river,
mostly in skins, his luxuriant beard and curls
protected his neck, he held his bride by the
hand”
“She had long eyelashes, her head was bare”
“Her course straight locks descended upon
her voluptuous limbs and reach’d to her feet”
“The runaway slave came to my house and
stopt outside”
“I heard his motions crackling the twigs of the
woodpile”
“Through the swung half-door of the kitchen I
saw him limpsy and weak”
“And went where he sat on a log and led him
in and assured him”
“And brought water and fill’d a tub for his
sweated body and bruis’d feet”
“And gave him a room that enter’d from my
own, and gave him some coarse clean clothes”
“And remember perfectly well his revolving
eyes and his awkwardness”
“And remember putting piasters on the galls
of his neck and ankles”
“He staid with me a week before he was
recuperated and pass’d north”
“I had him sit next me at table, my fire-lock
lean’d in the corner”
holding his wife’s hand; He was mostly
wearing animal skins (to try and fit in with his
new wife’s family), and his beard covered his
neck
She didn’t have hair on her head but she had
long eyelashes
Her straight hair extended down her body, all
the way to her feet
Outside there was a slave that had runaway
He heard the slave cracking the twigs from
the woodpile
Through the kitchen door, he saw the slave
was weak and flimsy
He went outside to the slave, brought him
inside, and told him it would be alright and he
wouldn’t hurt the slave
The slave was sweaty and bruises on his feet;
He filled the bath tub with water for the slave
He gave the slave some of his clean clothes,
and a room for him to sleep in
He notes that the slave is awkward toward
him and his spinning eyes
He bandaged up the slave’s neck and ankles
where his sores were
The slave recovered and headed north after a
week of staying with him
They sat next to each other at the table; His
gun was leaning in the corner of the room
LITERARY DEVICES:
Anaphora- the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases,
clauses, or lines
“And went where…and brought water…and gave him… and remember
perfectly…and remember putting...”
The purpose of repeating “and” throughout six consecutive lines is to show the
reader all the things this man did for the runaway slave.
Symbolism:
“Yankee Clipper”- represents American values and freedom
“sky sail”-has a beautiful appearance-represented the American dream
Whitman used symbolism here to create a topic the reader could relate to.
Personification:
“The Yankee Clipper is under her sky-sails”
The purpose of using personification in this stanza is to have the reader be able to
create an image in their head of what he is describing.
TONE:
Walt Whitman’s attitude in this poem is admiring and hopeful. During the poem he
explains being happy about hunting. He also “shouts joyously” while on the Yankee
Clipper. Then, he explains having a good time with the boatmen and clam-diggers.
In the next two stanzas he expresses being hopeful. He watches as the trapper and
the Native American girl get married. Then, he takes care of a runaway slave.
THEME:
The theme of this poem is social equality throughout all citizens in America. Walt
Whitman watches the marriage between two different ethnicities of people. In the
next stanza he houses a runaway slave for a week. During the week, he takes care of
the slave, gives him clean clothes, and makes him feel welcome. Whitman is
obviously against slavery and for social equality, as he explains throughout his
poem.
CITATIONS:
"English Department's Site." English Department's Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.
"Section 10 Summary." Shmoop. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.
"Walt Whitman Song of Myself, Part 10." Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 10 Dec.
2012.