H. M. Arif
CHAPTER-VI
Orientalism in Walt Whitman’s writings
“Comrade Americanos! To us, then, at last the Orient comes”.
- Walt Whitman
The primary objective of this chapter is to analyse Whitman‘s Oriental, Peninsular,
transcendental and revolutionary works which grew partly from the literary trends in nineteenthcentury America after the Civil war and partly from his personal convictions on that Oriental
mysticism which represents the Quest for the Divine, Faith in the unity of the whole and Oneness
of all.
This chapter offers a study to show the correspondence between Walt Whitman‘s works and the
mystical and spiritual traditions of the East as explored by the American Transcendentalists who
brought tidings of spiritual dawn of America and provided the opportune chances for the East
and the West to hug each other. Reinforced by the inspiring wisdom of Emerson and influenced
by the theories of his contemporaries, Walt Whitman, along with sincere interest in the Civil
War‘s wounded soldiers, struggled for the literary reconditioning. Strangely, this voice of the
revolution and the visionary personality did not travel outside of the United States and spent
most of his life in a small area around New York City and New Jersey, but, undoubtedly, he
extended his imaginative journey to the Trans - American geographical boundaries with a vision
to reach out the lands of Asia. At the beginning of the American Civil War, he was a forty-three
year old. The Civil War established the impact on Whitman and many of his contemporaries.
Naturally, the writes of the period were not indifferent to the ongoing incidents. They
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considered it as a ―Reformation‖ that would wipe away all the social evils of antebellum
America.
Thoreau's remark on Whitman is worth quoting. He remembers him as: "Wonderfully like the
Orientals, and asks the poet if he had gone through Oriental writings."No: tell me more about
them.‖ Whitman answers. (H. D. Thoreau, Letter to H.G.O. Blake (1856)
It can be experienced through the writings which are filled with the far-land and familiar
references to Mecca, Zoroaster, Old Brahma, the Hebrew Lyre, Faust, mosques, temples, the
gods of Egypt, Confucius, and other ancient beliefs and faiths.: ―As throughout the history of
Western Orientalism, the East has been praised for its ancient texts, the appraisal of the ancient
has had the unfortunate implication of undermining the value of contemporary Oriental
cultures‖. (Clarke, 191).
Whitman certainly had an element of mysticism which makes itself felt in his poems. It is to Asia
that Whitman turns for his spiritual quest. India to him stands for a certain cultural heritage
spiritualism, philosophical richness. Whitman thus caught the spirit of the Orient. It remains a
fact that there is no sound evidence of the extent of Whitman‘s studies in Indian literature, and
yet his writings explore extraordinary affinities with Indian thought.
Notes and Fragments, (1899) reveals his exposure to Indian literary texts. It is through the
symbol of Asia that he finds his ultimate poetic expression of that spiritual meaning. It is
observed in his works that his greatest poetic achievement lies in the fact that he handled his
subject masterfully, showing his familiarity with both the real Asia and the imaginative Asia.
Bliss Peny, the first biographer of Whitman, opened the debate for the studies on this specific
theme when he wrote of Whitman in Walt Whitman: His Life and Work: ―In his capacity for
brooding imaginative ecstasy, he was Oriental rather than Western.‖ (276) In an article published
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in The English Journal, (January, 1937) Gay Wilson Allen, literary figure in oriental studies ,
also touched upon this subject by his witty remarks on Whitman. He acknowledges Thoreau in
the words of Indian poet. ―Tagore says that no other American has so accurately caught the spirit
of Oriental mysticism,‖ (49)
It may not be out of place to cite the passage on Whitman from Studies in American Literature:
The seas to Walt Whitman seemed to be all crossed and the world truly circumnavigated,
with the American transcontinental railroad completed and the Suez Canal opened. And
indeed regular steamship service was established across the Pacific as it had long been
across the Atlantic and Indian Ocean. Travelers were going out to see the
East…American scholarly travelers to the Orient were giving a solid accounting of their
appreciation of the older cultures. William Sturgis Bigelow lectured and wrote on
Budhism and Immortality. Percival Lowell published The Soul of the Far East. Ernest
Fenollosa wrote Epochs of Chinese and Japanese Art. .. The interest in the Orient
proceeded so rapidly with the turn of the century that it might almost be maintained at the
present time that the proper place to study Oriental art is in the American museum – from
Boston to Seattle - and in the Department of Oriental Studies in the American
Universities, from Harvard to the University of California. (222- 23)
The natural magnet of Asia, especially of India, attracted this mystical American poet of
democracy seek a passage to India for the firm rooting in the spiritual depth of the East. His
significant poem “Passage to India” which is a part of Leaves of Grass had a great theme and a
broad subject. It is a long poem in nine sections, published in 1868. The term ―passage‖ refers
firstly to the links between the nations, secondly, in time, and then from life to death, from the
intellectual level, the poem passes on to the philosophical. In the end, the passage is to more than
India – to a world of spirituality in which space - time limitations do not exist. Indeed it is a
spiritual journey. It says: (―Passage to India.‖ Walt Whitman – Poems-)
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Passage O soul to India!
Eclaircise the myths Asiatic, the primitive fables.
Not you alone proud truths of the world,
Nor you alone ye facts of modern science,
But myths and fables of old, Asia‘s, Africa‘s fables,
The far-darting beams of the spirit, the unloosed dreams,
The deep diving bibles and legends,
The daring plots of the poets, the elder religions; (263)
It is a poem steeped in profound thoughts with the basic theme of spirituality. Its scope is
universal and integrating, as it does, the present with the past and the future, and uniting the
peoples of the world. The poet seems to be invoking the soul as he and the soul wish to wander
to know the ultimate reality of life. The poet seems to be not relying on the material comforts
given by science to man. He looks towards India – the land of Rishis, Vedas, and Scriptures. He
says:
Passage to more than India!
Are thy wings plumed indeed for such far flights?
O soul, voyagest thou indeed on voyages like those?
Disportest thou on waters such as those?
Soundest below the Sanscrit and the Vedas? (268)
This kind thought seems to both exalt India and to exult in India as well. This is for sure, that
according to Whitman, no voyage can be more evocative at once of both mystical promise and
mystical fulfillment than this passage to India.
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Whitman, with the emotional force of the Civil War experience, stood to salute the entire world.
The lines represent his masterpiece ―Salute Au Monde‖ from Studies in American Literature:
What widens within you Walt Whitman?
What climes? What persons and cities are here?
Within me latitude widens, longitude lengthens,
Asia, Africa, Europe, are to the East…
Within me zones, seas, cataracts, forests, volcanoes, groups,
Malaysia, Polynesia, and the great West Indian islands. (127 )
In Whitman‘s writings there is the mystical and spiritual vision of the poet; it is not the practical
blue print of the diplomat. As a child of enlightenment and transcendentalism, he always
exhibited the human dimension of his mysticism. He represents the teachings of
Transcendentalists harmonized with the rise of democracy, the rise of Romanticism and the
revolt against Puritan Orthodoxy. His transcendentalism represents the Unitarianism which
synthesizes the East and the West. Like Oriental philosophy, he teaches his audience that the
ultimate reliance of a human being is and must be on his mind and conscience. He is of the
opinion that a human being is the noblest manifestation of God; he has been given the power of
perceiving the moral distinction which is the highest faculty given to man by God. It is visible in
his writings that as a mystic poet he does not spurn the sense, body and physical aspect of the
self. His self concerns the spiritual and the cosmic aspect. His poetry finds that the body and soul
are two equally important aspects. It is certainly a different kind of mysticism which reconciles
in a unique manner, the outward, the physical and the material with the inward and the spiritual.
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A critic like Richard Maurice Buck, places him in the category of enlightened people like
Buddha, Christ, Blake and many others on the basis of the level of cosmic consciousness that he
attains. This merger of the self with the cosmic self seemed to be marked by a state of moral
exaltation, an indescribable feeling of elevation, elation and joyousness. This philosophy finds
presence in his “A song of joy” where he sings a song of mysticism. The below cited lines have
been used as a text by Chris Highland in his book Meditation of WaltWhitma.
―O the joy of my spirit- it is uncaged – it dart like lightning!
It is not enough to have this globe or a certain time,
I will have thousands of globes and all time.‖ (36)
It is a philosophical thought focusing on ―joy of spirit‖ imbibing of ―globes‖ and ―all time‖
displays the universal dimension of the poet‘s happiness which is infinite. The above lines are a
manifesto of his Oriental philosophy, which conveys mystical and profound truth. Each and
every word has come out of the soul of Whitman and seems reaching straight to the soul of the
readers, inspiring them for a better understanding of spiritual truths.
The study finds that his Leaves of Grass is replete with explicit and implicit references to
the endless streak of mysticism which is identical to the Oriental philosophy. He realizes the
limitations of the intellect, rationality and the mind. There are instances of mysticism in the
poems like “Passage to India” ―Song of the Open Road‖ and ―Out of the Cradle Endlessly
Rocking”. A sense of unity is another aspect of Whitman‘s mysticism in which unifies
everything that exists in this universe. For him, nothing can exist in isolation. His first person
singular ―I‖ comprises all that is phenomenal along with everything that is transcendental. His
feeling of unity or oneness with all and his complete identification with the profane and the
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sacred is worth quoting and has a mystical edge. The below cited lines find presence in Leaves of
Grass, a textual variorum of the printed poems :
―I accept reality and dare not question it,
Materialism first and last imbuing‖ (32)
It has been explored at the outset that his greatest poetic treatment of the Asian emancipation
came at the end of the decade with his ―Passage to India‖. He philosophizes the idea that the
human soul must not rest with the conquering of the earth; it must seek God through the
universe, until it finds Him as he says:
―Nature and Man shall be disjoined and diffused no more,
The soul of man gets satisfied only in seeking the Reality.‖ (Leaves of Grass)
He tries to show the philosophy of life to the readers, to bridge the gap between the physical and
the spiritual planes. He explore that the soul transcends time, space, and death. India being a
moral, spiritual fountain emanates the philosophy of life. India is a land of physical, spiritual and
intellectual beauty. This reflects in the below cited lines. He says in ―Passage to India‖ (Walt
Whitman – Poems):
Bathe me O God in thee, mounting thee,
I and my soul to range in range of thee.
O Thou transcendent!
Nameless – the fibre and the breath!
Light of the light –shedding for the universe – thou centre of them!
Thou mightier centre of the true, the good, the loving!
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Thou moral, spiritual fountain Source! Thou reservoir! (268)
―Passage to India‖ is a dramatization of the poet‘s voyages through space and time until, at the
end, he arrives at his destination outside both. And death is a period of transition before one
reaches the all – absorbing ocean of God: ―Passage to India‖, (Whitman Selected Poems) it
writes:
Passage O soul to India!
Lo, soul seest, thou not God‘s purpose from the first
… on the one side China and on the Persia and Arabia,
To the south the great seas and Bay of Bengal
The flowing literatures, tremendous epics, religions, castes
Old occult Brahma interminably far back, the tender and junior Buddha,
Central and Sothern empires and their belongings possessions
The wars of Tamerlane, the reign of Aurungzeb,
The traders, rulers, explorers, Moslems, Venetians, Byzantium, the Arabs, the
Portuguese, The first traveler famous yet, Marco polo, Batouta the Moor (169).
Here he gives a brief remark on the glorious past of India. He mentions the great ancient
personalities who made visit to this land. This long poem is a tribute to the land of Vedas. The
Poet here feels that the materialism and scientific development definitely give only material
comfort to the mankind, but it can never give him the peace of mind. India optimizes the rich
culture, tradition and all philosophic studies. It shows the pathway to reach the Ultimate. He
assumes India full of richness. It represents the geographical East, East of the Suez and beyond
‗the mighty railroad‘. It has glorious past of different religions, legends and fables, all
symbolizing spirituality.
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He seems to be very happy that Europe and Asia with their respective culture are brought
nearer. He suggests that there could be an intellectual exchange between them. There is a
description of the Middle -East‘s great figures and images in another poem. It can be observed in
this poem that Whitman has employed the Eastern names with their specifications which were
unnoticed by the common British readership. They overlooked the positive image of Orientalism,
and their entire efforts were made in neglecting and underestimating the Oriental image. Here are
some lines from ―Proud Music of the Storm‖ which draw attention towards poet‘s pleasure in
visualizing the Oriental names with their specification. This original text has been quoted from
The Atlantic Monthly. Volume 23.
I hear dervishes monotonously chanting, interspersed with
frantic shouts, as they spin around turning always
towards Mecca,
I see the rapt religious dances of the Persians and the Arabs,
Again, at Eleusis, home of Ceres, I see the modern Greeks
dancing,
I hear them clapping their hands as they bend their bodies,
I hear the metrical shuffling of their feet.
I see again the wild old Corybantian dance, the performers
wounding each other,
I see the Roman youth to the shrill sound of flageolets
throwing and catching their weapons,
As they fall on their knees and rise again.
I hear from the Mussulman mosque the muezzin calling,
I see the worshippers within, nor form nor sermon, argument
nor word,
But silent, strange, devout, rais‘d, glowing heads, ecstatic
faces.
I hear the Egyptian harp of many strings
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The primitive chants of the Nile boatmen,
The sacred imperial hymns of China,
To the delicate sounds of the king, (the stricken wood and
Stone,)
Or to Hindu flutes and the fretting twang of the vina,
A band of bayaderes. (201)
The study finds Whitman very often using the term Hinduism in his works but only in its
broadest sense. It aims to identify how certain ideas found in Whitman‘s writings resemble
Hindu mysticism, which deeply influenced his poetry. His writings are the outcome of his
mystical experience and represent it only through his "poetic imagination" under the influence of
Indian thought. Undoubtedly, mysticism is the core idea of his writings and has a great degree of
influence on his poetry. In the preface to A Backward Glance O’er Travelled Roads, Whitman
acknowledges that he had read the ancient Hindu poems. It is recorded that he had bought scholarly
books on the East, such as William Dwight Whitney‘s, Oriental and Linguistic Studies: The
Veda; The Avesta; The Science of Language.
Whitman‘s acquaintance with Indian thought was a result of his readings of secondary sources.
The present study finds two pieces of writings he definitely had read. One was J. D. Whelpley‘s
article, under the title Laws of Manu, published in the May 1845 number of The Whig Review.
The other one was a review of translations of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana under the
head Indian Epic Poetry which had appeared in the October1848 number of The Westminster
Review. An analysis of these articles suggests that Whitman had a great interest in Indian
literature and its philosophy. Nathaniel Preston in Walt Whitman’s Use of Indian Sources: A
Reconsideration offers a fruitful summary of Whitman‘s ideology:
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The finest blending of individuality with universality (in my opinion nothing out of the
galaxies of the Iliad, or Shakespeare‘s heroes, or from the Tennysonian ―Idylls,‖ so lofty,
devoted and star like,) typified in the songs of those old Asiatic lands. Men and women
are as great columnar trees. Nowhere else the abnegation of self towering in such quaint
sublimity; nowhere else the simplest human emotions conquering the gods of heaven,
and fate itself. (The episode, for instance, toward the close of the ―Mahabharata‖- the
journey of the wife Savitri with the god of death, Yama,
―One terrible to see - blood-red his garb
His body huge and dark, bloodshot his eyes,
Which flamed like suns beneath his turban cloth,
Arm‘d he was with a noose,‖
who carries off the soul of the dead husband, the wife tenaciously following, and- by the
resistless charm of perfect recitation! - Eventually redeeming her captive mate. (CW 6:
106 – 107)
Recognizing the importance of myths and dreams of the Occidents and Orientalists in his book
Self is Brahmin: Whitman in the light of Upanishads, Nandita Nautial observes:
Deepest myths and dreams of both the East and the West, that is, the ―elementary ideas,”
arise from the depths of the common human psyche. Depending upon their life conditions
and requirements of the day, poets, mystics and seers have articulated these myths as
"folk ideas" which are understandably different. But there is another factor that
determines the "elementary" content of myths. These poets, mystics and seers articulate
what they confront inside themselves, and, in my view that depends on how close, or how
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deep. Inside the "obscure subliminal abysm" they have dived. In the East, as well as in
the West, there have been divers at al1 depths and one fin& much the same common
content in the "catch" in a11 cultures.‖ (30)
The subject of Whitman and the Middle East needs a thorough and clarifying study. His writings
contain a body of ideas and feelings, having a unique mysticism designed for American people.
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