Poem ‘Miracles’ By Walt Whitman Summery Analysis

Poem ‘Miracles’

By Walt Whitman

 

 

Biography of Walt Whitman  

Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819–March 26, 1892) is one of the most significant American writers of the 19th century, and many critics consider him the nation's greatest poet. His book "Leaves of Grass," which he edited and expanded over the course of his life, is a masterpiece of American literature. In addition to writing poetry, Whitman worked as a journalist and

Fast Facts: Walt Whitman

• Known For: Whitman is one of the most famous American poets of the 19th century.
• Born: May 31, 1819 in West Hills, New York
• Died: March 26, 1892 in Camden, New Jersey
• Published Works: Leaves of Grass, Drum-Taps, Democratic Vistas

 

 

Poem

       WHY! who makes much of a miracle?
As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach, just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love—or sleep in the bed at night with any one I love,
Or sit at table at dinner with my mother,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive, of a summer forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds—or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sun-down—or of stars shining so quiet and bright,
Or the exquisite, delicate, thin curve of the new moon in spring;
Or whether I go among those I like best, and that like me best—mechanics, boatmen,
farmers,
Or among the savans—or to the soiree—or to the opera,
Or stand a long while looking at the movements of machinery,
Or behold children at their sports,
Or the admirable sight of the perfect old man, or the perfect old woman,
Or the sick in hospitals, or the dead carried to burial,
Or my own eyes and figure in the glass;
These, with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring—yet each distinct, and in its place.
To me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,
Every foot of the interior swarms with the same;
Every spear of grass—the frames, limbs, organs, of men and women, and all that
concerns
them,
All these to me are unspeakably perfect miracles.

To me the sea is a continual miracle;
The fishes that swim—the rocks—the motion of the waves—the ships,

      with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?

 

 

 

Introduction

Miracles is a poem that was written by Walt Whitman. From the title, some people may have been interested to read the contents of the poem. People will be anxious about what this poem wants to tell about. If we continue reading the poem line by line, we will be influenced by the speaker’s words because we will imagine every sentence in the poem. Every sentence in this poem is really meaningful. We will aware from the simple until the big thing in our lives is very wonderful and amazing. This poem gives a great moral lesson that we should be grateful to everything in our lives.

The author of Miracles is Walt Whitman. Walter "Walt" Whitman is an American poet and essayist. Whitman's major work, Leaves of Grass, was first published in 1855 with his own money and, a total of 795 copies were printed.

 The work was an attempt at reaching out to the common person with an American epic. His work was very controversial in its time. Particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass was described as obscene for its overt sexuality. He is often called the father of free verse. Early in his career, he produced a temperance novel, Franklin Evans (1842). Whitman also ever worked as a journalist, a teacher, a government clerk, and was a volunteer nurse during the American Civil War. Whitman was concerned with politics throughout his life and he opposed the extension of slavery generally. His poetry presented an egalitarian view of the races. Whitman’s ambition, expansiveness, and embrace of all the high and low features of American life influenced many poets of the twentieth century, including D.H. Lawrence, William Carlos Williams, Hart Crane, and Allen Ginsberg.

In analyzing poetry Miracles, I use imagery. Imagery, in a literary text, is an author's use of vivid and descriptive language to add depth to his or her work. It represents objects, actions and ideas in such a way that it appeals to our physical senses. Usually it is thought that imagery makes use of particular words that create visual representation of ideas in our minds. The word imagery is associated with mental pictures. There are seven types of imagery, each corresponding to a sense, feeling, or action. They are visual imagery that pertains the sense of sight, auditory imagery which pertains the sense of hearing, olfactory imagery that pertains the sense of smell, gustatory imagery that pertains the sense of taste, tactile imagery that pertains the sense of touch, kinesthetic imagery which pertains the sense of bodily motion, and organic imagery which pertains to personal experiences of a character's body, including emotion and the senses of hunger, thirst, fatigue, and p

    Analysis

From poetry Miracles, it can be revealed about a feeling of wonderful and grateful of the speaker to everything in his life whether it is a simple or a big thing. Speaker uses word “miracles” to show his wonderfulness in this poetry. A word “miracles” shows a beautifulness that can make many people be interested in it. In this poetry, speaker calls everything that he does, feels and sees as miracles. It can be proved from the first stanza line 2, “As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles”. It shows that speaker thinks that all of thing near him is an exciting thing and makes him become interested.

Speaker enjoys every natural phenomenon in his life. In the first stanza line 2, 3 and 5, “As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles, Whether I walk the street of Manhattan, Or wade with naked feet along the beach”, shows that speaker is excited with the natural condition that he feels. He feels the softness of the sand at the beach directly by his feet without shoes or the other footwear. In addition, he also can enjoy the beautiful scene of the beach. It is also supported by the first stanza line 6, “Or stand under trees in the woods”, expresses that speaker likes to stand under the trees. By standing under the trees, it makes him feel fresh and cool because of the wind and oxygen for breathing that comes from the trees. The speaker also notices and likes the changing from noon to the night. It can be proved from the first stanza line 13, “Or the wonderfulness of the sun-down-or of stars shining so quiet and bright”. “The sun-down” shows that it will be turn into a night. However, a night does not mean that it will be dark at all because there are many stars will shine and make great light.

Doing some activities with people that he loves is also a pleasant thing and a miracle according to the speaker. Happiness only need simple thing, such as always communicate with someone that he loves can make him happy. It can be proved in the first stanza line 7, “Or talk by day with any one I love”. From this statement, it is obvious that communication can make good relationship between someone and another, and communication plays an important role in our lives. The other little thing that the speaker does to make his life become pleasant is by having dinner with his parent. In the first stanza line 8, “Or sit at table a dinner with my mother”, shows that the speaker really enjoy a simple thing in his life. By having dinner with his someone, he can much closer with her, especially with a mother. Dinner is a time when people can share their story that they have passed before to the other.

Not only enjoy with someone who is known by the speaker, he also wonder with the strangers that he sees. It can be proved from the first stanza line 9, “Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car”. It shows that the speaker does not only notice his own family, but also he cares and wants to take lesson from the other people although he does not know them. Speaker also thinks that looking strangers near him is also a miracle because not only the speaker and his family that live in this world, but there are still many other people.

Besides human, speaker also pays attention to some animals. The first stanza line 10, “Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive, of a summer forenoon’, expresses how beautiful noise is it. It is also supported by the first stanza line 11, “Or animals feeding in the fields”. If we imagine it, we may see the harmony and solidarity life of all of animals in the fields. The first stanza line 12, “Or birds-or the wonderfulness of insects in the air”, also expresses the exciting thing that related to the animals. The speaker can see some birds and the other insects that fly in the air. How wonderful thing is that view!

Not only in the land and in the air, but the speaker also wonder about life in the water. It can be proved in the third stanza line 1-2, “To me the sea is a continual miracle; The fishes that swim-the rocks-the motion of the waves-the ships, with men in them”. It shows the amazing thing in the sea. We can imagine the colorful of many fishes that swim in the sea and the wave that splash with a ship on the surface of the sea. There are also many people in the ship.

From the some exciting things in his life that have already mentioned above, certainly the speaker feel wonder and be grateful of his life and calls it as miracles. He makes his statement stronger in the second stanza line 1-2, ‘To me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle, Every cubic inch of space is a miracle”. It shows that the speaker really excited with anything in his life. It is supported by the second stanza line 8, “All these to me are unspeakably miracles”. Because all of in his life make the speaker become interested, he cannot do anything even though he wants to talk. In other word, he really feels exciting.

3.      Conclusion

Surely there is the most beautiful creator behind all of beautiful creations in the earth. The speaker ask question about it in the first stanza line 1, “WHY! Who makes much of a miracle?” It shows that the speaker be anxious to find out who makes all of miracles in his life. The creator and the owner of the earth and all of things that involve in it should be the most powerful person or thing. The only thing that fulfills this requirement is only God. So, the speaker feels exciting and be grateful for the creation of God.

Speaker in this poetry is an adult and may be man or woman. She/he likes to notices and feels everything in his life whether it is a simple or a big thing. By looking to the amazing and wonderful thing near her/him, she/he becomes enthusiastic and ask question who makes that miracles. God is the only one that has powerful to create that beautiful earth and all of amazing things in it.