Poem Analyss

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May 17 , 2007

Transitions : Walt Whitman 's Joy , Shipmate , Joy

Poets and throughout the ages have enjoyed a limitless supply of metaphor in using voyages on the great seas to describe the voyage ' of life . However , it requires someone with the knowledge of the sail and sailor to capture the emotion . Walt Whitman is able to do so using very few words to convey very strong emotions

Sailors contrast themselves against landlubbers they are not comfortable unless they are at sea . Life on land is

tolerable , but often filled with anxiety , recklessness or inactivity . Away from their native environment , sailors can only try to occupy time until they depart the long , long anchorage (line 4 . Only then will the cry on deck erupt Joy , shipmate , joy (line 7 . The landlocked days are over - that part of our life is closed ' - and our life begins where the sailor is truly at home (line 3 . Some sailors may look to shore as the ship is clear at last - she leaps ' while others look to sea as the vessel swiftly courses from the shore (line 5-6 . There is no turning back nor is there any clear knowledge of what lies ahead but it is a very natural voyage

Joy ' Whitman will cry , d to my Soul ' - his shipmate - when death is upon him (line 2 . The physical part of life is closed , and the Soul clears the body , shiplike , moving rapidly away from the shore of mortality and our (new ) life begins (line 3 . It is a joyous time perhaps with a final glance back toward shore , perhaps not . Walt Whitman has wonderfully portrayed death as a beautiful journey , without fear or sorrow

Works Cited

Whitman , Walt . Leaves of Grass . Philadelphia : David McCay (c . 1900 Barteley .com

1999 . HYPERLINK "http /www .bartelby .com /142 " www .bartelby .com /142

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