I SIT and look out upon all the sorrows of the world, and upon all
oppression and shame;
I hear secret convulsive sobs from young men, at anguish with
themselves, remorseful after deeds done;
I see, in low life, the mother misused by her children, dying,
neglected, gaunt, desperate;
I see the wife misused by her husband—I see the treacherous seducer
of young women;
I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love, attempted to be
hid—I see these sights on the earth;
I see the workings of battle, pestilence, tyranny—I see martyrs and
prisoners;
I observe a famine at sea—I observe the sailors casting lots who
shall be kill'd, to preserve the lives of the rest;
I observe the slights and degradations cast by arrogant persons upon
laborers, the poor, and upon negroes, and the like;
All these—All the meanness and agony without end, I sitting, look
out upon,
See, hear, and am silent.
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hey i loved it
From guest janet (contact)
hye walt wittman i really loved this poem this reminds me alot about it and i am glad that you are doing this and it is really good love janet -
From guest tia (contact)
I think that the poem allows the reader to make a judgement on the persona, the last line appears to be held up for critisim which the reader immediately condemns before realising that they themselves are guilty of the same thing. -
From guest debilynn (contact)
this poem is a cry for help in a world that doesn't care. walts voice is that of an average man in a world that demands perfection: All these—All the meanness and agony without end, I sitting, look out upon, see, hear, and am silent. a great write that makes one think -
Flow
From guest Matt (contact)
He witnesses suffering and submits that all he can do is be still. Maybe this is an encouragement to surrender to the flow of the universe to find true comfort? For me, it definitely reminds me of Eastern thought. -
We must never kid ourselves with our poems, we are not the first, not the last or even the best at announcing the calamity of man. In Whitman it is not really a complaint but a simple observation that goes on and on, that old hippy got it right. “The dude will abide.”
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How is it that so much of achedemia disses this writer. Ive read pleanty of criticisms and find it a mystery. Perhaps I am the one not getting it but i am still lost in the way he touches my soul with the truths he penned. I feel the conflict of mind and heart within this poem and can relate to it. Isnt that what good poetry is all about?
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I love it. Hes mad about how our world is, but in the end, he knows he can't change it. It's what we call a rant. And I just love it.
-Jessi -
this poem is a cry for help in a world that doesnt care. walts voice is tyhat of an average man in a world that demands perfection(america. how is this different from the world today?! its NOT!!
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He sees the anguish and turmoil of the world and it's like all that he can do is sit and just watch as if he were only a bystander and there was/is nothing that he could do about the chaos of the world he lives in.
He wrote this short but poignant piece, perhaps in itself that was a step forward, and he ventured he'd do something.
A lovely piece written by Whitman.
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very good
i think that it is a meaning full poem and that it came from the heart and i think that what he says in the poems is try. -
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i like it
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