University of Novi Sad

Faculty of Philosophy

Department of English Language and Literature

XIX Century American Literature

Walt Whitman: “Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking”

Themes

Professor: Student:

mr Nataša Karanfilović Reka Nađ

2010

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INTRODUCTION

A little about the author

Walt Whitman, the author of the first most unconventional and extraordinary collection

of poems in American literature, Leaves of Grass, was born on May 31, in 1819 on Long Island

(which is referred to as Paumanok, its Indian name, in ‘Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking’).

The poet was particularly fond of this place, as it was closely associated to his childhood

memories. He was educated in Brooklyn, and later served as a printer’s apprentice, journeyman

compositor, school teacher, the editor of several newspapers, a political figure and a nurse.

Whitman was deeply absorbed in a wide range of literature, including the Bible, Shakespeare,

Ossian, Homer, Greek and Hindu poets, Dante, all of which influenced his later writing. The

greatest literary influences for the writer were most certainly Goethe’s biography, Hegel’s

philosophy, Carlyle’s Heroes and Hero Worship, and most importantly Emerson’s ideas of

Transcendentalism, mainly those celebrating the power of individuality and man’s oneness with

nature. Meanwhile, he was also acquainted with many aspects of the metropolis, and was a

frequent visitor of the opera, which had an obvious effect on the themes and manner of his

poetry. He perceived himself as an average man, however, it is unquestionable that he combined

the figure of the average man with his unique qualities, which distinguished him as a poet. What

in great part differentiated him from the average man, was his hypersensitivity, which

contributed to his enthusiastic pursuit of emotional freedom through love, and social freedom

through democracy, the two things which he valued above everything else. His frequent and

forceful declarations of his democratic love for man lead to the belief of him being a

homosexual, to which he later himself confessed. Such sensitivity and sensuousness appear to be

primary forces in his poetical works - ’Out of the Cradle’ is also written with great feeling and

shows the poet’s sensitivity towards the external world even as a child. Avoiding traditional

elements, Whitman applied free verse in his poetry, associating themes and melodies with great

freedom and suggestiveness. This is how he compiled and published Leaves of Grass, which was

„to show how man might achieve for himself the greatest possible freedom within the limits of

natural law, for the mind and body through democracy, for the heart through love and for the

soul through religion“. (Hart 826.)

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The poem

‘Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking’ was published in the collection entitled Leaves of

Grass (Whitman published the first edition in 1855), in the section called “Sea-Drift” – a group

of eleven poems, compiled in 1881. This group of poems is one of the poet’s most pleasant

arrangements, reaching deep into his childhood memories, and is held together by the impression

of the sea and the bleak – an influence that became the heart of his acceptance of the tragic in

life.

The poem was first published under the title ‘A Child’s Reminiscence’ in the Christmas

issue of New York Saturday Press, whose editor, Henry Clapp, was Whitman’s friend. The poem

was revised several times and in 1860 and 1867 the title was ‘A Word Out of the Sea’.

The poem is profoundly autobiographical, in the sense that it reaches to the core of the

poet’s own experience – how he became a poet and how his song awoke. It is not known whether

a personal experience of loss served as its influence, but it is certainly an interpretation of love

and death.

Whitman himself claimed that “the purport of this wild and plaintive song, well-

enveloped and eluding definition, is positive and unquestionable, like the effect of music. The

piece will bear reading many times – perhaps, indeed only comes forth, as from recesses, by

many repetition.” (Moon 207.)

Swinebourn’s conclusion about ‘Out of the Cradle’ most certainly reflects a general

impression of the poem, according to which it is “…the most wonderful thing I have read for

years and years… There is such beautiful skill and subtle power in every word of it.” (Moon

207.)

THEMES

“Whitman considered great poetry as inevitable as life, declaring that the spirit of the

poet should correspond to his country’s spirit. Supporting his claim, he created his verse in such

a way as to be an embodiment of both. Therefore, the themes and subjects of his poetry are

common people – reflecting their physical and spiritual self, both past and present conveyed in

the eternal now, liberty, democracy and equality, and the oneness of nature and man. Although

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life itself is the source of his art, Whitman implies a general spirit that pervades the world,

therefore illuminating the ‘internal reality’ of things”. (Pacić, 184.)

‘Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking’ condenses Whitman’s themes of love, life and

death, nature, loss, and their relation to poetry, especially his poetry, into a single setting and

situation. “Haviland Miller’s opinion of the poem, declaring that “…the erotic sounds and

movements, as in Wagner’s music evoke birth, love, loss and death” asserts this claim.”1

‘Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking’ transports the reader into Whitman’s boyhood

when he recalls his memories of “once in Paumanok, when the lilac-scent was in the air and

Fifth-month grass was growing” (Whitman 24.). Whitman’s words evoke memories associated

with his childhood, the region of Long Island, while intertwining a complex web of themes and

symbols, thus giving the poem a richly allegorical characteristic.

Life and Death

However distinct and contrasted they may seem, in the case of this poem, it is most

appropriate to treat the themes of life and death as a single unit. Suffice it to say that ’Out of the

Cradle Endlessly Rocking’ deals most prominently with the loss of a loved one. Observing the

desolating love of two birds and projecting his own sense of loss onto the song of the he-bird,

while experiencing an ultimate revelation, the poet reconstructs a childhood moment in his life.

Even in his earlier poetry, Whitman discovered that life and death are to be treated as a

single unit, as they are somehow one thing – yet, “death is the pre-eminent theme for poetry,

since it is the enveloping force, the beginning and end framing the middle – life”. (Van Doren,

46.) This is how he made the supreme subject of his poetry death, and, while the theme goes

through many modulations and variations from one poem to another, it proves consistent. Life

serves as the theme, but death is its motivating force, because it is only through death that life

may be understood.

Even in the opening stanza, the reader can perceive the poet’s attempts at fusing life and

death. Whitman sings of the “endlessly rocking” cradle, an allusion to “endless birth”, thus

rebirth. He also mentions the “Ninth-month” (Whitman 3.), at first glance symbolic of the nine

months of the gestation period, therefore birth itself; however, contrastively, when more closely

1 Available at: http://www.whitmanarchive.org/criticism/current/encyclopedia/entry_43.html

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observed, September is the ninth month of the year, and the first month of autumn, thus

representative of death. The poet then continues with images of life, which will later serve as a

contrast to the allusions to death – he talks of the fifth-month, with the lilac scent in the air and

the grass growing. As opposed to the allusion to autumn, Whitman now implies spring, the birth

and rebirth of nature. This is how the poet emphasizes the merging of life and death, and the

opening lines, therefore, do not only bring together death and life, but death in life.

The theme of death is only explicitly introduced in the concluding stanzas, and praised

through the mystical music of the sea. It is the passage when the sea speaks its word when the

question of death in Whitman is aroused. It is only when he hears the ocean’s final assertion of

death that he notes “My own songs awaked from that hour” (Whitman 178.). This suggests that

the discovery of death had made Whitman a poet and this is the way he tells the reader. “While

the bird sang to “the boy’s soul’s questions” (Whitman 142.), he made the discovery that will

turn the boy into a poet – the fact that death, loss, and suffering is the source of poetry of high

distinction.” (Paćic, 198.)

The symbolism applied by Whitman is often multilayered, which means that most of his

poetic images are attributed more than one interpretation. This is illustrated by the fact that the

sea can be thought of as a metaphorical “representation of a grave, yet contrastively a cradle as

well” (Van Doren 47.) – the symbol of death and life together. It is the sea which provides the

final word on the matters previously aroused - death. At the same time, “endlessly rocking”, it

implies the incessant cycle of life, birth, death and rebirth.

Having been exposed to the devastating feeling of loss and separation, it is finally the sea

which the boy inquires for answers. He is in search for a solution to the reason of the occurrence

of such suffering, and invokes the sea into this exploration. “The word final, superior to all”

(Whitman 161.) is death, a universal feeling, inevitable to all. The boy is thus exposed to the

experience of death, finally concluding that it is the lesson of loss which can lead to artistic

development and maturity, making the central theme of the poem the birth of poetry out of death.

The word “death” conveys two meanings for the poet. In its literal meaning, it does

allude to an eternal end, yet at the same time it hints at the birth of a mature man, a poet, which

the boy has become. Although the image of the cradle and death are perceived as sharp contrasts,

Whitman manages to intertwine them in his poem. The poem asserts the belief in the oneness of

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life and death, and the boy’s conversion into a mature poet upon the full comprehension of loss

and death justifies this claim.

The sea’s response of “death, death, death”, amplifies the process and transience of life. It

provides the ground for life, with its joys, longings, sorrows, love and laments, however, it is

also the final phase, the end. Death is the framework of the larger picture, it is through which we

are truly able to see life. However, for the poet, death is not a pessimistic truth; rather, he handles

it with calmness, and the passage has a soothing melody, containing phrases like “hissing

melodious” (Whitman 170.) and “laving me softly all over” (Whitman 172.).

Robin Fast claims that at the end of the poem the boy reconciles himself to death,

realizing that “death cannot truly separate the dead from the living, and life is part of a larger

reality which includes all”. (Wohlpart, 77-78.)

The poem speaks of life coming out of the cradle of death, and concludes with the image

of the cradle rocked by an old crone, symbolizing the closeness of the end, death. The old

woman, however, may also symbolize a universal awareness of death, realized by all.

Whitman contrasts the images of life and death, yet at the same time merges them. He

gives death a dual nature – representing both an end, but also new beginnings. Through the

experience of death, the poet recognizes how it provokes emotions that drive a poet and arouse

his songs. ‘Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking’ is, therefore, one of Whitman’s great

expressions of life and death.

Love

The message of love in the poem is captured in the mutual love of the mocking birds. The

boy, who is distinguished by his sensitivity, is able to fully interpret the lamenting tune of the he-

bird following the loss of his mate. Translating the bird’s song into human language and the

bird’s experience into human experience, Whitman most explicitly reveals the theme of love,

which remains unfulfilled, therefore, closely connecting it with the theme of loss and its product,

grief.

At first the mocking birds seem to be the embodiment of everlasting happiness, never to

part. They paint the picture of harmony and eternal love, “Singing all time, minding no time,

while we two keep together” (Whitman 39-40.). However, the illusion of undisturbed happiness

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proves to be deceptive. The subsequent disappearance of the she-bird causes her mate to

gradually lose hope of his beloved’s return, and sink under the burden of lost love. At the end of

his song the bird attempts to silence the sea in hope of hearing the responding song of his mate:

„And do wait a moment you husky-nois’d sea, For somewhere I believe I heard my mate

responding to me…” (Whitman 107-108.). However, he fails and is therefore bound to realize

the hopelessness of awaiting the return of his beloved – „We two together no more” (Whitman

129.).

However, it is important to note that the bird’s love does not fade with separation, but

contrastively, rather intensifies. Whitman here implies that their love is everlasting, forever, and

no time or place can annihilate it. The feeling of love is amplified simultaneously with the

feeling of despair and experience of final loss.

The boy’s perception of the experience of loss is notorious. As he gains insight into the

lesson of fulfilled love contrasted by that of unfulfilled love, he becomes ecstatic and “strange

tears” (Whitman 139.) stroll down his cheeks. He is deeply moved by the identification of lost

love and hope. The boy is able to identify with the sorrows of the bird, the pain of unfulfilled

love, as he reassures the now “solitary singer” (Whitman 150.) that he had treasured his every

word. This is the moment of revelation for the boy and the discovery leading to him becoming a

poet. His first impulse is also to sing of unfulfilled love, of what he had learned, and he notes that

his song will be more sorrowful than the bird’s. A “sweet hell” has been aroused in his soul, and

he feels that he is destined to sing it – the sweetness of fulfilled love, but the hell of the loss of it.

Therefore, Whitman gives higher priority to the negative aspects of the experience of

love, emphasizing the tragedy of unfulfilled love, rather than the happiness of fulfilled love. At

the same time, he makes a generalization of the loss of a beloved, a feeling that his readers as

well as himself can identify with.

The poet attributes great significance to the sorrow of lost affection, lost love. It is

through the bird’s carol of loss and unfulfilled love that the boy, “the outsetting bard” (Whitman

143.), is introduced to the tragic aspects of human existence, and the songs of fulfilled and

unfulfilled love become the source of the his revelation, his transformation into a poet, and the

source of his own songs which “have awakened from that hour” (Whitman 178.).

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Loss and separation

The experience of loss is greatly reflected in the poem and comprises one of its central

themes, as it communicates a personal reminiscence of the poet as a child. It is the bird’s

experience of loss and final separation, with which Whitman identifies. Apart from the theme of

death, ‘Out of the Cradle’ is a timeless expression of the emotions resulting from it – sorrow,

grief and devastation.

Whitman greatly reflects upon love, and more prominently the tragedy of losing it. The

bird’s outpouring grief of lost love -“The love in the heart now loose“(Whitman 137.) – is a

generalization, referring not only to the bird, but a feeling shared by both. The bird’s loss

becomes the boy’s and the boy’s becomes the poet’s; and this is how Whitman manages to blend

the past and present. The character of the boy fuses into that of the man to create the image of the

mature poet. He is in the end transformed into a poet and the compelling force behind his singing

will be, as the bird’s, love, loss, longing, “unsatisfied love” (Whitman 153.), “the fire, the sweet

hell within” (Whitman 156.). Listening to the mockingbird, he is able to identify with his song,

and the grief of lost love is mirrored in the boy, leading to recognition of his true identity, “the

destiny of me” (Whitman 157.).

The mocking birds’ song of joy and happiness, presented in the opening stanzas, is

quickly overtaken by a song of loss and sorrow. The harmonious life of the mating birds is drawn

to a close with the disappearance of the she-bird and the subsequent unceasing sorrow of her

mate. The he-bird’s life becomes overshadowed by the experience of separation, as he is

overtaken by an indomitable will to find his beloved. Unfortunately, his search proves to be in

vain, for his mate will never return. However, the bird’s love does not fade with separation. His

despair only amplifies the already intense feeling of love and devotion to his beloved, and proves

immune to the passage of time.

When talking about the effect produced on the boy, it is important to note that it is not the

bird’s mutual understanding and happiness, which inspire the boy’s development, but rather the

loss of their love, through death. The he-bird’s desperate search for his mate proves fruitless,

which evokes deep meditation on the part of the boy. The recognition and discovery of death and

the finality of loss proves to be the source of the greatest songs.

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The lamenting song of unfulfilled love is projected onto the boy, whose songs will

emanate from the sympathy, compassion and shared feeling of loss. Proving to be an inspiration,

the boy’s task will be to sing of the sorrow of lost love and separation, even greater than that of

the bird.

Whitman’s recognition of the despair caused by the loss of happiness, love leads him to

the recognition of his true identity. Confronted by the tragedy of loss, the boy has become a poet,

who will now be responsible to pour his experiences into poetry.

‘Out of the Cradle’, therefore, can be read as “a response to the question of what to do in

the face of being punctured or shattered. Whether it is unsatisfied love or other kinds of

suffering, the only acceptable response, for Whitman, was to sing.” (Kummings, 504.)

The following stanza is notorious, for it conveys the true and most grieving reflection on

lost love.

O past! O happy life! O songs of joy! 

In the air, in the woods, over fields; 

Loved! loved! loved! loved! loved! 

But my love no more, no more with me! 

We two together no more. (Whitman 125-129.)

Nature

Whitman was filled with the love of nature, and this is greatly reflected in his poetry.

Suffice it to say that he was inspired and greatly influenced by Emerson and the

Transcendentalists. Whitman, in many of his poems emphasized and celebrated man’s oneness

with nature, and it became one of his central themes in poetry.

In ‘Out of the Cradle’ the theme of nature proves significant from the aspect that it is the

natural world that Whitman utilizes as his mediator to communicate the most prominent ideas of

the poem. It is also from this aspect that the poet is paralleled with the Romantics, most

prominently with William Wordsworth. Primarily, because the exploration of the birth of the

poet was also of great importance to Wordsworth – who, in his Prelude contemplated his

development into a poet. Secondly, both poets reach to and find inspiration in the complex world

of nature. The idea of gaining inspiration from nature is explicitly present in ‘Out of the Cradle

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Endlessly Rocking’. While Wordsworth is inspired by the feeling of awe and admiration,

Whitman seems to turn to nature for answers.

The images of nature are directly and constantly present in the poem, providing the

framework enveloping the more sophisticated themes. The most evident naturalistic elements are

undoubtedly the mocking birds and the sea, which the poet observes and later inquires for the

ultimate answers in life. However, there are other elements of nature which the poet treats with

great significance: the sun, the moon, the stars, the earth... It is owing to nature that the

developing boy can reach full emotional and poetic maturity. Even without knowledge of

Whitman’s love for nature, one can perceive how greatly he relies on it.

It is not only the boy who questions nature, but the desolate he-bird also faces it in hope

of finding answers to the uncertain disappearance of his mate. During his lament, the he-bird

turns to the natural world, something of which he is a part of, for comfort. The moon, the sea, the

stars, the wind, the land, the forests are all invoked in the search for his beloved. However, the

dark night proves pessimistic and his search fruitless. Nature provides no solution, and the bird is

bound to realize the hopelessness of regaining love, as well as the finality of losing it.

Furthermore, the moon’s engagement in the story is notorious, although it may not be so

explicit. It is the part of nature which seems to sympathize with the he-bird’s deep sense of loss,

observing and following his painful story. It is the moon, who, even in the first stanza has a

premonitory feeling of the sorrowful events yet to come: „From under that yellow half-moon

late-risen and swollen as if with tears” (Whitman 10). The bird, in his aria following his

revelation of loss, again makes a reference to the moon, attributing to it the importance of

reflecting his own soul. The moon is not full anymore, but sorrowfully lagging, under the burden

of „heavy love” (Whitman 75-76). The idyllic union of love has been broken, and has

transformed into sorrow and pain; the bird gradually loses hope of the return of his beloved,

while the “waning moon” (Whitman 102) has transformed from yellow to brown, suggesting the

fading of hope, and the prevalence of darkness, despair.

As opposed to the moon, the sun is a metaphorical representation of fulfilled love

and happiness, and thus serves as sharp contrast to the image of the moon. We can perceive the

opposition between night and day; the sun projecting the harmony of requited love, while the

moon being representative of the sorrowful experience, the misery of the loss of it.

“Shine, shine, shine!

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Pour down your warmth, great sun!

While we bask, we two together.”(Whitman 32-34)

As previously mentioned, the symbol of the sea also plays a significant role when

discussing the theme of nature in the poem. The sea, the “endlessly rocking cradle” is assigned a

dual function: the symbol of life and death. Referred to as a cradle, it is an implication of

maternity, birth; yet at the same time, it is the sea that utters the sorrowful word of death.

Whitman thus uses the sea as a metaphorical representation to raise the question of the cycle of

life and the possibility of rebirth.

It is important to note the contrast perceived in the fact that it was at daybreak when the

“delicious word” (Whitman 181.) of death was whispered by the sea. With the help and

utilization of nature Whitman blends the images of life and death – death, as the ultimate ending,

the final phase of life; and daybreak, the opening phase of a new day.

The boy eventually begins to feel a brotherhood towards the bird, thus expressing a deep

connection towards nature as a whole. Calling the bird his brother is an allusion to their shared

experience of loss; he is not a guest anymore, but has become an integrated part of the boy’s

world. The poet seems to allude to a oneness with nature, as he were an internal part of it; thus

giving the natural a world a significant role in the poem, and more importantly, in his own life.

Therefore, nature plays a central role in both the life of the poet and the life of the bird. It

is to nature that the bird loses his mate, but it is also nature and the cycle of life which lead the

boy to his final revelation. The elements of nature are seen as hope – a hope for the ultimate

insight into life. It could be said that nature, therefore, plays a dual part in the poem – it is where

life and death fuse; it becomes the source of death, but also, metaphorically, birth.

Whitman emphasizes the cyclical nature of life. He mentions the fifth-month, the ninth-

month, day and night, birth and life, all part of the cycle of life. „Out of the Ninth-month

midnight” (Whitman 3.) in the opening stanza suggests the human cycle of fertility, and serves as

a contrast to “the sterile sands” (Whitman 4.) in the next line. The poet also makes an allusion to

an old mother, who by the end of the poem has transformed into an old crone, yet still endlessly

rocking the cradle. Whitman greatly utilizes images of the natural world as implications of his

messages and ideas, and the idea of the neverending cycle of life opens the possibility of an

optimistic interpretation of the poem.

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Apart from life and death, the poet merges the experiences of humans with that of nature.

The boy’s ability to sympathize with the bird and to translate his experience into that of humans,

enables him to discover his ultimate purpose in life. Through the portrayal of the profound

connection between the birds and the boy, Whitman emphasizes the close relationship between

nature and man.

Discovery of the sense of self – The birth of a poet

All the previously mentioned themes flow together into one, the most significant – the

discovery of the sense of self. The reader follows the experiences of the boy, as he matures into

the poet whom we see as the conclusion of the poem.

There are actually two narrators present in ’Out of the Cradle’, the boy and the man,

whose voices eventually fuse or merge into one – that of a mature poet.

With the utilization of his experiences of love, sorrow and death, poetry awakens in the

boy. Mentored by nature, he discovers his purpose in life, and his own songs arouse in his soul.

This he already summarized in the opening stanza - „From those beginning notes of yearning and

love, there in the transparent mist, /From the thousand responses of my heart, never to cease…”

(Whitman 11-12.) – but elaborated on in the following lines.

The ultimate revelation occurs near the end of the poem, when the boy inquires whether

the bird had been singing to his mate, or rather to him. He is able to sympathize with the bird, to

have compassion towards his pain and suffering – “O you singer, solitary, singing by yourself,

projecting me” (Whitman 150.). This is how the boy is able to achieve the discovery of his true

sense of self and mature into a poet. The moment of transformation and revelation is conveyed in

the lines: “Now I know what I am for, I awake, /And already a thousand singers, a thousand

songs, clearer, louder and more sorrowful than yours, /A thousand warbling echoes have started

to life within me, never to die.” (Whitman 147-149.)

The sea’s final assertion of death, „the word superior to all” (Whitman 161.) is perceived

with calmness by the poet, and it is in these lines that, apart from the discovery of the self, the

discovery of the purpose of his poetry is made. It is when faced with death, that the mature poet

has become aware of the importance of it. „He not only realizes his destiny, but also gains

insight into the subject of poetry – death. Death is the superior theme, the framework of

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existence, determining all.” (Van Doren 46.) It is only the realization of death that can lead to

artistic maturity and a superior emotional state. This experience, therefore, marks a turning point

in the boy’s life, and leads him onto the path of his profession.

In the beginning, the observing boy is “cautiously peering, absorbing, translating”

(Whitman 31.). Whitman here already hints at the boy’s potentials to become an artist, a poet,

who is invested with the ability of feeling and comprehending more than ordinary people. This

detailed observation allows the boy to awaken his poetic potentials. Whitman’s observations and

sensations were also employed in his poetry. He enjoyed watching people, their gestures and

faces; this intimate knowledge of the city was greatly projected in his works. A poet’s task,

therefore, is significant, as it is only him, who is endowed with the capability of “translating”

experience into words.

The poem ends with the phrase “The sea whisper’d me” (Whitman 183.), which can be

interpreted according to his poetic development. It was the word of the sea which awaked in him

his poetic desires and potentials, and had completed his growth from a boy to a poet. His growth,

however, stops at the end of the poem, as at that point he has achieved his purpose – he has not

only realized his wishes to become a poet, but his songs awakened as well, enabling him to

endlessly create. Proceeding from here, his only task is to successfully fulfill his role as a poet.

The reader cannot perceive any uncertainty in his voice, an implication of self-confidence.

Giving death a dual nature, Whitman is able to perceive it as not something final, but

opening new beginnings. He resolved in himself that death is the cause of joy and grief, the

creation and destruction of life, and the reason of both happiness and sorrow. Therefore, despite

the feelings of sadness and sorrow, the poem ends with the celebration of the birth of the self.

And it is this mature self which is looking back on the past and recalling his childhood

memories.

“Leo Spitzer concludes that once the boy hears the word “death” spoken by the sea he

discovers “the meaning of life, which is death and he is no longer the boy of the beginning… He

has become the poet, the ‘uniter of here and hereafter’…”” (Wohlpart, 77.)

“For Wilson Allen, the poem is also an allusion to the boy maturing into a poet. In A

Reader’s Guide to Walt Whitman he says that “what the poem is really about is how the boy

became a man and a poet through the childhood initiation into the mystery of death and

maternity”.” (Wolhpart, 77.)

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CONCLUSION

To conclude, I would like to summarize my personal impressions of the poem. It is only

after close analysis and observation of the themes and ideas enveloping the poem that one is able

to fully comprehend Whitman’s message. Intertwining images of nature with deep personal

emotions, the poet was able to create a masterpiece, moving the hearts of readers even centuries

later.

Although at first glance ‘Out of the Cradle’ seems to be a poem about the poet’s

recollection of his childhood memories, the lost love of two birds and a poet’s awakening to his

real identity, it is much more. Yes, it does evoke feelings of unfulfilled love, and yes, it does

allude to the unceasing sorrow of death. However, when more closely explored, one is bound to

realize that what Whitman actually implies in his work is a generalization of life, something we

all experience.

First of all, the happiness of fulfilled love is most certainly a feeling longed for by all,

and experienced by the more fortunate. For, as implied by Whitman himself, the joy of requited

love is one of the keys to the greatest pleasures in life. However, this makes the loss of love all

the more painful, as portrayed in the heartache and despair of the he-bird. I certainly believe this

is a feeling to be sympathized by all.

Furthermore, the implication of the cycle of life – the birth of a poet as a result of the

death of the she-bird and the provoked sorrow of the he-bird – offers a sense of hope for the

reader. Whitman suggests that the end may not necessarily mean finality, but the birth or rebirth

of something new, and it is only through annihilation that one can attain a thorough

understanding of the meaning of life. Therefore, somewhere between the lines, the poet may hint

at immortality as well, which for him can be achieved through poetry.

Despite the fact that on the surface, ‘Out of the Cradle’ seems to be a poem like any

other, it is important to search for and find the deeper meaning conveyed; and when done so, one

is offered the possibility of gaining a better understanding of not only Whitman’s life, but his

own as well

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REFERENCES

Bauerlein, Mark. The Walt Whitman Archive. 26 April 2010.

Available at: http://www.whitmanarchive.org/criticism/current/encyclopedia/entry_43.html

Hart, J. The Oxford Companion to American Literature. New York: OUP. 1983.

Kummings, D. Donald. A Companion to Walt Whitman. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2009.

Pacić, B. The Big Ten Major Nineteenth Century American Writers. Niš : Univerzitet u Nišu,.

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Available at: http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1315&context=wwqr