JE44 Barbaric Yawp

            From the Song of Myself number 52, Whitman wrote “I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.” He also described himself as “untamed” and “untranslatable” in the previous sentence. I believe he wanted to send a message to the world. The message might be a little shocking and unorthodox. However, he thought the no one could understand his “barbaric yawp” because of he thought he was unique and untranslatable. It can be inferred that Whitman was not a conformist in his era. He used free verse in his poems, in which was not a tradition way of writing poem. He refused to follow the rhyming and patterns used in the past.

Like the romantic works, the elements of this poem have a strong connection with nature. Throughout the poem, Whitman compared himself with nature. He believed he is an element in nature. The idea is close to the Romantics, who believed they could find the truth within nature. In the end, he wrote, “I stop somewhere waiting for you.” I think it means that they truth is somewhere in the nature and is waiting for people to discover it. The theme of this poem is similar to the poems in Romantic period.