"I Sit and Look Out"

Walt Whitman was opposed to slavery and wrote frequently about it in such poems as "I Sing the Body Electric", "Song of Myself" and "I Sit and Look Out" (Klammer). Those poems were published in Leaves of Grass as the Fugitive Slave Law and the Wilmont Proviso were debated in a pre- Civil War America (Klammer). Whitman took action through words, writing editorials, poems, and articles about "freedom and liberty of persons of African descent" (Klammer). As opposed to Henry David Thoreau who did not take action, and only talked about abolitionism and freedom, Walt Whitman fought in the Civil War for the rights of the "Negro", the African American slaves (Klammer). Whitman sought to represent both the southern African American slaves and their white masters (Klammer). He tried to get both sides to understand that he will "go with the slaves of the earth equally with the masters . . . Entering into both so that both will understand me alike" (Klammer).

Although Walt Whitman received attention, the change he desired did not come with the attention. His sadness and regret shone through in "I Sit and Look Out". He describes the "agonies" of the world in his day, including slavery and war, and at the end comes to the conclusion that in "all the meaness and agony without end" he looks out and realizes "see, hear. and am silent" (Whitman). That was the problem with America at that time period. Enough people realized that slavery was not acceptable and people should not be treated in that way, but not enough action was taken to solve the issue peacefully before it resulted in a bloody Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves with his Emancipation Proclamation, but as Ralph Waldo Emerson so firmly believed, that "a piece of paper would not free anyone" (Hawthorne). Everyone can be the narrator in "I Sit and Look Out" and see all of the problems in the world. Only a brave few will, and can, take action to stop the "agonies" and "sorrows of the world" (Whitman).



Hawthorne, Julian. "Emerson as an American." In The Genius and Character of Emerson. Boston: James R. Osgood, 1885. Quoted as "Emerson as an American." in Bloom, Harold, ed. The American Dream, Bloom's Literary Themes. New York: Chelsea Publishing House, 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. 12 Mar. 2012.

Klammer, Martin. "Slavery and Abolitionism". J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings, eds., Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland Publishing, 1998. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.

Whitman, Walt . "I Sit and Look out." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.