Feeling of Wonderful and Grateful for the Creation
of God
In Poetry Miracles
by Walt Whitman
Analyzed
by Deka Novianti
WHY! who makes much of a miracle?
As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach, just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love—or sleep in the bed at night with any one I love,
Or sit at table at dinner with my mother,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive, of a summer forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds—or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sun-down—or of stars shining so quiet and bright,
Or the exquisite, delicate, thin curve of the new moon in spring;
Or whether I go among those I like best, and that like me best—mechanics, boatmen,
farmers,
Or among the savans—or to the soiree—or to the opera,
Or stand a long while looking at the movements of machinery,
Or behold children at their sports,
Or the admirable sight of the perfect old man, or the perfect old woman,
Or the sick in hospitals, or the dead carried to burial,
Or my own eyes and figure in the glass;
These, with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring—yet each distinct, and in its place.
To me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,
Every foot of the interior swarms with the same;
Every spear of grass—the frames, limbs, organs, of men and women, and all that
concerns
them,
All these to me are unspeakably perfect miracles.
To me the sea is a continual miracle;
The fishes that swim—the rocks—the motion of the waves—the ships, with men
in
them,
What stranger miracles are there?
As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach, just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love—or sleep in the bed at night with any one I love,
Or sit at table at dinner with my mother,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive, of a summer forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds—or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sun-down—or of stars shining so quiet and bright,
Or the exquisite, delicate, thin curve of the new moon in spring;
Or whether I go among those I like best, and that like me best—mechanics, boatmen,
farmers,
Or among the savans—or to the soiree—or to the opera,
Or stand a long while looking at the movements of machinery,
Or behold children at their sports,
Or the admirable sight of the perfect old man, or the perfect old woman,
Or the sick in hospitals, or the dead carried to burial,
Or my own eyes and figure in the glass;
These, with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring—yet each distinct, and in its place.
To me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,
Every foot of the interior swarms with the same;
Every spear of grass—the frames, limbs, organs, of men and women, and all that
concerns
them,
All these to me are unspeakably perfect miracles.
To me the sea is a continual miracle;
The fishes that swim—the rocks—the motion of the waves—the ships, with men
in
them,
What stranger miracles are there?
1.
Introduction
Miracles is a poem that was written by Walt Whitman. From the title, some people
may have been interested to read the contents of the poem. People will be
anxious about what this poem wants to tell about. If we continue reading the
poem line by line, we will be influenced by the speaker’s words because we will
imagine every sentence in the poem. Every sentence in this poem is really
meaningful. We will aware from the simple until the big thing in our lives is
very wonderful and amazing. This poem gives a great moral lesson that we should
be grateful to everything in our lives.
The author of Miracles is Walt Whitman. Walter
"Walt" Whitman is an American poet and essayist. Whitman's
major work, Leaves of Grass, was first published in 1855 with his own
money and, a total of 795 copies were printed. The work was an attempt at
reaching out to the common person with an American epic. His work was very
controversial in its time. Particularly his poetry collection Leaves of
Grass was described as obscene for its overt sexuality. He is often called
the father of free verse. Early in his career, he produced a temperance novel, Franklin
Evans (1842). Whitman also ever worked as a journalist, a teacher, a
government clerk, and was a volunteer nurse during the American Civil War.
Whitman was concerned with politics throughout his life and he opposed the
extension of slavery generally. His poetry presented an egalitarian view of the
races. Whitman’s ambition, expansiveness, and embrace of all the high and low
features of American life influenced many poets of the twentieth century,
including D.H. Lawrence, William Carlos Williams, Hart Crane, and Allen
Ginsberg.
In analyzing
poetry Miracles, I use imagery. Imagery,
in a literary text, is an author's use of vivid and descriptive language to add
depth to his or her work. It represents objects, actions and ideas in such a
way that it appeals to our physical senses. Usually it is thought that imagery
makes use of particular words that create visual representation of ideas in our
minds. The word imagery is associated with mental pictures. There are seven
types of imagery, each corresponding to a sense, feeling, or action. They are visual imagery that pertains the sense
of sight, auditory imagery which
pertains the sense of hearing, olfactory
imagery that pertains the sense of smell, gustatory imagery that pertains the sense of taste, tactile imagery that pertains the sense
of touch, kinesthetic imagery which
pertains the sense of bodily motion, and organic imagery which pertains to personal experiences of a
character's body, including emotion and the senses of hunger, thirst, fatigue,
and pain.
2.
Analysis
From poetry Miracles, it can be revealed about a feeling of wonderful and grateful
of the speaker to everything in his life whether it is a simple or a big thing.
Speaker uses word “miracles” to show his wonderfulness in this poetry. A word
“miracles” shows a beautifulness that can make many people be interested in it.
In this poetry, speaker calls everything that he does, feels and sees as
miracles. It can be proved from the first stanza line 2, “As to me, I know of
nothing else but miracles”. It shows that speaker thinks that all of thing near
him is an exciting thing and makes him become interested.
Speaker enjoys every natural phenomenon
in his life. In the first stanza line 2, 3 and 5, “As to me, I know of nothing
else but miracles, Whether I walk the street of Manhattan, Or wade with naked
feet along the beach”, shows that speaker is excited with the natural condition
that he feels. He feels the softness of the sand at the beach directly by his
feet without shoes or the other footwear. In addition, he also can enjoy the
beautiful scene of the beach. It is also supported by the first stanza line 6, “Or
stand under trees in the woods”, expresses that speaker likes to stand under
the trees. By standing under the trees, it makes him feel fresh and cool
because of the wind and oxygen for breathing that comes from the trees. The
speaker also notices and likes the changing from noon to the night. It can be
proved from the first stanza line 13, “Or the wonderfulness of the sun-down-or
of stars shining so quiet and bright”. “The sun-down” shows that it will be turn
into a night. However, a night does not mean that it will be dark at all
because there are many stars will shine and make great light.
Doing some activities with people that
he loves is also a pleasant thing and a miracle according to the speaker. Happiness
only need simple thing, such as always communicate with someone that he loves
can make him happy. It can be proved in the first stanza line 7, “Or talk by
day with any one I love”. From this statement, it is obvious that communication
can make good relationship between someone and another, and communication plays
an important role in our lives. The other little thing that the speaker does to
make his life become pleasant is by having dinner with his parent. In the first
stanza line 8, “Or sit at table a dinner with my mother”, shows that the
speaker really enjoy a simple thing in his life. By having dinner with his someone,
he can much closer with her, especially with a mother. Dinner is a time when
people can share their story that they have passed before to the other.
Not only enjoy with someone who is known
by the speaker, he also wonder with the strangers that he sees. It can be
proved from the first stanza line 9, “Or look at strangers opposite me riding
in the car”. It shows that the speaker does not only notice his own family, but
also he cares and wants to take lesson from the other people although he does
not know them. Speaker also thinks that looking strangers near him is also a
miracle because not only the speaker and his family that live in this world,
but there are still many other people.
Besides human, speaker also pays
attention to some animals. The first stanza line 10, “Or watch honey-bees busy
around the hive, of a summer forenoon’, expresses how beautiful noise is it. It
is also supported by the first stanza line 11, “Or animals feeding in the
fields”. If we imagine it, we may see the harmony and solidarity life of all of
animals in the fields. The first stanza line 12, “Or birds-or the wonderfulness
of insects in the air”, also expresses the exciting thing that related to the
animals. The speaker can see some birds and the other insects that fly in the
air. How wonderful thing is that view!
Not only in the land and in the air, but
the speaker also wonder about life in the water. It can be proved in the third
stanza line 1-2, “To me the sea is a continual miracle; The fishes that
swim-the rocks-the motion of the waves-the ships, with men in them”. It shows
the amazing thing in the sea. We can imagine the colorful of many fishes that
swim in the sea and the wave that splash with a ship on the surface of the sea.
There are also many people in the ship.
From the some exciting things in his
life that have already mentioned above, certainly the speaker feel wonder and
be grateful of his life and calls it as miracles. He makes his statement
stronger in the second stanza line 1-2, ‘To me, every hour of the light and
dark is a miracle, Every cubic inch of space is a miracle”. It shows that the
speaker really excited with anything in his life. It is supported by the second
stanza line 8, “All these to me are unspeakably miracles”. Because all of in
his life make the speaker become interested, he cannot do anything even though
he wants to talk. In other word, he really feels exciting.
3.
Conclusion
Surely there is the most beautiful
creator behind all of beautiful creations in the earth. The speaker ask
question about it in the first stanza line 1, “WHY! Who makes much of a
miracle?” It shows that the speaker be anxious to find out who makes all of
miracles in his life. The creator and the owner of the earth and all of things
that involve in it should be the most powerful person or thing. The only thing
that fulfills this requirement is only God. So, the speaker feels exciting and
be grateful for the creation of God.
Speaker in this poetry is an adult and
may be man or woman. She/he likes to notices and feels everything in his life
whether it is a simple or a big thing. By looking to the amazing and wonderful
thing near her/him, she/he becomes enthusiastic and ask question who makes that
miracles. God is the only one that has powerful to create that beautiful earth
and all of amazing things in it.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/walt_whitman/poems/17481,
accessed on December 8th, 2015
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Whitman,
accessed on December 15th, 2015
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/walt-whitman,
accessed on December 15th, 2015
http://www.literarydevices.com/imagery/,
accessed on December 17th, 2015
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagery,
accessed on December 17th, 2015
