Muriel Rukeyser In Da House

 "Life Goes On" -2Pac

How should we represent the dead?...

        I personally feel that there is a very different relationship between poet and reader when comparing Book of the Dead and When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd. While Whitman LoOoOoOved being all inclusive in poems like Song of Myself and Song of Occupations, I feel like Lilacs is more of a personal presentation. Whitman does end up gaining companions in Lilacs in the form of some creepy death-representing dudes, but I feel Lilacs was mostly Walt looking at himself by looking at the world, trying to find answers for himself, by himself. A lot of people go through some sort of self-reflection when dealing with death, so Lilacs represents that inner-struggle well. Book of the Dead feels more didactic, seeking to teach, or perhaps, just REMIND people of the construction of our nation. In the first 5 stanzas, Rukeyser is basically saying to me "Yo! Don't forget how we came to be here in this nation. Don't forget the people that died in the construction of this nation. Don't forget who used to live on the land you own. Don't forget."
Rukeyser says it herself:  

What three things can never be done?
Forget. Keep silent. Stand alone.

        Rukeyser refuses to forget or keep silent. Book of the Dead is proof. She remembers. She speaks on what happened. And she stands with those who have died, straight up representing for the Dead.

        In this way, I feel like Book of the Dead reminds me more of Song of Occupations. In that poem, Whitman was more like "Hey, sup guys. Whitman in da house. Don't forget about all these people that make the country run. Without work, this country would not work. Respect that. Don't forget. I won't stay silent about it. And I stand with the workers."
Rukeyser's poem feels like it was written by someone with anger in their heart over America's forgetful nature, but through her pen, she wrote stoic poetics that are firm, yet filled with respect for her people, which in this poem, are The Dead.
        
      The word "You" in Lilacs is used to describe the bird, the star, death, and generally, things that are NOT human. In Book of the Dead, using the word "You," Rukeyser seems to point a finger at the writers of history much of the time, or simply just those people who are inclined to forget history. She is putting a spotlight on things that people may not notice (like Whitman in Song of Occupations). She may even feel that the writers of history hide the whole truth in order to make sure people DON'T notice the real truth of the lives this country was built on. So, Rukeyser says "Fuck that shit. Here, Imma bust the facts for yall." And she does.

        In Lilacs, I definitely feel the poet has come to a feeling of resolution from tragedy. For Whitman, there is a beauty he finds in nature, and finding death to be natural, he eventually finds the beauty in death. For Rukeyser, she finds ugliness in the failure to recognize the sacrifices people have made. During the last section of the poem, she describes the miners from the Hawk's Nest Incident, and places them within the greater history of our nation, letting us know that just as the injustices and tragedies in our nation's early years won't be forgotten, neither will the lives and injustices of those workers in those mines. If a resolution can be found in Book of the Dead, it is in the fact that the poet, using her best vehicle for delivering her message (poetry), delivered her message, did not forget, and did not stay silent.

Here is Muriel Rukeyser's "Book of the Dead" in song form... if it were done in a not-so stoic manner.

If Philip Levine Was A Rapper...

...maybe he'd sound like this?
Maybe not.

But I just felt like posting these songs cuz A) I'm in the Philip Levine group, and his perspectives stay on my mind at the moment, so I notice them when they appear in some of the music I listen to, B) I'm about to leave for this 5am work shift, so I feel in the mood for these songs right now, cuz they let me know I don't have it too bad, really...
and C) Cuz it's my blog ;)

Atmosphere - Guarantees

Slug (from Atmosphere) - Not Another Day (Live)

Poetics of Collective Loss

        When Lilacs Last In The Dooryard Bloomed is a poem recalling loss, death, and life. Whitman aims to make peace with the loss of the 'man he loved' leaving a sprig from the lilac bush on the coffin of this man which passes through the nation, casting the shadow of loss across all the people. I did not have Lilacs read for class last Thursday, since I got used to checking the motherblog for everything and threw the syllabus to the side. Then again, the motherblog should not be granted the honor of the prestigious title MOTHERblog if it doesn't have everything we need to know on it, right? Cmon son. No context. Like a G. Anyway, I was confused on Thursday, but I still took notes. Professor Hanley mentioned to pay close attention to the lilac sprig/bush, the 'star,' and the bird that sings the 'carol' of death. I haven't gone into all the connections these symbols have, but my basic understanding of his use of these symbols in the shallowest sense is that the lilac presents a symbol of life and offering of beauty to the dead. The 'star' which sometimes seems to represent the sun, and sometimes the moon (?), represents the coming and going of days, seasons, and life. The bird's song gives beauty to the idea of death as the start of a new beginning, which it seems the poem's speaker embraces by the end of the poem. I really enjoyed the poem. Hanley, you weren't lying. It's good stuff!

        The first 9/11 poem that struck me as similar to Lilacs was a part of Lucille Clifton's "September Songs, A Poem In Seven Days," specifically her poem for "Sunday."


and i am consumed with love
for all of it
the everydayness of bravery
of hate of fear of tragedy
of death and birth and hope
true as this river
and especially with love
bailey fredrica clifton goin
for you

        I might be stretching, but Whitman's poem has a sense that it takes the loss of life in the same way we take a day in, with the light waking us up in the morning before having the earth be covered in darkness by nightfall, only to be lightened up again in the morning. At the end of Lilacs the poem's speaker is chillin with his death companions and the bird at "dusk and dim" waiting for the new day to begin. This "Sunday" poem also looks towards the future, specifically the poet's young relative (daughter?) Bailey Fredrica Clifton and looking not only at death, but "death birth and hope."

        Another poem I wanted to look at was "Hum" by Ann Lauterbach. She repeats many of her phrases, emphasizing a certain type of connection between everything it seems, and finding beauty in everything. She also brings up the ideas of days ("tomorrow," "yesterday," and "these days") in the same way Whitman does when he speaks on the star in the west which I view as the sun about to set to begin the night, and then a new day. Lauterbach sees a new beginning by pointing out that the "words" retired to their "books," that the "stones" were looses from their "settings," and that the "ashes" of loss remained. I feel as if this looks to a world that has changed more than it has lost, and that a new beginning can be made as the raw materials are still in our posession, they are just in different places/forms.
Whitman also looks to beauty in nature in his poem, where Lauterbach mentions beauty many times in her poem as if to remind everyone of the beauty in the world before being drowned in the idea of loss. Whitman also tries to find beauty in death as an end to suffering.

        Here's a bonus that you don't have to read since it is a bit off tangent from the assignment: When Professor Hanley mentioned the Lilac, Star, and Bird, I couldn't help but think of this song covered by Richie Havens called "High Flying Bird." The song is about loss as well, and features lyrics involving a high-flying bird, the lucky Sun that travels across the sky and gets to "meet God everyday," as well as the speaker of the song, who is stuck on the ground, "rooted like a tree." Tree, Sun, and Bird. I just thought the symbols were similar, and they were all used to give a new vision to loss, as Richie Havens sings about how the woman he lost now "flies" as a result of her death, which she could never do in life. The symbols are used differently from the way they are used in Whitman's poem, but I thought it was weird how similar the symbols were anyway. It's one of my favorite songs. Beautiful stuff.

Sir Hanley, I'm Sorry.

Not gonna post my blog assignment for Tuesday on time. Maybe I'll have it for tomorrow. Was busy all weekend. Just got back from school right now. Then these fools at work got me working 7-10pm tonight and 6am-1pm tomorrow. P-p-p-please don't give me a ✔-...

It's like I missed a shot, it's like I dropped the ball...

Worst song ever?

Project Development... Updated.

        So, I have decided to change up my approach to this Project Development thing. As long as I don't change my mind again, I am most likely going to make an expansion on my YouTubing Whitman project. In that project, I edited a video, placed one of my songs underneath, and recited Whitman lines on top. Through that project, I tried to create a new lens in which to view Whitman's poetry by way of visual media. Now, I'd like to create a new lens to view the Whitman poetry by transforming Whitman's verse into rap verse, and use his own colors to create a new painting.. I'd like to go into the Calamus poems, dig up lines that I can transform, add to, and subtract from, and create a song. I will take creative liberties while I do, cuz, you know...
    
        I will extract the CONTENT from the poetics of Whitman's lines, and then place the content back into a different poetic form. Sometimes, I will rip the lines right out of the poem, and stick them straight into the song. I will post my lyrics side by side with the Calamus poems/lines I adapted them from, to show what meanings and sentiments I derive from his poetry. I will also post the audio of the song on my blog once I'm done as well. My friend has a ghetto studio with a real vocal microphone, i.e. one that doesn't blow up and distort whenever you say a word with the letter "P" in it. Hopefully I can get him to hook me up. Otherwise, it will be recorded on my really bad microphone. My bad.

        I don't rap, but just this once, I will. My voice doesn't have much range, so I will probably sound like something in between the monotone stylings of Guru (from Gang Starr) and Evidence (from Dilated Peoples). On these songs here, both of the rappers I named had the benefit of having my producer-hero DJ Premier lace them with a dope-ass beat and scratches. I won't have that luxury, but I hope it comes out decent, because I am picky as hell when it comes to my Hip-Hop, and I will hate myself if it comes out wack. Real talk.

Rest in Peace, Guru.

Microphone check, 1, 2.

Tweet-A-Week: Peter Doyle

Peter Doyle was this one dude that Whitman loved. According to Doyle, as documented in the Whitman Archive online, their first meeting was like this:

While a passenger one evening on Doyle's horsecar, the 45-year old Whitman met the 21-year old conductor. Doyle described their first encounter:

You ask where I first met him? It is a curious story. We felt to each other at once. I was a conductor. The night was very stormy,—he had been over to see Burroughs before he came down to take the car—the storm was awful. Walt had his blanket—it was thrown round his shoulders—he seemed like an old sea-captain. He was the only passenger, it was a lonely night, so I thought I would go in and talk with him. Something in me made me do it and something in him drew me that way. He used to say there was something in me had the same effect on him. Anyway, I went into the car. We were familiar at once—I put my hand on his knee—we understood. He did not get out at the end of the trip—in fact went all the way back with me. I think the year of this was 1866. From that time on we were the biggest sort of friends (Bucke, 23).

I wanted to make sure to read the Calamus poems before writing this entry, as I figured to relate Peter Doyle to Walt Whitman was to know what the Calamus poems were all about. Whitman's job was that he was a writer. As a writer, he was drawn towards the life of "roughs" especially. Peter Doyle was one of these roughs. Peter worked as Blacksmith's helper in a Navy Yard at a time in his life, as well as a conductor when Walt met him, among other things. Whitman could romanticize these 'roughs,' and Peter could be seen as the 'rough' who became Whitman's close companion, friend, muse, and romantic partner.

"For a time, Whitman had even taken up the carpenter's craft that his father had taught to Walt and the other Whitman boys." -Peter the Great: Biography of Peter Doyle by Martin G. Murray.


Though Whitman was a writer, Peter connected Whitman to this life of a rough, which Whitman seemed to want to be more of a part of (as he previously was through connection from his family and his own foray in the world of carpentry). This may have led to some initial attraction and some good conversation between the two men, but at the end of the day, they ended up becoming great friends and lovers. Some poems in the Calamus cluster bring up the image of the Calamus, a plant that has a part that looks like a ding-a-ling. Other poems explore manly love, especially in the form of physical, sexual love, speaking of bodies intertwined with each other as if it was the only way a man could be happy. Other poems sound like love songs you might hear anywhere on the radio, only they mention that the love is between two men (which is something you wouldn't hear much on the radio, unless you listen to a very, very alternative station). Those poems which only focus on the love are very romantic and sweet, speaking of a longing for a "friend," a best friend, whose companionship brings true happiness. For Walt Whitman, Peter Doyle was that friend.

When I typed 'ding-a-ling' in this post to describe the calamus, I remembered this song, which got heavy play on hip-hop radio back in 1998. I was 10 years old then. I had no business listening to this song. It's almost as freaky as Whitman. That hook is kinda classic though, no?

*I recommend not clicking on the song. I got off home from work at 1am, have yet to sleep, and my mind is lacking its best judgement, I'm sure.*

Project Development

I kinda wanted to look at some more of Whitman's peers, but at the same time, I didn't. Then I also wanted to look at more examples of Whitman in Mass Media, but at the same time, I didn't. I was wondering if I could do a project that in a way combines elements from those two projects (but at the same time, is a bit different)? What I had in mind is looking for a few of Whitman's peers, not in terms of time/place/artform, but in terms of an artist who directly claims Whitman as a heavy influence and creates art as a 'peer' of Whitman in terms of his 'realm of style' (and I wouldn't dwell on any of the poets/artists who are involved in our teaching project). After finding a few artists who state they are directly influenced, I wanted to look at what exactly they took from Whitman's influence (free-form? romantic aspects? ideas of interconnectedness? language? democratic ideals?) I wanted to build on the other 'Whitman's Peers' post by showing Whitman influence that is direct and stated, and this idea comes from the fact that one of my 'Whitman In Mass Media' entries directly stated Whitman as an influence. What I really hope to find is a few artists I don't know much about, and examining their art to find what they borrow from Whitman, which might also show me what certain things people notice the most about Whitman.