Walt Whitman's, "Chanting the Square Deific", shows many of the traits of Self and Spirituality that he had used in a certain time frame of his writing. Whitman uses the idea of a quaternion, or four sided religious belief while many people are use to the three. Many people believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as much of the population of the United States is some type of Christian. Whitman uses the quaternion in the way of God, Jesus, Satan, and the Soul, each having their own stanza. The inner personality of each subject of a stanza is revealed throughout the poem.
The "soul" or who God is, according to Whitman, is not persuadable, relentless, and unmerciful. "Not Time affects me—I am Time, old, modern as any, Unpersuadable, relentless, executing righteous judgments"(Whitman 1). "Executing righteous judgments" and "Relentless I forgive no man—whoever sins dies—I will have that man's life;" tell the reader that the man is not forgiving and that any man who has sinned will not be forgiven for his actions and their life will be taken from them. The author is a harsh but just man in his eyes and God does not feel bad for the judgment and decisions he must make. "I dispense from this side judgments inexorable without the least remorse"(Whitman 1). God believes that he is here to pass judgment on those of the living and make the decision whether man shall live or parish. In the remaining stanzas, Jesus, Satan, and the Spirit are able to interpret themselves as to who they are and why they are here.
Jesus shows affection, forgiveness, and bears the sins of the world on his shoulders. Jesus knows that he is here to take on all the burdens of the people of the world from the rich to the poor. "For I am affection, I am the cheer-bringing God, with hope and all-enclosing charity" and "All sorrow, labor, suffering, I, tallying it, absorb in myself, Many times have I been rejected, taunted, put in prison, and crucified, and many times shall be again" proves who Jesus really is(Whitman 2).
Satan is "Aloof, dissatisfied, plotting revolt" which means Satan is a trouble maker, but he is also the "brother of slaves" showing a kind-hearted sides towards those less fortunate(Whitman 3). Satan knows that he is here to cause war between nations and people in general and to cause trouble for those trying to get to heaven by putting temptations in their lives.
The Holy Spirit is what brings the other three together. The Spirit is like the person on a team that everyone likes and gets along with. "Including all life on earth, touching, including God, including Saviour and Satan" (Whitman 4). The Spirit is a little of all three and reconciles the three. The Spirit is here to be the universe, to be everything everywhere and it does its job to keep the three others in line.
"Chanting the Square Deific" is about four incredible forces whom are able to identify who they truly are and why they are here which is a part of Self. Normal people struggle to realize who they are and what purpose they serve in the universe and the author is trying to show that a normal person may not be able to identify themselves as to who they really are but a divine force can for it is true and honest.
Oliver, Charles M. "'Chanting the Square Deific'." Critical Companion to Walt Whitman: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. |
No comments:
Post a Comment