2.1 Song of the Open Road

 2.1  Song of the Open Road

About the poet – Walt Whitman , an American poet ,essayist and journalist , often called the’ father of free verse’ . Major work ‘Leaves of Grass’

About the Poem – ‘Song of The Open Road ’ is a beautiful blend of self awareness ,free will and tenderness of heart .  the  road signifies mobility Whitman argues against staying in one place for too long . 

Type of the poem  -  Free Verse  - Free verse is a poetry that does not rhyme or have regular rhythm , traditional poetic techniques are absent  , length of lines is irregular . Commonly used and practiced by modern poets

Dramatic   Monologue  - A poem written in the form of a speech of an individual.

Use of personal pronoun ‘ I ’ is evident and prominent – shows us that the poet is fully incharge of his life , his destiny , his actions his decisions and the consequences ( Occurs fifteen times in the poem)

                         Points to remember  

1) Traits of poets personality  - Self confidence , positive , self reliant , aware and honest about himself

2) Describing  words   a) for himself  -  light hearted ,  good fortune  , strong and content

                                      b) For world -  healthy  , free 

3) Certain words are repeated -before me , I know , I carry , They are  …

Parenthesis -  Ending  five lines are put into bracket to support his thought showing concern with men and women

                         Figure of Speech

1) Paradox – self contradictory or an absurd statement

  e.g.’ Still he here I carry my old delicious burden’  ( burdens can’t be delicious

2) Transferred Epithet  - An adjective is transferred from one object or thing to another

E. g. Done with indoor complaints , libraries querulous complaints

3) Title of the Poem is metaphorical  - the road stands for journey of life