Hi all! In stark contrast to the other works of Whitman that we have read and focused on so far, the Calamus poems allow us to take a deep breath after engaging in Whitman’s long-winded and rambling nature, and instead take a dive into his homosexual side.
As mentioned above, the Calamus poems, a collection of 39 relatively, at least by Whitman’s standards, short poems, explore a variety of themes. This is drastically different than the type of long-form writing we have seen from Whitman in “Song of Myself” and “Song of the Open Road”. What does this difference signify? How did this shorter form affect your reading and understanding of the works? Did you feel as though there was an overarching theme found amongst most, if not all, of the poems, or did each poem feel distinct and separated from the others?
One theme that I noticed developing, especially as I continued further into the collection, was the idea of homosexual love, specifically between two men. In the first few poems, such as “Whoever You Are Holding Me Now in Hand”, Whitman’s description of a romantic and/or sexual connection between two men (one of those men presumably being himself) feels more obscure and almost hidden: “With the comrade’s long-dwelling kiss or the new husband’s kiss, / For I am the new husband and I am the comrade” (Whitman 271). To some, this may feel obvious, but compared to the ways that Whitman describes this relationship in poems further within the collection, such as the line “And when I thought how my dear friend my lover was on his way coming, O then I was happy,” (Whitman 276) from “When I Heard at the Close of the Day”, the first quote feels less public and more shied away. Why do you feel that Whitman’s descriptions of homosexual relationships, both romantic and sexual, became more clear and obvious as he gets further into the collection? Is he becoming more comfortable with himself or does he feel that he needs to speak out about this love and desire because he is growing old and running out of time to say it?
Throughout all of these poems, Whitman describes and labels homosexual love and desire, and people who engage in those types of love and desire, different things. For example, in some poems, such as “For You O Democracy” and “The Base of All Metaphysics”, he refers to men who are involved in these relationships as comrades, while in other poems, such as “Are You the New Person Drawn toward Me?” and “City of Orgies”, he refers to them as lovers. Do you see these terms as interchangeable, or is there a distinction between when someone is a comrade versus when they are a lover? In “O You Whom I Often and Silently Come”, Whitman seems to hint at the idea of an unrequited love in the line “Little you know the subtle electric fire that for your sake is playing within me” (Whitman 286); is comrade used when someone does not reciprocate the feelings Whitman has for them, and is lover used when those feelings are returned?
There are so many more questions I could ask, and so many other things I could talk about when it comes to this collection of poems, but I will leave it there for now! Please let me know what you think about any of the things that I mentioned above, or anything else you noticed in this collection of poems; I have a whole list of other things I would love to talk about in regards to them 🙂
Hi Sarah! I want to try to answer your first question about the length of the poems. Firstly, I appreciated the shortness of the Calamus poems, and I was even surprised to find them so short. To me, shorter poems seem to resinate with me harder because I find it lovely how a poet can say so much with little lines/stanzas. I definitely see beauty in the idea of short and sweet. However, as I mentioned, the length difference took me by surprise. You ask what we can think of this difference, and I think I connect this a bit to your second question. We see a lot of homosexual tones throughout these poems, I believe the shortness can (in a small way) be attributed to that. Whitman is laying out this part of himself, and maybe it can be easier to write if he puts it in short poems. If Whitman wrote pages and pages of length, like “Song of Myself,” surrounding this homosexuality I think it would have been much more loud. While today we notice these tones easily, he writes a couple times throughout about keeping this hidden. So, I can see the shortness being an outlet. Additionally, many of the Calamus poems have specific focuses. I think the short length of the poems can also be attributed to the narrow lenses they hold! Thanks for your great questions :))))))
I felt the same way as Tanner when I was reading Calamus — the length of the poems caught be by complete surprise. I took this as vulnerability, which I didn’t fully see with “Song of Myself.” In “Song of Myself,” Whitman was speaking for the general population, not just for himself. There’s a wall there, feelings that take everyone in America into account, not just himself as an individual. While he does reference himself in “Song of Myself,” he is still speaking from an emotional podium, as a teacher and a friend; he is also “speaking for the people, as the people,” where you, as a reader, can almost place yourself in Whitman’s shoes (you, too, contain multitudes). With this, there is a natural separation from intimacy. “Song of Myself” feels like a declaration for the country and it’s inhabitants, not a declaration of Whitman’s intimate and private thoughts. That’s why Calamus felt so different for me — I felt like Whitman was acknowledging the parts of himself he doesn’t like, which is the complete opposite of “Song of Myself” where there’s an almost egotistical voice being used in the narration. Calamus was vulnerable, imperfect, and afraid. Whitman expressed, in multiple poems, that he felt like he cannot be accepted for who he truly is, which he is never bold enough to fully divulge in exact language (although, as we talked about in class, the language for “gayness”/homosexuality did not yet exist). The length of the poems make me imagine Whitman writing these in the haze of the night, when he is reflecting, not with the confidence “Song of Myself” embodies. I think there is an discomfort there that is not seen in “Song of Myself,” almost like the poems are so short because he cannot fully finish his thoughts. Thank you for the great post and the thoughtful questions!!!