Written in 1871, the poem ‘As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days’ finds Walt Whitman musing over the future that lies before the nation in the aftermath of the American Civil War (1861-1865). Ultimately, it offers both an earnest and hopeful vision of the final decades of the 19th century.
One unburdened by the violent sundering caused by four years of civil war and propelled by the innovation of mass industrialization. But what makes this poem so prescient is its reckoning with the poet’s purpose within an ever-changing and technologically advancing society.
As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days Walt WhitmanAs I walk these broad majestic days of peace,(For the war, the struggle of blood finish'd, wherein, O terrific Ideal,Against vast odds erewhile having gloriously won,Now thou stridest on, yet perhaps in time toward denser wars,Perhaps to engage in time in still more dreadful contests, dangers,Longer campaigns and crises, labors beyond all others,)Around me I hear that eclat of the world, politics, produce,The announcements of recognized things, science,The approved growth of cities and the spread of inventions.I see the ships, (they will last a few years,)The vast factories with their foremen and workmen,And hear the indorsement of all, and do not object to it.But I too announce solid things,Science, ships, politics, cities, factories, are not nothing,Like a grand procession to music of distant bugles pouring, triumphantly moving, and grander heaving in sight,They stand for realities—all is as it should be.Then my realities;What else is so real as mine?Libertad and the divine average, freedom to every slave on the face of the earth,The rapt promises and luminé of seers, the spiritual world, these centuries-lasting songs,And our visions, the visions of poets, the most solid announcements of any.
Summary
‘As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days’ by Walt Whitman contemplates the essential and tangible role of the poet in regard to their country and age.
‘As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days’ opens with the speaker reveling and contemplating the end of the American Civil War. Acknowledging both the bloody losses and glorious victory of the Union armies over the Confederates, they also allude to the possibility that greater wars are yet to come.
The world is overtaken by novel majesty and splendor, where cities grow exponentially, and inventions are ushering in a new age. The speaker remarks that in the face of such advancements, ships will only last a few more years. They think of the massive factories filled with workers who hear the world’s approval of such industry-driven change.
A case is then made for poets as being just as essential. The things they announce or describe are also palpable and real: “science, ships, politics, cities, factories.” Describing it as a procession set to music.
The speaker reveals their own realities, asking what else is just as real as the things they espouse and imagine. There is the Roman goddess of liberty, the sublime of everyday people, an end to slavery, spirituality, and even the songs that are passed down through history. All are just as real as the poet’s visions.
Structure and Form
‘As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days’ is divided into four stanzas written in free verse. It contains no formal rhyme scheme or meter. The first stanza consists of nine lines and deals with the question of triumph and future wars. The second is only three lines and predicts the changes that will occur with industrialization. The third and fourth stanzas are comprised of five lines and mark a shift in the poem’s focus from an end to the war and progress toward the importance of poets.
Literary Devices
‘As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days’ utilizes the following literary devices:
- Auditory Imagery: an illustration of sound, as when the speaker describes hearing “that eclat of the world, politics, produce, / The announcements of recognized things, science” (7-8) or the “grand procession to music of distant bugles pouring” (15).
- Kinesthetic Imagery: a depiction of motion, such as the line “Now thou stridest on” (4) and “triumphantly moving, and grander heaving in sight” (15).
- Visual Imagery: an image that creates a mental picture in the reader’s mind, as when the speaker mentions “denser wars, / Perhaps to engage in time in still more dreadful contests, dangers, / Longer campaigns and crises, labors beyond all others” (4-6) or notes the sight of “ships… / The vast factories with their foremen and workmen” (10-11).
- Paradox: a seemingly self-contradictory statement, such as the speaker’s praise of “the divine average” (19) which underscores their perception of the common man as sublime and noble.
Detailed Analysis
Stanza One
As I walk these broad majestic days of peace,
(For the war, the struggle of blood finish’d, wherein, O terrific Ideal,
Against vast odds erewhile having gloriously won,
Now thou stridest on, yet perhaps in time toward denser wars,
Perhaps to engage in time in still more dreadful contests, dangers,
Longer campaigns and crises, labors beyond all others,)
Around me I hear that eclat of the world, politics, produce,
The announcements of recognized things, science,
The approved growth of cities and the spread of inventions.
The first stanza of ‘As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days’ orients the rest of the poem around the end of the American Civil War. Its opening line envisions the speaker striding confidently toward these “broad majestic days of peace” (1). But beneath this hopeful bravado is a contemplation of the war and an understanding that periods of tranquility are just as temporary as ones consumed by strife.
So although the “terrific Ideal, / Against vast odds erewhile having gloriously won” (2-3), the speaker also entertains the possibility that they “stridest on, yet perhaps in time toward denser wars” (4). Whitman doesn’t intend to dampen the victory with his premonitions of future “dreadful contests, dangers” (5) but rather to underscore the future’s tendency toward change.
The speaker ends the stanza with a positive image of that dynamism, which they describe as an audible worldwide celebration of “recognized things” (8). These include science, the rise of cities as urban centers, and the prevalence of inventions. All of which exemplify the ways in which technological innovations are actively altering the lives of Americans for the better.
Stanza Two
I see the ships, (they will last a few years,)
The vast factories with their foremen and workmen,
And hear the indorsement of all, and do not object to it.
Stanza two of ‘As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days’ finds the speaker wagering that the ships they now look upon will only “last a few years” (10) before presumably being replaced by something more advanced. Whitman might’ve been overzealous in thinking transportation by water would disappear entirely, but the speaker’s words do foreshadow the rise of alternatives like air travel.
The speaker then conjures up an image of “vast factories with their foremen and workmen” (11). These men — the progenitors of this progress — hear the endorsement offered by the world and “do not object to it” (12). In other words, they, too, support the arrival of this industrial age.
Stanza Three
But I too announce solid things,
Science, ships, politics, cities, factories, are not nothing,
Like a grand procession to music of distant bugles pouring, triumphantly moving, and grander heaving in sight,
They stand for realities—all is as it should be.
In the third stanza of ‘As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days, ‘ the speaker starts to impart and define the importance of poets. Like politics and science, “[they] too announce solid things” (13). But the speaker also doesn’t want to downplay the importance of that which they’ve previously celebrated, conceding that “science, ships, politics, cities, factories, are not nothing” (14).
They compare them to a “grand procession” (15) that mirrors the victorious diction of the first stanza, one filled with the music of bugles announcing their triumph. “They stand for realities” (16), the speaker asserts, positioning them as symbols of the discernible headway they’ve made possible for humanity.
Stanza Four
Then my realities;
What else is so real as mine?
Libertad and the divine average, freedom to every slave on the face of the earth,
The rapt promises and luminé of seers, the spiritual world, these centuries-lasting songs,
And our visions, the visions of poets, the most solid announcements of any.
The final stanza of ‘As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days’ begins with the speaker asking what other things are just as “real” (18) as their realities. The implication is that in this increasingly modern age, the poet’s words appear far less tangible than war and industry.
Yet the speaker rebukes this notion with their answer. Much like the ideals of liberty or a desire for the worldwide abolition of slavery, the poet’s words are not so much seen (at least not with the eyes) but felt. They also refer to the ecstatic and luminous visions of “seers, the spiritual world, [and] these centuries-lasting songs” (21).
Whitman equates the “visions of poets” (22) to these widely accepted sentiments to elevate them in the mind of the reader. Arguing that even in a world in which progress is physically driven by industry, the words of the poet remain a guiding principle.
FAQs
The poem’s theme advocates for the recognition of the poet as a crucial element of humanity and society. Despite the ever-growing changes occurring in the world, especially with regard to industrialization, the poet still holds a position of imperative value.
Whitman wrote the poem as a bridge between America embroiled in a civil war and one that’s emerged intact from it. The poem’s main focus is on the future, making predictions about future wars and urban growth. He most likely wrote it as a means of orienting himself as a poet within these ever-evolving times.
The word “eclat” refers to a brilliant or successful effect, a splendor or brilliant show that has a striking effect, as well as glory or renown.
The phrase “divine average” is one that crops up a few times in Whitman’s poetry. Ultimately, it refers to the magnificent wonder that the poet regarded the common or average person with—an expression of the democratic motifs that often characterize his verses.
Similar Poems
- ‘When Earth’s Last Picture Is Painted’ by Rudyard Kipling – this poem also looks to the future as it describes the final days before the end of the world.
- ‘Carpe Diem’ by William Shakespeare – this famous poem that imparts an earnest enjoyment of one’s youth and life.
- ‘Days’ by Philip Larkin – this poem that humorously contemplates the purpose of the days.
