‘Shut Not Your Doors to Me Proud Libraries’ was included in the collection of poems self-published by Walt Whitman after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Entitled ‘Drum-Taps,‘ it dealt primarily with themes and scenes about the American Civil War (1861-1865).
As the second poem in the collection, it makes an earnest plea to the nation’s libraries, asking them to welcome his poems about the war into their halls. Beseeching them in his characteristically passionate voice to join him in the celebration of the men who fought the war and the liberty the poet believes they died protecting.
Shut Not Your Doors to Me Proud Libraries Walt WhitmanShut not your doors to me, proud libraries,For that which was lacking among you all, yet needed most, I bring;A book I have made for your dear sake, O soldiers,And for you, O soul of man, and you, love of comrades;The words of my book nothing, the life of it everything;A book separate, not link’d with the rest, nor felt by the intellect;But you will feel every word, O Libertad! arm’d Libertad!It shall pass by the intellect to swim the sea, the air,With joy with you, O soul of man.
Summary
‘Shut Not Your Doors to Me Proud Libraries’ by Walt Whitman advocates for the bold and liberating individuality to be included amongst the tomes that fill a library.
‘Shut Not Your Doors to Me Proud Libraries’ begins with the speaker asking not to be excluded from seats of knowledge and learning like the library. They claim doing so would be to their benefit because they bring with them a gift that all libraries lack yet crucially need. It is a book that the speaker has made for the sake of “soldiers,” the “soul of man,” and the “love of comrades.”
The words of the book are not what’s important or imperative about it. Rather it is the vitality both expressed and inspired by it. The speaker’s book is set apart from the rest of the books found in the libraries of the world, and it is not experienced through intelligence alone.
The speaker asserts that each word of the book will have an emphatic and liberating emotional impact. One that will completely bypass “the intellect” of the reader to tread the seas and soar amongst heights in ecstatic joy alongside “o soul of man.”
Structure and Form
‘Shut Not Your Doors to Me Proud Libraries’ is written in free verse and doesn’t contain a formal meter or rhyme scheme. It is comprised of nine end-stopped lines that are hallmarks of Whitman’s syntax, such as caesura and cataloging of images.
Literary Devices
‘Shut Not Your Doors to Me Proud Libraries’ contains the following literary devices:
- Visual Imagery: creates a mental image in the reader’s imagination, as when the speaker refers to the “soldiers” (3) or when emphasizing the “book [as] separate, not link’d with the rest” (6).
- Personification: a type of figurative language that gives human characteristics to non-human things, such as in “proud libraries” (1) and “nor felt by the intellect” (6), or when addressing the “soul of man, and you, love of comrades” (4).
- Symbolism: the poem’s core symbol is the book that the speaker creates, which represents their patriotic support of the war effort and the memory of those who fought in it.
Detailed Analysis
Lines 1-2
Shut not your doors to me, proud libraries,
For that which was lacking among you all, yet needed most, I bring;
‘Shut Not Your Doors to Me Proud Libraries’ opens with the speaker addressing the “proud libraries” (1) of the nation. Whitman personifies them as more than just a collection of dusty archives, conceding their monolithic importance to society while also highlighting their haughty demeanor because of it. Yet these institutions lack something that only the speaker possesses. It is something they perceive as crucial to the libraries themselves, and despite their pride, they decide to give it freely to them.
Lines 3-4
A book I have made for your dear sake, O soldiers,
And for you, O soul of man, and you, love of comrades;
In the next selection of lines from ‘Shut Not Your Doors to Me Proud Libraries’ the speaker reveals that this gift is a book they’ve made for not just the sake of the libraries but others as well. “For your dear sake, O soldiers” (3) conjures up images of the Union soldiers that Whitman writes extensively about throughout ‘Drum-Taps’ and places them at the forefront of reasons why this book should be accepted by the libraries.
At this point, it’s clear that the speaker is referring to the poetry collection itself and the book that contains its lines of verse. One inspired by and written for the “soul of man, and you, love of comrades” (4). In other words, the poems contained within will celebrate man’s spirit and camaraderie as viewed in a time of war and strife.
Lines 5-6
The words of my book nothing, the life of it everything;
A book separate, not link’d with the rest, nor felt by the intellect;
The speaker then makes a seemingly paradoxical statement, a staple piece of figurative language within Whitman’s poetry. Seemingly contradicting their praise of the book’s importance, the speaker states that the words themselves are “nothing” (5). The implication is that simply reading them will not unlock their significance, rather, one must experience the “life of it” (5). This is Whitman’s way of saying that what’s essential and important in his poetry is its emotion and passion.
In this way, the book is described by the speaker as being “separate, not link’d with the rest, nor felt by the intellect” (6). Unlike the rest of the books found in libraries, you won’t understand this one through logic and reasoning alone. The personification of the intellect illustrates that such a grasp to comprehend will fall short of the book’s true purpose.
Lines 7-9
But you will feel every word, O Libertad! arm’d Libertad!
It shall pass by the intellect to swim the sea, the air,
With joy with you, O soul of man.
In the final lines of ‘Shut Not Your Doors to Me Proud Libraries,’ the speaker affirms that “every word” (7) of the book will be felt by those who read it. One that will circumvent the “intellect to swim the sea, the air” (8), an image that insinuates a certain sense of freedom will be ignited by it. While also entangling Whitman’s notions of liberty with nature in the process.
According to the speaker, it will be enjoyed “with joy with you, O soul of man” (9) which suggests that this sublime independence will uplift people and society for the better. Hence, their eagerness to have it accepted within the canon of knowledge found within libraries is the reason.
FAQs
The poem’s theme is that institutions like libraries, which are devoted to the advancement of human knowledge, should not shutter themselves from works that also possess that same spirit and desire.
The poem’s placement in ‘Drum Taps’ as the second poem in the collection underscores its purpose as well as its message. No doubt Whitman wrote it as a literal defense of the poems found therein, signifying their importance to the nation because of their focus on the American Civil War.
The poem’s constant invocation of freedom and loyalty to what the speaker refers to as the “soul of man” reveals Whitman’s uniquely humanistic transcendentalism. But there are also the images of nature he uses in the poem’s final lines to illustrate the liberty his book of poems is imbued with.
Spanish for “freedom,” the speaker’s invocation of “Libertad” could also be an allusion to Libertas, the Roman goddess of liberty. Both of these emphasize the importance of freedom to the speaker and their personification of it as this tangible spirit.
Similar Poems
If you enjoyed this poem by Walt Whitman, be sure to check out a few more of his works below:
- ‘Whoever You Are Holding Me Now in Hand’ – this poem serves as a kind of guide for how to read and approach Whitman’s poetry.
- ‘I Sing the Body Electric’ – a famous poem full of some of his most compelling imagery and figurative language.
- ‘When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer’ – this poem reveals the beauty of nature found in studying (or listening to those who study) it.
