Expressively Silent

            Whitman is wandering around Washington like a flaneur, flowing through the channels of the city streets - he was born a ramblin' man.  He appears to be coming back from a night at the hospital where he deals with death and horror. The moon - outer space - becomes a sanctuary for him. The moon and space are some of the most uncertain things, especially for the time that Whitman was writing; there was only formulaic speculation. It's a dark,deep expanse of the uncertain; Whitman feels comfortable. He embraces the uncertain and strokes it lovingly.

          The moon is something that we look at all the time and writers compose prose of its beauty. The general public doesn't always notice the beauty of the moon, we continue on our walk home. We aren't loafing and enjoying the moon, we are trying to get somewhere. Whitman focuses on the moon however, describing it with adjectives more associated with life. He calls the moon "voluptuous" - a perverse catcall. The moon is commonly referred to as a female (luna) but has no "genetic" marker of gender. He sexualizes the moon, also calling it "moist" and "delicate." In Song of Myself, Whitman is very sexual but in a way that is abstract. He uses language that creates an idea for the reader but it is up to the reader to determine the actuality. The fact that I sexualize his words is a reflection of myself, just as Whitman would want it. I make these He recognizes that life can be seen in all things, even if we don't consider them to be "breathing." Blades of grass have life in them, the moon has life in it and all this coming from a man who just left an institution of death.