a song or occupations

          He writes the poem in a way that hovers on the lines of accusatory. He states one thing the reader may assume as a truth for themselves, balanced with a line stating that Whitman also takes part in the same activities and whatnot as if expecting the reader to maintain a dialogue with walt arguing this claim. Between the 1855 version and the 1856 version, he replaces the ellipses with dashes: what is not said, the unknown and impossible vs. the abrupt connection of thoughts. The dashes are more harsh, but also more assertive. The ellipses, although they leave room for thought (more democratic – more input from the reader?) they also are less grounded and are subject to change. What is not being said and why is it not being said? The dashes allow Whitman to push the thoughts of the reader along a certain path and also enhance the accusatory “vibe.”

              By the 1860 edition (titled chants democratic), he begins to emphasize specific groups of people “men and women” “American Masses” etc. Similar to Song of Myself, Whitman continues to catalogue and connect certain stanzas with certain types of people. He adds new lines in the second part of the poem, providing more about his solidarity with the working class. “If you remember your foolish and outlawed deeds, do you think I cannot remember my own foolish and outlawed deeds? plenty of them; “ He adds “plenty of them;” with a semi colon. This implies that the following statements have a closer connection to his foolish outlawed deeds, but I don’t understand what the significance of this is. Is he implying that his loving of strangers is foolish? That everything he speaks of in the poem is foolish, or perhaps outlawed – too progressive?

               The 1867 edition carries a shortened title that just says “To Workingmen” as though it is not a poem in a book being sold for profit, rather a letter (of wisdom?) to the disenfranchised laborers. The earlier title, “Poem of The Daily Work of The Workmen and Workwomen of These States” implies that the poem is about something, an observation with a varying, higher class, audience. By entitling it “To Workingmen,” he is taking the authority away form the upper classes and bestowing it upon the lower working classes. It is addressed to a group rather than being about that group.

He adds  “This is the poem of occupations; In the labor of engines and trades, and the labor of fields, I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings.” He takes the original name, uses it in a stanza to create a more concise purpose for the poem.

              Whitman’s persona shifts from intellectually thought provoking prose to reading that requires less work from the reader. Not that it doesn’t require any, it just requires less – like it is no longer a poem a tool but as a pamphlet (similar to the alterations in punctuation in Song of Myself change the way we can interpret the poem – consciously or subconsciously.) Perhaps this aligns with the self confidence of Whitman; his writing didn’t have to be open ended – he could be more firm with opinions.