Walt Whitman's Transition

In any medium of art that is personal to the artist, a change in the artwork can represent a change in the artist. During a period of depression a musician may write heavier, less upbeat music, or a painter may shift to darker tones and more downcast themes. The medium of poetry certainly has the power to reflect the writer’s moods and mental state, and the poetry of Walt Whitman’s demonstrates this power. …

…the Oceans of Life” shows a definite change in the poet. “As I Ebb’d With the Oceans of Life” reveals a more depressed, hopeless Whitman. The multitude of bold statements and definite conclusions presented in “Song of Myself” are replaced with uncertainty and the claim of total ignorance. The contrast between Whitman’s early work and his later work is a strong indicator of a contrast in Whitman’s younger self and older self.