Walt Whitman

• 1819-1892• He was a printer, carpenter, teacher,

newspaper reporter, and he nursed his brother and other soldiers during the Civil War

• 1855- published the first edition of Leaves of Grass

Leaves of Grass

• Started off as 12 vey long poems. No publisher wanted to published– Did not follow the “rules” of poetry at the time

• Once published once- he revised and published nine new editions

• Whitman is now considered as the Father of American Poetry

Edward Estlin Cummings

• 1894-1962• Went to Harvard, then afterwards split his

time between Boston, NYC, and Paris.• After his travels, he began to write and

eventually started experimenting with punctuation.

• Published his first collection of poetry in the 1920s, it stood out because his unusual use of punctuation, capitalization, and word spacing.

Miracles - Poem by Walt Whitman PAGE 620

WHY! who makes much of a miracle?As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles,

Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,

Or wade with naked feet along the beach, just in the edge of thewater,

Or stand under trees in the woods,Or talk by day with any one I love--or sleep in the bed at night with

any one I love,Or sit at table at dinner with my mother,

Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive, of a summer forenoon, 10

Or animals feeding in the fields,Or birds--or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,

Or the wonderfulness of the sun-down--or of stars shining so quietand bright,

Or the exquisite, delicate, thin curve of the new moon in spring;Or whether I go among those I like best, and that like me best--

mechanics, boatmen, farmers,Or among the savans--or to the soiree--or to the opera,

Or stand a long while looking at the movements of machinery,Or behold children at their sports,

Or the admirable sight of the perfect old man, or the perfect oldwoman,

Or the sick in hospitals, or the dead carried to burial, 20Or my own eyes and figure in the glass;

These, with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,The whole referring--yet each distinct, and in its place.

To me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,

Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with thesame,

Every foot of the interior swarms with the same;Every spear of grass--the frames, limbs, organs, of men and women,

and all that concerns them,All these to me are unspeakably perfect miracles.

To me the sea is a continual miracle; 30The fishes that swim--the rocks--the motion of the waves--the ships,

with men in them,What stranger miracles are there?

1. List five places mentioned in the poem.2. Why is the sea a “continual miracle”?3. Name four events that Whitman calls

miracles.4. How does your definition of “miracle”

compare with the speaker’s definition?5. Complete senses chart

[in Just-] By E.E. Cummingsin Just-spring when the world is mud-luscious the littlelame balloonman

whistles far and wee

and eddieandbill comerunning from marbles andpiracies and it'sspring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queerold balloonman whistlesfar and weeand bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it'sspringand

the

goat-footed

balloonMan whistlesfarandwee

1. What scene does the poem describe?2. What might the speaker mean by “just

spring” an dby calling the world “mud-luscious” and “puddle-wonderful”?

3. Complete senses chart