Witty Whitman

Step 1) In the beginning of the journal, Whitman seems to be planning out the imaginary conversation between himself and Abraham Lincoln. He knows that he wants to have a conversation between two characters. He repeatedly mentions the Ship of Libertad which seems to be something to be feared of by enemies. Whitman mentions other ships as well like the ship of humanity, the world, promise, and other things. There are sketches of different men which might be people that Whitman sees in the streets since he is very observant. There is a drawing of a harp as well; perhaps this reveals Whitman's taste in music. "THE BOHEAMIAN" is written on one of the pages very largely and boldly. I think this was a newspaper or media outlet because under it says, "Saturday Press". The words that Whitman doesn't like are crossed out, not erased, which provides us with context of the time period. There is a poem titled, "The Hills of Brooklyn"; Whitman has a published poem called, "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry". On the last page there is a drawing of a skeleton with a heart for a body and something piercing the heart. The drawing is very ambiguous and mysterious. The skeleton has hair and is wearing a hat. What we see through Whitman's inner thoughts is that he is somewhat of a perfectionist. He crosses words out a lot which shows that he wants to convey the correct message with the appropriate diction. We also see that he uses exclamation points and punctuation even in his journaling so his work is authentic. His drawings reveal that he is artistic and likes to draw the people he observes.

Step 2) Inside the front cover, Whitman scribbled various names and addresses. When he is planning out his dialogue between himself and Lincoln, he has two ideas: "as in a dream" or "lessons for a president elect". On two pages, Whitman writes about religion, however it is unknown whether or not this was intended to be a part of his dialogue with Lincoln. This is significant because Whitman doesn't necessarily believe in God but he does seem to believe in some higher power. When discussing the English Liberty, Whitman refers to it as "Libertad", the Spanish translation. This could reveal a message that freedom is not limited to those within the United States. Although, this word apparently was used in American newspaper accounts as a slogan of revolutions against colonial rule in Latin America. Later in the journal, the Ship of Libertad becomes a storm-tossed ship which symbolizes the US entering into the Civil War. The first drawing in the journal is a portrait of Whitman. Apparently, he never drew or doodled so it is unclear who drew the other sketches. Through these notes, Whitman is revealed to be a man who cared deeply for America and its success. He had ideas and philosophies about the democracy of the States before the president could even think them up. Whitman was a very intelligent man and he conveys this through his works, even through his scribbles.