Journal #39: "Bardic Symbols"

"Bardic Symbols" is basically an expression of Whitman's frustration with the world and with his inability to understand the world. In this poem, he is walking along the beach and watching the waves washing various debris onto the shore. As he stares at them, he tries to find some deeper meaning to them, then begins to ponder the world itself. He soon comes to realize that he can find no deeper meaning, and that all of his poems up to that point are worthless because they fail to express Whitman's true meaning. "But that before all my insolent poems the real one still stands untouched, untold, altogether unreached...Striking me with insults till I fall helpless upon the sand." (Whitman). This was kind of depressing poem, but a very familiar feeling for many artists, I'm sure.
The Everyman, America, and spirituality are all common themes in Whitman's poetry. The everyman idea is sort of represented in "Bardic Symbols" in the way that no one really understands the world, and most of us have felt some sort of anger at that before. America is not in this at all, no matter how you squint at it. Spirituality is presented in much the same roundabout way as the Everyman. Through trying to understand the world, Whitman is basically trying to understand God, which is impossible pretty much no matter what you believe.
William Dean Howell's criticism of "Bardic Symbols" is confusing sometimes, much like Whitman's poetry. Howell was trying to make the point that Whitman's poetry is different for everyone who reads it. The bardic symbols for which the poem is named could mean any number of things for each person. "No one, even after the fourth or fifth reading, can pretend to say what the "Bardic Symbols" symbolize." (Howell). This is largely due to Whitman's layering of meaning in his poems. Howell also makes a mention of the fact that the critics and the public were divided over Whitman's work. I think this would have pleased Whitman, who would have wanted his poems thought upon, not just read.


Howells, William Dean. ""Bardic Symbols"" The Walt Whitman Archive. 2011. Web. 2 Mar. 2011. .

Whitman, Walt. "Bardic Symbols." The Walt Whitman Archive. 2011. Web. 2 Mar. 2011.