Poetry has often held a pretentious connotation and been considered a more inaccessible form of literature, intended for the higher classes both in wealth and education. The association has applied both in the 1800s and today in modern society. However, two poetry anthologies in particular undoubtedly sought attention from the masses, reaching out directly to the general public and inviting them to indulge alongside the poets. Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” (1855) and Rupi Kaur’s “the sun and her flowers” (2017) both made incredible waves of impact on society. Each strive to address themes of the human condition and emotion, as well as the self in terms of nature, although there are many differences in the specifics of thematic content, style, and the means of spreading their artwork.
Based on their titles alone, it is apparent that nature is a central theme in both anthologies, although a variety of topics are addressed in both. Nature was one of many key themes in the romantic period of Whitman’s time, and Rupi Kaur reflects several romantic ideas well, including an emphasis on the past and poeticization of everyday occurrences, although she also extends her reach to new grounds with themes of feminism and mental health (PBS NewsHour). Many of her poems are broken love stories or depict depression, which feed into the romanticizing of these painful parts of life on social media today. The five sections of her poetry listed under “contents”, serving as the sole form of organization in the book, are “wilting”, “falling”, “rooting”, “rising”, and “blooming”, all indicating the overcoming of personal struggles (Kaur).
Both authors intended to make political statements through their work. Whitman opened his own with a ten-page prose essay about American poets in relation to democracy (Morton). These democratic themes are very clear throughout his work and show the strength of poetry as a genre in conveying such ideals. Poetry was not the genre that Whitman felt most naturally inclined to, having started as an essayist and novelist, so the shift was an intentional choice for his subject matter (Morton). Many of Rupi Kaur’s poems convey feminist themes and describe the nature of survivors (Kaur). Her drawings add to her message with representations of the female body and sexuality, considered taboo in many parts of modern society. Because the drawings are so simplistic, they are in no way means of sensationalism or grotesquery, using the bare minimum of detail in the visuals to expose and mock our aversions, thus making a powerful point. Whitman’s poetry also contained lots of controversial sexual undertones, but entirely separate from the feminist agenda (Morton).
Stylistically, there are many distinctive differences between Whitman and Kaur. In the initial version, Whitman’s entire anthology was divided into only twelve poems, each of great length, contrasted against Kaur’s, which often consist of very few lines and almost always keep within the constraints of a page. Although all of Kaur’s poems are untitled, her occasional signoffs often serve the same function, giving context at the end of the poem. Some are as simple as “-introvert” or “-basement aesthetician”, while others are nearly separate poems themselves, such as “-how can I verbalize consent as an adult if I was never taught to as a child” (Kaur). Not all the poems contain these signoffs nor her embellishments of doodles, but these stylistic choices are what make her poetry most identifiable on the internet. Simple line drawings, occasionally with some sort of texture or shading (from the same pen), and never with color.
Whitman uses heavy repetition with the first words at the beginnings of lines, sometimes continuing on for a stanza, or once beginning each thought in an entire poem with “I do not doubt” (Whitman). These qualities suggest a stream of consciousness, using lots of dashes, parentheticals, and exclamation marks to punctuate his passionate introspections and discoveries in mid-thought. He begins endless lines with “O” as he refers to countless observations and romanticizes everything he sees (Whitman). Glorification of everyday occurrences are common in both romantic poetry like Whitman’s and Kaur’s contemporary poetry, but in terms of broader time periods, 1800s poetry often alluded to specific people, settings, and events. It was much more common to include names of specific people and places, whereas contemporary poets of today may avoid them so their poems can be interpreted and stretched further in the eyes of the beholder.
Through her use of vague pronouns and a focus on broad emotions and common hardships, Rupi Kaur provides little to no details about specific characters, settings, and events to maximize possibilities and interpretability. Simple phrases that people can repost in reference to their own lives, along with her simple doodles, fit the aesthetic ideals many strive for on social media. She also intentionally makes each character lower case, which is a common trend in many facets of social media and has developed its own connotation, a sort of gentle, passive, almost victim-like sense in the cases of her broken love stories.
The impact of using free-verse poetry instead of a formal structure is crucial to both Whitman and Kaur’s messages. Whitman intentionally chose free verse to “signal” to readers that his writing offers powerful insights, vital and universal truths (Morton). Despite our evidence of Whitman’s egoism, his preface implies that part of his decision to use free-verse was to actually level the power between himself and the audience as he “speaks directly to his readers in a prose-verse that circumvents the criteria informing the judgment of professional critic,” his language depending “on his own rhythm rather than on their ability to fulfill an abstract and traditional metrical frame” (Morton). This value is one Kaur and Whitman share, as following traditional rhyme schemes and rhythms has become somewhat of a rarity in contemporary poetry.
Publicity and audience connection were essential to both poets, but they explored their options in very different ways. Both authors sought an elaborate community with their audience – Whitman anonymously pasted self-reviews into early editions of his book in hopes of one day establishing a real fanbase with non-manipulated feedback (Morton). In later editions, Whitman did include reviews from others, even those giving negative connotations, but had the discretion to order them in a way to give himself the last word (Morton). Whitman conducted a very interesting dance of self-importance with his audience, but ultimately longed for a following and wanted to relate to readers (Morton). In Whitman’s “Song of Myself”, included in the original publication of Leaves of Grass, the first key lines come across as self-centerered while still acknowledging the reader and connecting himself to them. “I celebrate myself, and sing myself, / And what I assume you shall assume, / For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you” (Whitman). Similarly, Rupi Kaur’s poetry strives to hold a mirror up for herself, however she does not force her metaphors upon the reader, she is simply vague enough to leave open interpretations for her young audiences. In an interview with PBS NewsHour, Kaur explained, “For me, poetry is like holding up a mirror and seeing myself, and it gives words to these very complex emotions and these feelings that I had as a child, and not being able to put words to them.”
Conversely, Whitman uses somewhat invasive, insistent diction and makes it difficult to discern his intimacy with readers from near harassment (Morton). Throughout his poems and in the preface especially, although he emphasized the importance of his readers in relation to democracy, Whitman still heavily idealized the poet’s superiority to them, establishing the poet’s high status, yet still “a poet with a constituency of the people.” By deliberately choosing free-verse poetry as his medium, Whitman was “emphasizing the importance of his American readers, by inviting them to participate in creating the meaning of his poetry” (Morton).
For Rupi Kaur, with her social media platforms, it’s easier than ever for fans to reach out, and she hosts a great number of meet-and-greets where she is able to see how deeply her writing has affected millions of readers. In the age of internet, such communities are much easier to foster, and Kaur’s poetry readings routinely draw hundreds of fans flocking (PBS NewsHour). This method, popularizing poetry once again, opens minds, but does it reduce the form of poetry to a less demanding medium? To those her critique her poetry as lacking true literary merit, Rupi Kaur defends her readers that look for the passion in the poetry rather than with a judgmental eye: “A lot of the readers are young women who are experiencing really real things, and they're not able to talk about it with maybe family or other friends, and so they go to this type of poetry to sort of feel understood and to have these conversations” (PBS NewsHour).
Kaur never intended to get into the literary world, and yet as poetry is redefined in this age of media, she has become one of the most popular contemporary poets, among the youth particularly, which could very well mean the future of poetry (PBS NewsHour). Perhaps younger generations are less concerned about stylistic traditions of poetry and are more concerned about the content, how these larger issues apply to them directly and how poetry can overlap into their lives through the convenience and shareability of social media. Such cultural shifts are inevitable; people either choose to resist or embrace them. Even if the means of expression are changing, we can still delve into the dusty shelves of timeless poetry styles that served as the foundation for all contemporaries. Cherish the old, but don’t neglect to welcome the new, for great value lies in both.
Works Cited
“How Poet Rupi Kaur Became a Hero to Millions of Young Women.” PBS NewsHour, Public Broadcasting Service, 2 Jan. 2018, www.pbs.org/newshour/show/poet-rupi-kaur-reaches- new-audiences-in-a-new-way.
KAUR, RUPI. SUN AND HER FLOWERS. SIMON & SCHUSTER LTD, 2018.
Morton, Heather. “Democracy, Self-Reviews and the 1855 ‘Leaves of Grass.’” Virginia Quarterly Review, vol. 81, no. 2, Spring 2005, pp. 229–243. EBSCOhost
Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass, 1860: The 150th Anniversary Facsimile Edition. Edited by Jason Stacy, University of Iowa Press, 2011.
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