Entry 44: Barbaric Yawp

You’ve already studied some of the American poets who preceded Whitman—Longfellow, Bryant, Bradstreet—as well as other Romantics. Based on what you know about the Romantic poets and other writers and their styles and beliefs, what do you think Whitman means when he describes his own poetry as his “barbaric yawp” (from line 3 of “Song of Myself” number 52)?

• I believe that when Walt Whitman described his own poetry and said that it was his barbaric yawp in the "Song of Myself", he is telling to the world that he is going to change the world by bringing in his new ways of doing things, such as being more optimistic, being more unconventional (such as in clothing and behavior), and creating brand new poetry that does not conform to any type of traditional poetry - free verse. He uses the words barbaric because he believes that he may be considered barbaric by many people during his time, since many people then were religious and conventional people.
• In present day, Walt Whitman's poetry is no longer considered as barbaric anymore, because it has become the common way of using language to speak, write, and express ideas to others. Free verse has become a part of lives. Also, most poetry no longer conform to the strict ways of poetry in the past. Poems that do conform may in fact even be considered as old fashioned and rigid!
• The poems that the American Literature Honors class has to write this year must take the form of Walt Whitman's free verse "I Hear America Singing".