English Department

Even Semester 2021

Universitas Negeri Semarang
Grand Is the Seen
By: Walt Whitman
Grand is the seen, the light, to me—
grand are the sky and stars,
Grand is the earth, and grand are
lasting time and space,
And grand their laws, so multiform,
puzzling, evolutionary;
But grander far the unseen soul of
me, comprehending, endowing all those,
Lighting the light, the sky and stars,
Grand Is the Seen
By: Walt Whitman
delving the earth, sailing
the sea,
(What were all those, indeed,
without thee, unseen soul? of what
amount without thee?)
More evolutionary, vast, puzzling, O
my soul!
More multiform far—more lasting
thou than they.
Roots and Leaves
Themselves alone
By: Walt Whitman
Roots and leaves themselves alone are these,
Scents brought to men and women from the wild woods and
pond-side,
Breast-sorrel and pinks of love, fingers that wind around tighter
than vines,
Gushes from the throats of birds hid in the foliage of trees as
the
sun is risen,
Breezes of land and love set from living shores to you on the
living
sea, to you O sailors!
Roots and Leaves
Themselves Alone
Frost-mellow’d berries and Third-month twigs offer’d fresh to
young
persons wandering out in the fields when the winter breaks up,
Love-buds put before you and within whoever you are,
Buds to be unfolded on the old terms,
If you bring the warmth of the sun to them they will open and
bring
form, color, perfume, to you,
If you become the aliment and the wet they will become
flowers,
fruits, tall branches and trees.
The Day came slow—till Five o’clock
By: Emily Dickinson
The Day came slow—till Five o’clock—
Then sprang before the Hills
Like Hindered Rubies—or the Light
A Sudden Musket—spills—

The Purple could not keep the East—

The Sunrise shook abroad
Like Breadths of Topaz—packed a night—
The Lady just unrolled—
The Day came slow—till Five o’clock
By: Emily Dickinson
The Happy Winds—their Timbrels took—
The Birds—in docile Rows
Arranged themselves around their Prince
The Wind—is Prince of Those—

The Orchard sparkled like a Jew—

How mighty ‘twas—to be
A Guest in this stupendous place—
The Parlor—of the Day—
Questions:
1. Read Whitman’s “Grand Is the Seen” & “Roots and Leaves
Themselves Alone”. Explain in brief what the poems tell
about? What experimental techniques does he use in the
poems in terms of the typography and content of the
poems? Give some examples.
2. Read Dickinson’s poem. What does the poem tell about?
How does the narrator describe the subject through
language devices (in general)?
3. Read Whitman and Dickinson’s poems. Analyze what
imageries (visual, auditory, etc.), figurative language
(metaphor, simile, symbol, allegory, apostrophe etc.), and
sound devices (alliteration, assonance, euphony, cacophony,
consonance, rhyme, rhythm & meter) the poems use. Give
some examples.
Questions:
4. What similarity and difference between Whitman and Dickinson’s
poems as the poems written during the transition era between
transcendentalism & realism?

 Do your work in MS Word (12 font-Arial).

 Underline words that describe your analysis of imagery, figurative
language, and sound devices.
 If you use any sources, please cite the sources. Write in
bibliography/references.
 Submit your work today at midnight (12) in one folder to my e-
mail.
References:
Fromm, Harold. Introduction to Walt Whitman’s
Poetry. New York: New Directions Books, 2019.
Print/Web.