About the Poet:
Walt Whitman, an American poet, essayist and journalist, was born in 1819 and died in 1892. He is called as 'The Father of English Free Verse'. He grew up in a family with difficult economic status."Leaves of Grass, 1855" is the major work of Walt Whitman. His 'O Captain! My Captain!' written on the death of Abraham Lincoln is widely popular.
About the Poem:
The present poem is taken from 'Leaves of Grass'. It is a beautiful blend of self-awareness, free will and tenderness of heart. It gives us poet’s realization that along the journey of life one will face a test of wisdom which is not tested in any school or university. A road is something everyone uses, whether rich or poor and it forces all levels of people to associate with one another. The road signifies ‘mobility.’ One can take the road as a point to start over towards something new. Whitman talks about the people and places. He argues against staying in one place for too long, although the hospitality may be true.
Song of the Open Road
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I
choose.
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am
good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more,
need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous
criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road.
The earth, that is sufficient,
I do not want the constellations any nearer,
I know they are very well where they are,
I know they suffice for those who belong to them.
(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens,
I carry them, men and women, I carry them with me
wherever I go,
I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them,
I am fill’d with them, and I will fill them in return.)
-Walt Whitman
Summary
In the first stanza of the poem, we see, the speaker of the poem begins his journey on foot with a light heart. There is no any kind of restriction on him in his life. He is free to make the choice of his path, journey and destination. Even he has not fixed any destination wherever he does like to go, he wants to go. He wants to live his life according to his own likes and dislikes. He is a light-hearted traveler walking on the open road of life. He wishes that each person who embarks a journey on the road of life should adopt a similar type of attitude.
In these lines, the speaker says that he does not believe in fate, destiny or future and therefore does not ask for any good-fortune or good luck, He declares, “I myself am of good-fortune”. Because he believes in himself and in his ability. He is not crying and making complaints, not seeking help from other people. Even he is not going to postpone whatever the work is there in his life. There is no place for procrastination in his life.
He tries to tell the readers of the poem that they too should not waste time in complaining about obstacles in their life. Rather, they should proceed ahead and ahead on the path in this journey of life.. According to him, man should avoid all types of demands, grudges, bitter feelings and criticisms during the journey of life. A man should be free of complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms; a man should be satisfied with what he has in his life.
Then, the speaker emphasizes the importance of contentment or self-satisfaction in this journey of life. A man should not believe in hopes. Instead of hoping for the stars of the constellations, man should be happy with himself, with what the Earth offers him as he says, “The earth that is sufficient”.
Again he believes that satisfaction is the key to make one’s journey on the open road easy and smooth. One should not become too ambitious. The desire for material gains will create difficulties in the journey.
The last lines of the poem which are kept in brackets, In these lines, the speaker presents that even he himself is not altogether free from life’s burdens. He says “I carry my old delicious burdens”. It refers to the grief and loss the speaker has experienced. It refers to his responsibilities. Though he advises others to make their journeys without any feelings that weigh them down, he himself fails to follow it strictly.
He carries his past memories with him. He couldn’t run away from his past memories or responsibilities of life. He carries in his heart the memories of all places he has been to and all the people he has known. He thinks that it is impossible for him to run away from them because experiences are inseparable.
