American Literature: Romanticism   Student Midterm Samples 2015 midterm assignment 2. Short Essay

Heather Minette Schutmaat

The Romantic Features of Walt Whitman’s “There Was a Child Went Forth”

The first time I read Walt Whitman’s poem, “There Was a Child Went Forth,” it instantly became a favorite. Not only was I inspired by the flow of his imagery and free verse and moved by the child’s journey, but like the best and most memorable experiences with poetry, I read this poem at a time in which I felt as though Whitman’s words were spoken directly to me. Having just entered the absolutely beautiful yet terrifying world of parenthood, Whitman’s poem seemed to deliver the most important parenting insight I’d been given. Ever since, “There Was a Child Went Forth” has, for me, served as a reminder of how greatly influenced and shaped children are by their environments and how important it is to be mindful of what our children are surrounded by as they grow. After studying the conventions of American Romanticism and revisiting Whitman’s piece, I developed an even greater appreciation for “There Was a Child Went Forth,” realizing that a poem of only 41 lines embodies so many of the defining features of Romanticism and can be read in several different ways.

The first and perhaps most prominent romantic characteristic is the “sentimental love of nature,” or the presence of nature as beauty and truth. Throughout his poem, Whitman writes eloquently of nature, illuminating the beauty of the early lilacs and morning-glories, “the beautiful and curious liquid” of the pond, “the graceful flat heads of the water plants,” and even “the commonest weeds by the road,” all of which touch the “inmost soul or self” of the child and become part of him as he internalizes his environment.

            Another romantic aspect of Whitman’s poem is the “journey for self-transformation or fulfillment” or the “quest for something greater.” Throughout the poem, the child collects objects from his environment each day, which become part of him, and he continues to go forth in his journey. As Joseph Bernard demonstrates in his midterm essay “Ascending to the Heavens,” “There Was a Child Went Forth” can also be read as a study in the upward purpose of man, and delivers a “resounding message about the heavenly calling that mankind must heed.” Bernard explains that “the internationalization of nature that Whitman utilizes in this poem signals his overarching desire for mankind to find a purpose in a heavenly call” and the child’s journey represents Whitman’s desire for this “’pure’ way of life for all of mankind.” Whitman also closes on a transcendental note, as the objects catalogued in the poem have become part of the child “who now goes, and will always go forth every day.”

            While the sentimental love of nature and the journey for self-transformation are the most pronounced romantic elements in the poem,  “There Was a Child Went Forth” also contains many other themes characteristic of Romanticism. I believe Whitman’s poem also suggests a “belief in children’s innocence and wisdom” and perhaps shows Whitman’s nostalgia for his own childhood. Furthermore, alongside the objects of nature that become part of the child, he also collects wisdom from common people such as his mother and father, “the old drunkard staggering,” the schoolmistress, “the friendly boys that pass'd, and the quarrelsome boys,” and the “men and women crowding fast in the streets.” The objects of nature as well as the common people seem to provide the child with wisdom and just importantly, induce curiosity and contemplation, all of which guide him to move onward on his journey.