On Whitman's Once I Pass'd through a Populous City

Yuen M. Ho
English 48B
January 12, 2007
Journal #5 Walt Whitman

I. Quote

“Yet now of all that city I remember only a woman I casually met there who detain’d me
for love of me,
Day by day and night by night we were together – all else has long been forgotten by me,
I remember I say only that woman who passionately clung to me,
Again we wander, we love, we separate again,
Again she holds me by the hand, I must not go”

II. Summary

This poem in its original form was not about a woman but a man. Whitman revised this poem for publication. Significant changes were made – the gender of the person he met in a populous city was changed from a man to a woman. This is mostly done out of societal pressure. I believe that Whitman did that because he did not want to, in an explicit way, reveal his sexual orientation to the comparatively conservative society at that time.

III. Response

The poem and its revision brings about a question for readers, authors and poets nowadays to contemplate on – whether a writer should write for the audience, or for one’s own self. While I always regard writing as a way to express one’s own emotions and thoughts, sometimes part of the purpose of writing, especially for published writing, is to make your voice heard, of course by the public.

In such a case, writing to impress or to inspire becomes another indispensable element of the writing process. It is normal for writers to want to gain credit and reputation for their work, or to the minimal, not to be condemned.

Yet, while I understand the motive behind Whitman’s revision, I disagree to publishing work that was not written with a genuine heart. I regard genuineness to be the core of the beauty of literature. If there is a poem that is likely to elicit negative response, I regard not publishing it to be a better way than to publish it with its content largely altered.

After all, whatever are the secondary purposes of writing, a writer should always bear in mind that the primary purpose – as an authentic reflection of self.