SHORT PAPER: Why Not? Equality in Two Lines

Darcy Smittenaar
EN203-1
Short Paper

To You

Stranger! If you, passing, meet me, and desire to speak to me, why should you not speak to me?
And why should I not speak to you?

-Walt Whitman, 1860

Why Not?
Equality in Two Lines

Walt Whitman wished to become a “bard of democracy” (McMichael, etal), but was unable to achieve this goal before his death in 1892.  However, Whitman is most known for eschewing traditional poetic forms in favor of more free-flowing, verbose, unmetered verse.  His poem, “To You,” follows this rebellion of form, but is more tame and shorter than much of his other poetry, which contained homoerotic imagery.  This single poem, had Whitman written it earlier in his career, may have been the work which made it possible to achieve his ultimate goal while he still lived.

Only two lines, one much longer than the other, and without rhyme, “To You” describes the ideal world, in which there is no fear when someone speaks to a passing stranger.  In other words, a world in which there is lasting peace and “good will toward men” (Longfellow).  Through his use of specific generalized pronouns, and the poem’s brevity of rhetoric, “To You” is Whitman’s signal to the world that humankind is created equal, and should be treated that way.

The speaker of Whitman’s poem is only referred to in the first-person pronoun, “I.”  Never does this person give a name.  Also, the person whom the speaker questions is only called either “you,” or “Stranger” (Whitman).  All of these have specific connotations, as well as general ones.  For instance, “I” could be any person wishing to be treated equally, not necessarily only a homosexual male, as Whitman may have intended.  It could be a person of a certain religion, who wishes only to worship as he or she has been taught since childhood, persecuted by members of other faiths.  It could be a woman, fighting for the right to nurse her child in public, or to receive equal pay, or to be considered a person in her own right, instead of her husband’s—or father’s—property.  It could also be someone of the lower class, treated like a slave—or contemptuously ignored—by those with more money and so-called “class.”  In this way, it is a generic pronoun, but since it refers to one person, in their own point of view, it is also specific.

In the same vein, “Stranger” is used like a name.  It puts a label on the type of person being spoken to: someone the speaker does not know, or who does not know the speaker.  But “Stranger” is not actually a name, and is therefore also generic.  As in the previous examples, a “Stranger” could be anyone who would persecute another for their differences, who would not bother to learn of the other’s traditions or preferences.  Those who willfully keep themselves ignorant of the facts of any issue, just to maintain the status quo would also be counted “Stranger.”

This Stranger is asked why they should not be equals when they are, in fact, strangers to each other.  The poem’s speaker asks, “Why can we not get along, even though we are different and will stay different in such ways?  Why can we not be equal at least in courtesy, compassion, and fleeting camaraderie and not just for our own kind?”  After all, since they are strangers “in passing” (Whitman), they are unlikely to meet again for any protracted length of time.  What does it matter if all those differences hang in the aether between them?  Is starting a fight or battle or war over the “wrong type of person” just saying hello and trying to be friendly worth the bloodshed and tears?  By posing the two questions that make up the poem “To You,” Whitman, in effect, answers that it is not.  And with this answer, Whitman advocates a form of equality.

In addition to the questions posed and its “specific generality,” the poem “To You,” in its very brief two lines, grabs the reader’s attention.  These are important questions, and Whitman does not sugar-coat them with extra text, grabbing the reader’s attention and making him or her think about the answer.  The poem’s brevity forces the reader to focus on this message without deviation.

Had it been written earlier in Whitman’s career, “To You” may have helped him to become “a cosmic consciousness, to experience and glorify all humanity and all human qualities” (McMichael, etal), and to become the “bard of democracy” he wished to be (McMichael, etal) before his death, instead of posthumously.  It is certainly a poem which contributes greatly to the cause of total equality in manner—if not in deed or fact—for all humankind, regardless of race, creed, color, sexual orientation, or religion.

 

Works Cited

Longfellow, Henry W. "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. CyberHymnal.org, n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2012. .

McMichael, George L., J. S. Leonard, and Shelley Fisher. Fishkin. "Walt Whitman." Anthology of American Literature. Boston: Longman, 2011. 2055-057. Print.

Whitman, Walt. "To You." Anthology of American Literature. By George L. McMichael, J. S. Leonard, and Shelley Fisher. Fishkin. Boston: Longman, 2011. 2119. Print.