As I Ebb'd With the Ocean of Life Analysis

As you can probably tell, Whitman wasn't the biggest fan of traditional forms. He was a fan of poetry that rambled and wandered as much as he did. As a result, most of his poems (including this o...

Here's what we know about our speaker: the dude (and we just have to assume it's a he, since we have no evidence to the contrary) is a poet from Paumanok. As well, he has some very Transcendental i...

In line 3, the speaker lets us know we are in Paumanok, but don't try to find that on any map. "Paumanok" is the name Native Americans gave to what is now known as Long Island, New York. It is inde...

Sure, "As I Ebb'd" is doing its own thing, form-wise. Still, even the most non-traditional poems still have a sound. After all, free verse doesn't mean free of poetic devices. Every good poem has a...

"As I Ebb'd With the Ocean of Life" is not only the title, it's also the first line. While some poets are known for this as general practice, we'll assume here that Whitman meant for us to read the...

Whitman loved him some nature. He's got tons of poems about his wanderings in the great outdoors. America's bard has poems about the connection between the elements of nature and spirituality, los...

It may have been written in the late 1800s, but the poem doesn't have too much archaic language. Whitman, being a big fan of accessible poetry, wanted his work to be readable by the common man. Tha...

Extra, Extra: Whitman worked as a journalist for awhile. (Source) Whitman wrote his own reviews for Leaves of Grass. It's always good to believe in yourself, right? (Source) Whitman also trained as...

Though Whitman wasn't afraid to mention the birds and the bees, the speaker doesn't come across anyone but the sea in this poem. It's as "G" as can be.