i sit and look out

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He is not shrouding his meaning in this poem. It means exactly what it says.
Oppression and shame in the world
Men depressed after having drank too much, went to the whores too much, beat their wives too much.
Older woman being neglected by her children who she raised - she's dying.
Wife is getting beaten by a man who is cheating on her.
He notices people are lonely and not loved.
He sees war.
Sailors go to sea to catch fish to sell for food - but their lives are at risk.
He sees how horribly the poor, blue collar workers, black people and lower classes are treated.
He sees all of this - it's all torment for nothing - but he does nothing about it.
It's exactly what is going on in the world today.
When reading Walt Whitman imagine him sitting in a rocking chair on some porch sitting and just "people watching." That was where most of his poetry came from - that and being a nurse/aid in the war.
Source(s):
Did my senior thesis/seminar on Walt Whitman
You can see that the poem is not divided into stanzas. It has just 10 lines, of which the first nine are quite long and the final one extremely short by comparison (only five words).
In your analysis of the poem, consider what the speaker sees as he looks out. Is he looking at the natural world, or at human society? Is he seeing beauty or ugliness? Is he literally looking out a window and seeing what's visible within that relatively small frame? Or is he observing a larger expanse of space and time?
What does the speaker feel about the various people and scenes that he sees? Is he angry at any anyone? Does he feel sympathy for anyone?
In the final line, why does he remain silent? Is he indifferent to what he sees? Or is there some other reason for his silence? Whitman wrote this poem more than 100 years ago. If you looked out at the world today, would you see something similar or would you see something completely different? Would you remain silent? If so, would you be silent because you simply didn't care, or because you wouldn't know what to say?
This poem describes to us a greater being who has the ability to reflect, at a distance, on our wrongs. The persona of the poem can be interpreted as a religious figure who is all seeing, yet does not take action to stop the violence and vulgar life of the poem. As it was uncommon for women to be mentioned in a sympathetic light during this era line five can be interpreted as mother nature who has been ridiculed by her children. I believe that this poem is a significant reflection of Walt Witlams values and attitudes. Thus the poem has more emotion if you are able to understand Whitmam, may i suggest a reading of Whitman's preface of Leaves of Grass from 1855. I believe that this may help us to connect with Whitman's real intentions and motive of this poem.。