Upon initially looking at Whitman's notebooks I noticed the abundance of strike-throughs, hand-drawn images, and stamps. I also noticed that everything was written in cursive, which would have been typical of his time and social status, as well as the constant mention of sailing and ships. I think it's all important in characterizing Whitman. For instance, the strike-throughs give us evidence to back up that he was a thoughtful man, with potentially scattered thoughts, but with the intent of always wanting the perfect wording of things. The images, believed to be drawn by others, show us how sociable he was. He was integrated in society and knew about it because he lived it, unlike other famous recluse poets who comment on the world from their exterior view. The constant mention of ships and sailing describe a type of conflict, probably inner, that he was dealing with. I say this because it was always about the waters raging or beating on the...
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