Walt Whitman is Wonderful

Whitman's journal is difficult to read, as personal journals usually are.  There are many scratched-out, half-written words of ideas that are shut down completely or pop up later (like a Queen of England remark), and the journal begins like a synopsis of a play, outlining Whitman's idea of dialogue between him and Lincoln (this is in third person interestingly enough; is he writing his journal as if someone else were to see it, or does he always start them this way?)  Whitman's universal theme is immediately noticed as he mentions various religious perspectives (Jewish and Christian), then creates a commonality between them when he talks of the soul, which contains "all the goods and greatness."  These religious references become the basis of his CIvil War-influenced work about a deity: "Chanting the Square Deific."  He also mentions ships and how anyone can sail them--more evidence of his belief that humans are equal.  This is additionally supported (using "high literature" style) by naming the ship Libertad, or freedom; alluding to Lincoln as well.  Whitman's stream-of-consciousness is seen throughout the poem through the series of working questions regarding Libertad, and I see his love of imagery in his descriptions of the ship. The ship serves to connect the Union's ideals in the CIvil War with others like it around the world.  The ship also represents the state, and this idea leads to one of Whitman's most famous poems, where Lincoln is the metaphorical captain of a ship "O Captain! My Captain!"  Whitman's journal helps us, as the audience, see the evolution of some of his most famous works, and his core beliefs that are central in almost of all his poems.

There are several portraits of Whitman in this journal; every drawing he is facing to the side, and in one he is beckoning something unseen.  The portraits were drawn by Whitman's friends; one based on a description of Brooklyn ferryman gave of him.  It is inferred that he is looking out, like a philosopher.  Whitman is also posed like Lincoln: looking towards his future and duties.  His subsequent portraits remind me of Lincoln (because of the large top hat) and, though it is unlikely, I inferred this to have two meanings: one, that Whitman feels Lincoln had the same equality ideals that Whitman had, or, if the drawings are Whitman with a Lincoln-esque top hat, it shows that Whitman is attempting to continue inspiring the ideals that Lincoln had.  Either way, Whitman's journal shows his thought process writing-wise and his archetype of equality and unity in the tumultuous time of the Civil War.