If I Had A Choice By Walt Whitan Essay Example for Free

If I Had A Choice By Walt Whitan EssayWave similitude in Walt Whitmans If I Had the Choice Although not turnically or mensurally consistent throughout, Walt Whitmans song If I Had the Choice is very consistent in its attempt to gibe the characteristics, specifically the waves, of the sea whether read, heard, or seen, the poems registration to a waves spirit is clearly evident. Whitmans use of repeated, but not uniform, rhythm in the poem exposes the up and bulge nature of waves, while the sudden, drastic change in rhythm helps depict the crashing of a wave. The metrical variation in the poem similarly attributes to the resemblance of a wave, for it goes hand in hand with the length of each telegraph wire, giving the poem the physical characteristics of a wave.While the there is no metrical consent throughout the poem (probably done because no two waves are identically alike), there is a observable pattern and consistency in the rhythm of the poem. The consecutive use of iambs in the first five lines of the poem help to not only emphasize the steady motion of the sea, but more importantly to trust the poem a sense of the up and down motion of the waves in the sea the pattern of weak/ in a bad way(p)/unstressed/stressed syllables in every line is very similar to the up and down undulation of a wave.The shift from the iambic rhythm in lines one through five to a loud, sudden spondee in line six clearly depicts the image of a wave crashing. The spondaic rhythm (stress/stress) of the first two words in line six, These, these, is an unexpected, drastic change from the prior unstressed/stressed pattern. Similar to the crashing of a wave, this change was drastic, and quick it does not last wide, hence the reason for the poems quick fork out to an iambic rhythm. The poems last three lines are once again consistently iambic they are hold to the quiet, pacific motion of waves in the sea.Just as the height of a wave affects the power of a wave, the h eartbeat of this poem affects its rhythm. Although there is no specific pattern for the number of feet per line in this poem, the meter is still greatly significant. When broken up iambically, the number of feet increase steadily from line one to four, until we form line five, the longest (10 feet) line. The length of line five is significantly important in portraying the nature of waves it is representative of the bounty of a wave in the beginning it is aboutto crash. Line five is ten feet long because it is followed by line six, the line in which there was a sudden rhythmical change, which portrayed the crashing of the wave. at a time it crashes, the waves return to their prior size, good as the following lines of the poem go back to having the same ambit of feet as they did before line five.The alternating number of feet per line also allow the poems structure to resemble a wave no two waves are similar in frequency (height) or amplitude (width), just as no two sentences of t his poem are identical in length. As the lines plan of attack the middle of the poem, they get longer, and then begin decreasing in size after they reached the longest point, line five. Since line five, the middle of the poem, is the longest line, when held sideways, this line is representative of the middle of a wave, its highest point right before it crashes.By using rhythm and meter skillfully, this poem is successful in imitating the rhythm of the sea, and the meter of the waves in the sea. In doing this, Whitman makes a very distinctive point rhythm and meter affect each other, just as the height of a wave affects its crash. This relationship is evident whether one reads, sees or hears this poem.