To A Stranger

I am doing a reflection over the poem "To A Stranger" by Walt Whitman. First off I would like to start out by saying how truly and undeniably talented Walt Whitman was when it came to writing. His stories are still so popular today because of his way of making a connection with us as the the readers. This is very much so the truth in his poem "To A Stranger". He makes you feel like it truly is you passing this stranger on the street and thinking these things. For example Whitman says, "PASSING stranger! you do not know how longingly I look upon you,
You must be he I was seeking, or she I was seeking" (Whitman) This makes the reader get into the story which is a technique that was used a lot by Ralph Waldo Emerson, which is why Whitman and Emerson's writings have been so closely compared, even in recent years. The poem is about how this person sees a stranger walking down the street but does not feel them to be a stranger. They feel as if they have known the person for forever and will know them forever more into the future. The author does not say a word to the stranger though and even says, "I am not to speak to you, I am to think of you when I sit alone or wake at night alone" (Whitman) This gives the story a bit of a mysterious appeal to it. Having this mystery gives the story much more appeal. Although I myself very much enjoy the writing of Whitman, a man named Peter Bayne does not put him in such a fancy light as I would. Reading his criticism over Whitman's poetry, I found him to be rude and almost pushing vulgar brutality. He went as far as saying, "If I ever saw anything in print that deserved to be characterized as atrociously bad, it is the poetry of Walt Whitman" (Bayne) Although I do not share these views, it is important to show that not everyone feels as strongly towards Whitman's poetry as myself.



Bayne, Peter. "Walt Whitman's Poems." Contemporary Review, December 1875: 49–51, 68–69. Quoted as "Walt Whitman's Poems" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Walt Whitman, Classic Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCVWaW017&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 12, 2012).


Whitman, Walt. "To a Stranger, by Walt Whitman." Poetry Archive. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. .