Ghostface Joanna: Entry 1.3: Poetry Symbolism

For this blog entry I've decided to work on Walt Whitman’s poem As If a Phantom Caress’d Me. Whitman was an American poet, journalists and essayist. He was born in Long Island, New York on May 31, 1819. He was also the second child of Walter Whitman and Louisa Van Veslor. During the 1820’s and 1830’s Walt lived in Brooklyn and Long Island. By the age of twelve Walt discovered his love for writing. As a child he had become familiar with the written works of writers such as Homer, Dante, and Shakespeare. Walt went on to work as a teacher and a printer. Whitman’s life came to an end on March 26, 1892.
Walt Whitman was mostly known by people for his work Leaves and Grass. Leaves and Grass where book editions made by Whitman that contained several poems. The first edition of Leaves and Grass was published in 1855. His poem As If a Phantom Caress’d Me was actually one of Walt’s poems in Leaves and Grass. The following poem was published in 1867.

As If a Phantom Caress’d Me

By: Walt Whitman

As if a phantom caress’d me,

I thought I was not alone, walking here by the shore;

But the one I thought was with me, as now I walk by

the shore the one I loved that caress’d me,

As I lean and look through the glimmering light—

that one has utterly disappear’d,

And those appear that are hateful to me, and mock me.

Even though this poem isn’t long there are several symbols and symbolic actions found throughout the poem. The first two were in the title itself. Phantom is supposed to be a symbol of the unknown; it could be something unrealistic and uncommon in our world. I found the denotative meaning of phantom, according to Merriam-Webster, a phantom is defined as “something apparent to sense but with no substantial existence: apparition". A symbolic action found in the poem was caress’d. Caress’d is suppose to be a symbol of love, since the meaning behind caress’d is an affectionate touch. I found the denotative meaning behind caress’d on the website thefreedictonary.com and they defined the word as “a gentle touch or gesture of fondness, tenderness, or love.” The third symbol I found was shore. Water is supposed to symbolize life, and since shore contains water they are interchangeable. To get a more of accurate definition on shore I went to Merriam-Webster.com. The denotative meaning of a shore according to the website is "the land bordering a usually large body of water." Light is also a symbol in the poem; this can be found in line five. I acknowledge light to symbolize the truth as we can see through it when it’s visible. The denotative meaning of light is “something that makes things visible or affords illumination:” Next I will talk about the poem’s lines.

“As if a phantom caress’d me”. This can imply that the phantom touches him in a softy matter. The connotative meaning of the word phantom in Walt’s poem is supposed to represent an illusion, something that doesn’t exist in the normal world, such as an angel or ghost. The connotative meaning behind caress’d is that that in the poem the narrator is receiving a tender loving touch by the phantom. This leads me to believe that the phantom could be someone or something that the narrator has hope for. “I thought I was not alone, walking here by the shore”. Since shore is suppose to be a symbol for life, the connotative meaning of shore is the flow of life. In this line he assumes that he is not walking alone through the path of life. “But the one I thought was with me, as now I walk by”. Here he realizes that he maybe walking alone through the path of life. “The shore the one I loved that caress’d me”. He searches for the hope he though he had. “As I lean and look through the glimmering light”. The connotative meaning of light in this poem is the truth. The narrator finally sees for the truth. “That one has utterly disappear’d”. “And those appear that are hateful to me, and mock me”. By the phantom disappearing the truth is finally revealed to the narrator. He is ultimately exposed to the harsh reality of life, where he is truly alone.