Ode to Walt Whitman

Lorca’s “Ode to Walt Whitman” has 137 lines broken into 23 stanzas (in the English translation by Simon and White). The stanzas vary in length, from four to 11 lines long. The lines also widely vary in length.

The first stanza is five lines long. It opens with a specific location for the poem—near the “East River” (Line 1) of New York City. Here, there are “boys” (Line 2) who sing while topless, or “exposing their waists” (Line 2). This begins the theme of celebrating homoeroticism: sensual descriptions of members of the same gender. The boys are “miners” (Line 4) working with tools like the wheel—an image that returns later in the poem—and “the hammer” (Line 3). In this location, there are also “children drawing” (Line 5), which mirrors the project of the poet describing the scene and “perspectives” (Line 5).

The second stanza is four lines long, and offers a contrast to the previous stanza, beginning with the conjunction “But” (Line 6). As opposed to the work of mining, this stanza focuses on natural elements. The miners do not identify with nor love the river, the nearby foliage, “huge leaves” (Line 8), or the “shoreline’s blue tongue” (Line 9). This erotic, or tongued, nature echoes Whitman’s writings, but offers a picture of the working class.

In the third stanza (which has six lines), the “East River” (Line 10) location is repeated, but the focus is on “Queensboro” (Line 10), instead of the “Bronx” (Line 1), as in the first stanza. Here, the boys are “battling with industry” (Line 11), and “Jews” (Line 12) sell the metaphoric flower of “circumcision” (Line 13) to the faun of the river. The “river” (Line 12) is repeated twice in this stanza, as well as in Stanza One. The faun is a figure from Greek and Roman mythology representative of sexual liberation and ecstasy. The Jewish men spreading the practice of circumcision reduces sexual pleasure.

The third stanza ends with the image of the sky emptying its mouth. This rain-like image falls on urban elements, like “bridges and rooftops” (Line 14). What falls from the sky is described as “herds of bison” (Line 15), which is a synecdoche (a part representative of the whole) for the great plains. The bison, or the undeveloped nature of the plains, is “driven by the wind” (Line 15). This represents how urban industry drives out nature.

The fourth stanza mirrors the second stanza in that it also begins with “But” (Line 16) and contains four lines. It argues that, despite urbanization’s storm-like attack on nature, none of the “boys” (Line 11) look to nature. They do not desire to become or view clouds nor plant-life. They also do not look to musical instruments, such as the “yellow wheel of the tambourine” (Line 19). This wheel repeats the image of the wheel in Line 3; however, it is not a wheel involved with the mining industry, but a wheel associated with an idyllic rural location.

The fifth stanza also has four lines and continues the intersection of the urban and rural. It begins with a common pastoral, or idyllic, image of the “moon” (Line 20) rising. However, the moon triggers “pulleys” that “spin to upset the sky” (Line 21). This mixes in a mechanical element that upsets the natural skyline, evoking construction of the city. A “border of needles” (Line 22) is also included, which has multiple meanings. It can refer to barbed wire—a common feature dividing New York City—as well as needles used for drug use. The stanza ends with the image of “hearses” (Line 23), which develops the idea of drug overdoses and the violent policing of borders.

The sixth stanza has five lines and addresses New York. It is described as “mire” (Line 24), “wires and death” (Line 25), reflecting the previous images of barbed wire and hearses. The speaker asks if there is an “angel” (Line 26) hidden in the city who will “sing the truths of wheat” (Line 27). The wheat Lorca discusses differs from the wheat about which Whitman wrote. The “truths” (Line 27) Lorca’s speaker seeks are about the process of production or “industry” (Line 11). The stanza ends with again asking what “terrible dream” (Line 28) will speak these truths about labor.

In the seventh stanza, which has 11 lines, the speaker turns to addressing Walt Whitman. The first-person “I” (Line 30) is introduced in this stanza. The speaker lists what he has “Not for a moment […] failed to see” (Lines 29-30) about Whitman. This list includes body parts mixed with elements from nature, such as a “beard full of butterflies” (Line 30), indicating Whitman is embedded in nature. The list also includes comparisons between Whitman’s body and natural elements, such as “voice like a column of ash” (Line 33) and “beautiful as the mist” (Line 34). Whitman, through these similes, is defined as rural or part of the natural world.

Then, the description connects to an earlier urban element. Whitman’s moan is compared to a bird’s, when the bird is “pierced by a needle” (Line 36). This recasts the “needles” (Line 22) of Stanza Five into a pastoral but likewise sensual image. The needles of New York that cause death—ones used for drugs—are like the products of the “vine” (Line 38)—wine—of which Whitman is the “enemy” (Line 38). Whitman dislikes public enjoyment of sexual excess, but loves “bodies beneath rough cloth” (Line 39). The cloth covers the body, creating a hidden or secret space for homosexual love. This stanza further develops the homoeroticism theme.

The eighth stanza, which has five lines, continues the list of things the speaker will never fail to see. Whitman, unlike the men of Stanzas Two and Four, dreams of behaving like a river and simply being a river when “among mountains of coal, billboards, and railroads” (Line 41). The natural body of water is the location where Whitman seeks a “comrade” (Line 43) who inspires an “ache” (Line 44) in his “breast” (Line 43). Whitman’s homosexuality is linked to the rural world, or a desire for the pastoral, even when he is among urban elements. This hints that homosexuality is natural.

In the ninth stanza, which has eight lines, a contrast between Whitman and other homosexuals develops. Whitman is a very masculine “man alone at sea” (Line 46)—a figure that could allude to Moby Dick—and a “lovely old man” (Line 46). However, there are other “faggots” (Line 52) residing in urban spaces, like penthouse “roofs” (Line 47), recalling the “rooftops” (Line 14) in the third stanza. These homosexuals drink “absinthe” (Line 51) in “bars” (Line 48), contrasting with Whitman as an “enemy of the vine” (Line 38). Unlike Whitman, these homosexual men do not seek rural spaces, but are described as “trembling between the legs of chauffeurs” (Line 50), finding pleasure in urban, modern cars. However, these gay men identify Whitman as part of their community.

The voices of the homosexual men begin Stanza Ten, another stanza with eight lines. They say Whitman is “one too! That’s right!” (Line 53), meaning he is a homosexual like themselves. They, like the speaker in Stanza Seven, discuss Whitman’s “luminous chaste beard” (Line 54). The gay men are diverse—the speaker includes “blonds” (Line 55) alongside “blacks” (Line 55)—and compared to a variety of animals, including “cats” (Line 57) and “snakes” (Line 57). They also offer themselves to animal “tamers” (Line 60), desiring to be hurt in a submissive way.

In Stanza 11, which has six lines, the homosexual men reiterate that Whitman is part of their community. They point to the pastoral “shore of your dream” (Line 62), which references how Whitman “dreamed of becoming a river” (Line 42) in Stanza Eight. However, their perception of the rural—and even Edenic—act of eating an “apple” (Line 63) is tinged with the urban: a “slight taste of gasoline” (Line 64). However, all the gay men love topless “boys” (Line 66), or boys with exposed “navels” (65).

Stanza 12, another six-line stanza, begins with a contrast—that which Whitman did not seek. Like Stanzas Two and Four, this stanza begins with the conjunction “But” (Line 67), creating a contrast between what the speaker sees and what Whitman sees. The speaker sees and condemns homophobic violence, from scratches to drowning “children” in “swamps” (Line 68), and from “frozen saliva” (Line 69) to gay men being “slit open” (Line 70). These injuries occur in urban locations, like “cars” (Line 71)—recalling the “chauffeurs” in Line 50—as well as balconies and porches.

Stanza 13, which has four lines, defines what Whitman did seek. This includes the recurring motifs of the “river” (Line 73), “dream” (Line 74), and the “wheel” (Line 74). The dreamy and pastoral imagery reflects how the speaker perceives Whitman’s writing. It includes paternal “agony” and a flower of “death” (Line 75), but “groan[s]” are “hidden” (76). Explicit sexuality, and the explicit homoeroticism the speaker uses, contrast with Whitman’s hidden sexual poetic meanings.

In Stanza 14, another four-line stanza, the speaker elaborates on desire and death. Here, his judgment is that desire should be sought in places that are not also sites of violence or “jungle[s] of blood” (Line 78). The pastoral, where the “sky has shores” (Line 79), is a place to avoid death following sexual encounters. Opposing homophobic violence, the speaker asserts that bodies “shouldn’t repeat themselves in the dawn” (Line 80). The morning is when sexual acts of the night become known, and when violence because of the nature of those acts is also revealed.

The fifteenth stanza has seven lines and develops the imagery of urban death. The motifs of “agony” and “dream” return in Lines 81 and 82, with these words repeated several times in describing what constitutes “the world” (Line 82). In contrast to the pastoral, corpses in the city streets are described, including imagery of “a million gray rats” (Line 84). Meanwhile, members of the upper class give gifts of “illuminated dying things” (Line 86). The speaker condemns this duality, which develops the theme of condemning homophobic violence.

The sixteenth stanza, with four lines, returns to the rural. It presents an idyllic alternative to the urban, following desire through “a vein of coral” (Line 89) rather than streets littered with corpses as in the previous two stanzas. In this alternative, mornings transform loves into “stones” (Line 90) and the passage of time is merely a breeze sleeping in tree “branches” (Line 91).

In the seventeenth stanza, which has nine lines, the speaker addresses Whitman, telling him what he does not condemn. The list includes boys who desire girls, a “boy who dresses as a bride” (Line 95), gamblers, and men “who love other men and burn their lips in silence” (Line 100). The speaker encourages a wide spectrum of love and gender identity. These experiences are sometimes hidden, recalling Whitman’s hidden sexuality.

The eighteenth stanza, which has four lines, begins the list of who the speaker does condemn. The speaker is “against” (Line 101) the urban homosexuals who associate sexual arousal with being “unclean” (Line 102), and who violently act. There is also a distaste for the female and feminine (e.g., “Mothers” in Line 103), but the speaker’s condemnation is centered on “enemies / of the love that bestows crowns of joy” (Lines 103-04). In other words, the speaker hates those who are against joyful love—especially joyful homosexual love.

The nineteenth stanza has eleven lines, but many of these lines contain only three words. The speaker continues the list of who he is “Always against” (Line 105). He opposes a violent second person “you” (Line 105): a person who poisons “boys” (Line 105). The rest of the stanza is names this person is given in both English and Spanish. The names are listed with the location where they are used. For instance, the term “Fairies” is listed with “North America” (Line 108), and the term “Jotos” is listed with “Mexico” (Line 110). There are eight synonyms listed in this manner.

The twentieth stanza, which has four lines, continues the list of who the speaker condemns. The speaker is primarily opposed to people who commit homophobic violence: the “murderers of doves!” (Line 116) They are seen as “Slaves of women” (Line 117), which echoes some of the misogyny in the eighteenth stanza. However, the focus turns back to murder, including imagery of cutting and poisoning.

In the twenty-first stanza, which has seven lines, the speaker describes how the violent “you” (Line 126) should be treated. The military phrase, “No quarter given” (Lines 120 and 123) means murderers should not be shown mercy and their surrender should not be accepted. This stanza also includes imagery of death and flowers—harkening back to previous stanzas—as a rationale for this treatment. The stanza closes with a list of who should deny others entry into the “bacchanal” (Line 126). These people, on the side of the speaker, include the “confused” and “pure” (Line 124), as well as the “classical” and “supplicants” (Line 125). In other words, a diverse group of gay men should intentionally ostracize those who perpetuate homophobic violence.

The twenty-second stanza, a four-line stanza, addresses Whitman. The speaker asks him to “stay asleep” (Line 127) and again mentions his “beard” (Line 128). Whitman should stay in the pastoral, near the “Hudson” (Line 127) River among natural elements like “clay” and “snow” (Line 129). Unlike the violent murderers, “comrades” should “keep watch” (Line 130) over Whitman’s “unbodied gazelle” (Line 130)—an image of nature and something beyond the embodied experience.

The twenty-third stanza, the final stanza of the poem, has seven lines. The speaker continues to address Whitman, reiterating that he should remain asleep. This suggestion is supported by a contrast between the pastoral “prairies” (Line 132) and urban America becoming overwhelmed with “machinery” (Line 133). The speaker’s final stated desire is to overcome pastoral trappings, like “flowers” (Line 135), and have a “black child” (Line 136) tell rich white people about the realities of “grain” (Line 137) production: to introduce them to “the kingdom of grain” (Line 137).