https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV75FXL4Mn8
From 8:25 to 10:08
In this fragment of his poem, Whitman expressed his thoughts about life. In the first line of this fragment a child asked a question: “What is the grass?” Then Whitman gave us his various answers. To begin with, he described the grass as “the flag out of hopeful green stuff woven”, “the handkerchief of the Lord”, etc. These things make me think of something full of hope and has some goal. There are some wishes and goals that people want to achieve in their lives. Some people want to service the others and contribute their lives to the society. Some people have the ambitious dream to change the world by themselves. Some people try to find the thing or the people they really love for the whole life. They are the flags of people’s life and the reason why people are living and fighting. They are the hope and meaning of their life. Other than flags and handkerchief there are some other guess. “A child”, “a uniform hieroglyphic”, etc. These imageries are just so strong and so beautiful that they make us think of how strong and colorful life could be. The background image in this video is a road that without an end. There is no end of possibilities of life. Sometimes people could be so confused about life because the cruel truth of life is that the earth will keep going with or without them. Sometimes people found that they got stuck somewhere between life and death. What they forget is the various possibilities of life. There were always so many choices besides the original blind alley they were in. People can find happiness easily from the new things in their lives. They keep trying until they are dead. That’s the meaning of life.
In addition to life, the grass in this poem also represents death. The grass not only speaks for new life but also speaks for the dead. The grass grows from the soil. The soil is the place where dead people rest in. There buried the bodies and the thoughts of people, which makes the grass full of sparkles of wisdom. Some old people from my hometown used to say that the dead animals and plants are very great because their death are like they devote their bodies to fertilize the soil and make the next generation grow better. Some people are dead but meanwhile they are still alive in another form. For example, Shakespeare died, but his soul passed down through his work. This allows people to be inspired by her soul and thoughts.
The interesting thoughts about life and death of Whitman are just amazing. Life and death are united and the cycle of life and death is endless.