Walt Whitman's "Native Moments"

To be quite honest, Whitman's poems shocked me in their blatant sexuality. I can understand why the people of the time were shocked and thrown off when his writings first went public.

I happen to admire the audacity and brutal honesty with which Whitman goes about writing about sexuality in his poems. He is certainly not afraid to say exactly what is on his mind and what he is feeling at the time. The poem I read was called "Native Moments," and it was purely about all of his desires and how he did not care if people frowned upon them because he was going to do whatever he wanted anyway (Whitman).

In this poem, Whitman talks about how he wants to have "Libidinous joys only (Whitman)." He also discusses how he is going to pick the lowliest person he can possibly find who is the worst of all men and go party with him basically. He is basically saying that he just wants to live a life of lust and gluttony and all of the other deadly sins that are frowned upon in society. He says that he has been hiding his true self for too long and will no longer act the part of a proper gentleman when he could be enjoying himself with these sorts of people (Whitman).

I do not exactly agree with his morals in this poem by any stretch of the imagination, but I can respect brutal honesty when I see it. Acknowledging that you have really bad morals and continuing to have them is better than continuing to have them while subsequently being in denial of their very existence.

I think that Whitman's complete intention with this poem was not to endorse a life full of lust and giving in to your temptations. I think the true purpose of the poem was to wake people up and make them realize that it is okay to have these feelings sometimes and that it does not make you a bad person. I think all he was trying to say was that everybody should not be such huge prudes all the time and act like they are so far above and beyond the people who engage in this sort of behavior, when in reality they are probably wishing in their minds that they had the guts to shake off the bondage of their rules and just have fun.

As pointed out in the criticism that I read, the "Native" word in the title suggests that exact same thing (Oliver). These things and feelings that Whitman is experiencing in this poem is a native instinct to all people. Everybody experiences these feelings and they are completely and totally natural. What is not natural is trying to pretend that they do not exist and that you are so proper and hoity toity that you cannot see past the end of your upturned nose. This is all that Whitman is trying to get across to the uptight people of the world with this poem.


Oliver, Charles M. "'Native Moments'." Critical Companion to Walt Whitman: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCWW285&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 27, 2011).

Whitman, Walt. "Native Moments." The Walt Whitman Archive. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. .