I'm Secretely a Handwriting Decipher-er

Step 1: What I notice about Whitman's Journal
- page 3: Brochure; two characters as of a dialogue between a man and a woman; lessons for a president elect; dialogue between a [something] and "president elect"
- page 4: religious; two records; there are two platforms; the greek; masterpiece of virtue; eternal curse; philosophy; questioning; reasoning is there; your the Christ; on the record; there is love;
- page 5: why now I shall know whether there is anything in your libertad; I shall see how much you perhaps can stand; I shall see the crash; old England
- page 6: what then? Have those thrones...; does the Queen of England represent a thousand years?; And the Queen of Spain a thousand years? And you
- page 7: declare the storm-welcome the trial-let the waves. Why now I shall see what the [something] ship is made of
- page 8: ship of libertad. Blow mad wind!....Thy at the planks-,make them groan-full crown-black clouds-clouds of death
- page 9: come now we will see what stuff you are made of ship of libertad....I want to see what...before I die. I welcome this menace-I welcome thee with joy
- page 10: ship of the world-ship of humanity- ship of the ages. Ship that circlest the world. Ship of the hope of the world- ship of promise
- page 11: [ a sketch of a white man's(presumably) with lots of facial hair, side profile]
- page 12: [ sketch of another white man, full body, also lots of facial hair, slightly crouching
- page 13: [ sketch of another white man, side profile, eyes closed (or squinting) with an Abraham Lincoln-style hat on
- page 14: [ sketch of man, can't make out his face but since it's shaded in must be a man of color, Abraham-style hat on
- page 15: rough sketch of a harp


Through my observations, it seems as if Walt Whitman was intrigued by creating imaginary conversations with important people such as Greeks (maybe even Greek gods), queens, and Abraham Lincoln. I assume Abraham Lincoln bases on the fact that Whitman mentions the "president-elect" and also based on his sketches on the last two pages of men that resemble him. I also assume that Whitman never actually had a real conversation with Lincoln because all of his words seem like something he would like to say to him but never got a chance to. It seems as if he loved to play with ideas for books and other print-based materials. He jotted down various ideas which are nothing more than small fragments of what looks like dialogue. I also notice that Whitman briefly mentions religion by referencing curses and Christ. I assume this is to allude to both sides of Christianity: Christ and Satan. By him mentioning Greeks on the same page and using the word "platform," I assume Whitman is expressing his desire to bridge the gap between two religious (and therefore political) platforms, so as to undivided our nation.


One of the most interesting things I noticed is that Whitman uses the Spanish translation of liberty (libertad) instead of the English one. I think this may have been purposeful to say that liberation from slavery should not be limited to just American boarders. I can only assume he's referencing slavery here because Abraham Lincoln detested slavery and spent his presidency trying to get rid of it. Since Whitman seems to have wanted to engage in a relatively pleasant conversation with him, I assume that he detested slavery in the same manner. I also assume this based on the sketch of the man on page 14 that looks like a black man with an Abraham Lincoln-style hat on. Whitman was connecting black people with Abraham Lincoln because he dedicated himself to liberating them from slavery. Lastly, he continuously refers to a "ship"- of the world, of humanity, of hope, etc. I interpret this mean, again, that Whitman is hopeful for America (and the world's)'s future for all slaves to be as free as white people. The ship is a symbol of slavery and the suffering that black people have endured because of it.


Step 2: Actual Translation
Upon reading the actual translation of Whitman's notebook and why he wrote what he wrote, I realize that most of my observations are right. Whitman did indeed have an imaginary conversation with then future president, Abraham Lincoln; a conversation of which he never got the opportunity to actually have with him. Just like Lincoln, Whitman despised slavery, which makes since considering his constant references to a "ship of libertad." Something interesting I found out, however, was that the sketches at the end of the notebook are not Whitman's own. In fact, they are portrayals of Whitman himself by one of his drinking buddies. He was known to jot something down while he was socializing with his friends and then pass it around the table so that they could also write down their thoughts. Since Whitman's most famous subject in his poems was himself, it makes sense that he would not sketch pictures of his own self. Overall, it seems like Whitman was a very hopeful guy and desired a brighter future for America; one that's not so politically divided and one where all men could find freedom.