primary point. People often see the cruelty that is so prominent in the world, but they sit back and let it be. Either they think that there is no way they can change anything and feel helpless, or they are simply too lazy to make a move, afraid perhaps of the difficulties and negative consequences that action might bring to their lives.

Whitman is trying to get his readers to ponder whether or not they do this very thing—namely, allow evil to continue through their silence. Everyone has probably done so at some point, too scared or indifferent to speak out. In that case, one has actually participated in the evil by refusing to try to stop it. Indeed, Whitman would likely agree with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who once remarked that “silence in the face of evil is itself evil...Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

The primary theme in this short poem by Walt Whitman seems to be human cruelty and the misery which can come as a result of it. Whitman observes that the world is full of sorrows, and that many people live in "oppression and shame." He makes it clear, however, that this is not a passive oppression or an anguish that comes from simply existing in the world. On the contrary, he uses active verbs, such as "deeds," "abused," and "casting," to underscore the fact that these are very much slights done unto humans by other humans. The misery that Whitman is observing is all caused by things that humans have done to each other.

Some of the examples that Whitman remarks upon include young men who have caused anguish to themselves after having committed certain unnamed deeds; mothers and wives misused by their husbands and children and dying of neglect or in misery as a result of adultery; and sailors casting lots as to which man has to die to save the others.

Whitman also observes, at the conclusion of the poem, that many of the degradations inflicted upon humanity are a result of "arrogant persons," perhaps in government, who behave as if they are tyrants and mistreat the poor or people of color.

The title of the poem gives an indication of what message it is trying to convey. Whitman is telling us not only that all this misery is always going on around us, but that our natural tendency is to be "silent." We see and know that other people are behaving badly and that this causes pain. However, unless we are directly affected, we will probably not intervene.

As the previous educator mentions, the poem is a catalog of all of the cruelties and acts of meanness that human beings inflict upon one another.

Whitman's narrator makes note of the pain of former soldiers ("secret convulsive sobs from young men, at anguish with themselves, remorseful after deeds done"), mothers misused by their children, wives misused by their husbands, the pain of being unloved or of being jealous, and broader suffering—famine, pestilence, and tyranny.

I disagree, however, with the notion that the poem is completely negative. Yes, it contemplates suffering in numerous forms, but it acknowledges the suffering of those who frequently went ignored, such as women and "negroes," who are regarded as victims of the "slights and degradations cast by arrogant persons."

The narrator does not act to alleviate anyone's suffering ("I sit"), but each line begins with an acknowledgement of that suffering—"I hear," "I see," "I mark," and "I observe"—which is the first step toward action.

Whitman's poem "I Sit and Look Out" is a reflection poem. In this poem, Whitman reflects on the things that he sees from his place of almost omniscient power.

Whitman sits and listens to the sounds of anguish of men, the wife and mother mistreated by both her husband and children. He looks out upon the effects of war, and the famine sailors must face when toiling for the fish all so desperately need. Whitman also reflects upon those who deem themselves above all others.

In the end, Whitman admits that even with the pain and agony he sees in the world, he sits silent.

Poetry is meant as a poet's personal reflection on life: their life and the lives of others. This being said, Whitman actually sets up a dichotomy: while he is physically sitting silent, his poem speaks for him. This is the purpose of a poem. To speak for the author in a way they may not be able to verbally. Poems touch on very painful, private, and controversial topics.

The purpose of the poem "I Sit and Look Out" is one in which Whitman can speak about what he sees, stay silent, and allow his pen to speak for him- in the same way the tears of the man speak to his anguish. In reality, Whitman is not silent; his pen is simply speaking for him.