I Sit and Look Out

1 I Sit and look out upon all the sorrows of the world, and upon all
oppression and shame,
3 I hear secret convulsive sobs from young men at anguish with
themselves, remorseful after deeds done,
5 I see in low life the mother misused by her children, dying,
neglected, gaunt, desperate,
7 I see the wife misused by her husband, I see the treacherous seducer
of young women,
9 I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love attempted to be
hid, I see these sights on the earth,
11 I see the workings of battle, pestilence, tyranny, I see martyrs and
prisoners,
13 I observe a famine at sea, I observe the sailors casting lots who
shall be kill'd to preserve the lives of the rest,
15 I observe the slights and degradations cast by arrogant persons upon
laborers, the poor, and upon negroes, and the like;
17 All these--all the meanness and agony without end I sitting look out upon,
See, hear, and am silent.
Walt Whitman
 I Sit and Look Out
1 I Sit and look out upon all the sorrows of the world, and upon all
Speaks of the sadness and cruelty happening throughout the world.
oppression and shame,

3 I hear secret convulsive sobs from young men at anguish with the personal suffering, guilt and regret of
young men who have done terrible things
themselves, remorseful after deeds done,

5 I see in low life the mother misused by her children, dying, An old, dying woman rejected by her
children. She is alone in her hopelessness.
neglected, gaunt, desperate,

7 I see the wife misused by her husband, I see the treacherous seducer
A woman who is abused by her husband and the untrustworthy
man who manipulates young women for sexual pleasure.
of young women,

9 I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love attempted to be

Those who try to mask (hide) their jealousy or the fact that their love is not returned.
hid, I see these sights on the earth,

11 I see the workings of battle, pestilence, tyranny, I see martyrs and

prisoners, large-scale destruction through war, natural disasters and political oppression, and of those who are killed or jailed for their political views.

13 I observe a famine at sea, I observe the sailors casting lots who

those who are lost at sea deciding who
shall be kill'd to preserve the lives of the rest, should live or die in order to survive.

15 I observe the slights and degradations cast by arrogant persons upon

those whose prejudice and insults are directed
laborers, the poor, and upon negroes, and the like; at the working class, black people and the poor.

17 All these--all the meanness and agony without end I sitting look out upon,

See, hear, and am silent. reminds us that all this misery is unending yet the speaker is passive (not doing anything) - a final
reminder of the speaker’s refusal to become involved or speak out about all these wrongs.
Walt Whitman
 ‘I Sit and Look Out’
‘I Sit and Look Out’ is the thoughts and ideas of an uninvolved observer of
universal oppression, cruelty and inhumanity — someone who is just watching
while bad things happen in the world.
The catalogue (list) of horrors is listed line by line. It includes personal suffering,
natural disasters and unjust political power. The speaker does not offer help or
involve himself in opposing (going against) the evil.
All he does is watch passively (without action).

Line 1 speaks of the sadness and cruelty happening throughout the world.
Line 2 describes the personal suffering, guilt and regret of young men who have done terrible things
Line 3 talks of the old, dying woman rejected by her children. She is alone in her hopelessness.
Line 4 speaks of the woman who is abused by her husband and the untrustworthy man who manipulates young women for sexual pleasure.
Line 5 describes those who try to mask (hide) their jealousy or the fact that their love is not returned.
Line 6 talks of large-scale destruction through war, natural disasters and political oppression, and of those who are killed or jailed for their
political views.
Line 7 speaks of those who are lost at sea deciding who should live or die in order to survive.
Line 8 talks of those whose prejudice and insults are directed at the working class, black people and the poor.
Line 9 reminds us that all this misery is unending yet the speaker is passive (not doing anything).
Line 10 is a final reminder of the speaker’s refusal to become involved or speak out about all these wrongs.

The intention of this poem is to criticise anybody who allows these terrible things to happen in the world. People should not be happy with doing
nothing. Everyone should be fighting against cruelty and oppression.
DICTION/FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

TONE:
The tone of this poem is deeply pessimistic (negative). There seems to be no hope for good in a very cruel and miserable world.

DICTION:
The poet has deliberately chosen images that are highly emotive (creating strong emotional response). All these descriptions are powerful and
intense. This is suffering that is so extreme that it seems absolutely impossible to ignore.

Line 2: ‘convulsive sobs’ – violent crying

Line 3: ‘neglected, gaunt, desperate’ – abandoned, extremely thin, hopeless
Line 6: ‘pestilence’ – epidemics of illness
Line 7: ‘famine’ – starvation
Line 8: ‘degradations’ – humiliation
Line 9: ‘agony’ – extreme physical and emotional pain

These images are contrasted with the words used to describe himself: ‘sit’, ‘look’, ‘hear’, ‘see’, ‘mark’ (note), ‘observe’. These descriptions are
simple verbs which are usually associated with action, but here they are used to show passivity (doing nothing) instead.
There is no need to act if you choose not to get involved. The last line is the climax of the poem. The speaker ends with the accusation against
himself: ‘See, hear, and am silent’. He emphasises that he has chosen to remain uninvolved and do nothing about the suffering he sees.

REPETITION:
When something is repeated over and over, it helps to bring attention to a certain part of the poem. The use of lists and the repetition of the
word ‘all’ are very powerful: the suffering is enormous and ‘without end’. The first eight lines of the poem start with the pronoun ‘I’ followed by a
verb. This shows that the speaker is very aware that he sees the world through his eyes. He admits that he is completely aware of the horrors
that he lists in each line. Using ‘I’, however, emphasises personal responsibility. It is only in the last line that he finally admits that the ‘I’ sees
and hears everything but is guilty of making the choice to stay ‘silent’.

The speaker is an uninvolved, passive observer who appears not to care about the suffering of other people.
 The speaker refers to himself using the pronoun ‘I’ thirteen times throughout the poem.
 The first eight lines of the poem start with the pronoun ‘I’ followed by a verb. This shows that the speaker is aware that he sees the world
through his eyes. He is aware of the horrors that he lists but chooses to stay silent: ‘I sitting, look out upon, / See, hear, and am silent.’
(lines 9, 10)
Mood
The mood/tone is deeply pessimistic (negative).
 The speaker presents a long list of people’s sufferings from line 2 to line 8.
 There seems to be no hope for good in a cruel and miserable world: ‘agony without end’
(line 9).
 The repetitive style emphasises the feeling of hopelessness.

The last line of the poem is where the pessimistic outlook reaches a climax. The speaker accuses himself of being uninvolved. He chooses not
to do anything about the suffering he sees: ‘All these – All the meanness and agony without end, I sitting, look out upon,/See, hear, and am
silent.’ (lines 9–10)

Theme and message

Personal responsibility for human suffering: The world is full of examples of suffering and cruelty. Every person has a choice: to do nothing and
let it continue, or to take a stand and refuse to let the suffering continue.

The speaker refuses to become involved in the suffering of the world. He can see the
overpowering human misery but he has no wish to do anything about it. He believes that he is
not part of the suffering of the world. He is capable of recognising the problems, but he also has
the choice to ignore them.’

Summary of the poem

 The poet is confined to the four-walls of his house.
 He looks out and finds that the world is full of sorrows.
 He is pained to find that some people are shamefully oppressing others.
 Some young men commit shameful deeds and then repent after the deeds are done.
 They are remorseful thereafter and sob convulsively in secret.
 They behave like this because they listen to the prick of their conscience secretly.
 He observes with disappointment the miserable plight of the poor mothers who are neglected by their children and consequently they
become desperate and die.
 Then he sees the wives being exploited by their husbands.
 Similarly, young women are seduced by evil characters.
 Among young lovers, jealousies, anguish of unrequited love are rampant in the society.
 The poet sees this spectacle in the society.
The whole society suffers due to war, pestilence and tyranny.
 Those persons who fight for a noble cause are tortured, imprisoned and hanged.
 They become martyrs.
 Among the sailors, famine spreads and it becomes necessary to throw away people one by one into the sea to save the lives of the rest.
He observes that the poor, the labourers, and Negroes are humiliated and insulted by the powerful arrogant people.
 The powerful people enslave the Negroes.
 The poet looks at this sad spectacle of life and remains silent.
“All these – All the meanness and agony without end, I sitting, look out upon,
See, hear, and am silent”.
Questions: I Sit and Look Out

1. The first line introduces the theme.

Quote three key words that identify the theme.
2. The poem can be divided into four sections. Identify the four sections.

3. Refer to the whole poem:

3.1 Identify the tone of this poem.
3.2 Motivate your answer.
4. Explain what is meant by ‘low life’ in line 5.

5. Refer to line 9: “I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love...”.

5.1 What does the term ‘unrequited love’ mean?

5.2 Why do they hide their unrequited love?
6.. 6.1 Identify which of the wrongs are done on a physical level
6.2 Identify which of the wrongs are done on a emotional level.
7. Write down words or phrases from the poem that have the same meaning as:
7.1 I look out upon.
7.2 sorrows
7.3 shame

8. Explain how the use of repetition influences meaning of the poem.

9. List several social injustices described in this poem.

10. List what the speaker sees and hears.
11. Why do you think the speaker responds with silence? Do you think silence is the appropriate response?
12. How do you account for the speaker's silence at the end of "I Sit and Look Out"? Support your answer with reference to the poem.
13. Refer to the whole poem:
13.1 Discuss how the theme of ‘Personal Responsibility for Human Suffering’ is evident in this poem.
13.2 Provide a quote from the poem that best illustrates this theme.
Memorandum: I Sit and Look Out

1 The first line introduces the theme.

Quote three key words that identify the theme.
I, sit, look

2. The poem can be divided into four sections. Identify the four sections.
 The first section describes sorrow brought about by self-knowledge. 
 The second section deals with physical and emotional abuse. 
 The third section is about cruel actions. 
 The fourth section is a simple, summarising statement of the poet’s reaction. 

3. Refer to the whole poem:

3.1 Identify the tone of this poem.
depressing, sad, and negative 
OR
Agony and meanness 
3.2 Motivate your answer.
“...the sorrows of the world, and upon all oppression and shame.” 
“all the meanness and agony without end”

4. Explain what is meant by ‘low life’ in line 5.

The life of the lower classes of people. 

5. Refer to line 9: “I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love...”.

5.1 What does the term ‘unrequited love’ mean?

one-sided love/ love that is not returned 
5.2 Why do they hide their unrequited love?
difference in social class / afraid of rejection. 
6.. 6.1 Identify which of the wrongs are done on a physical level
abuse, neglect, seduction, battle, pestilence, torture, murder, imprisonment
and famine.

6.2 Identify which of the wrongs are done on a emotional level.

people are tortured by remorse, jealousy, unrequited love, tyranny, insults, shame, degradation, oppression and meanness.

7. Write down words or phrases from the poem that have the same meaning as:
7.1 I look out upon.
I see, I mark, I hear, I observe 
7.2 sorrows
sobs, remorseful, anguish. 
7.3 shame
slights, degradations, misuse, oppression, meanness 
8. Explain how the use of repetition influences meaning of the poem.
The repetition emphasises the range of cruelties and violent acts, and the suffering they cause.
9. List several social injustices described in this poem.
 Men depressed after having drank too much, went to the prostitutes too much, beat their wives too much.
 An older woman being neglected by her children who she raised - she's dying.
 A wife is getting beaten by a man who is cheating on her.
 He notices people are lonely and not loved.
 He sees war.
 He sees how horribly the poor, blue collar workers, black people and lower classes are treated.

10. List what the speaker sees and hears.

 He 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.

11. Why do you think the speaker responds with silence? Do you think silence is the appropriate response?
No moral imposition, no call to action. He is simply reporting what he sees.
That is the silence he is referring to, a silence of judgment or analysis on the events.

12. How do you account for the speaker's silence at the end of "I Sit and Look Out"? Support your answer with reference to the poem.
  In the poem, Whitman describes various people suffering horrible misery in different forms.
 However, as he describes them, he doesn't judge, get involved, make commentary, or pass some sort of overall moral or
lesson to be learned.
 This is what he means when he says he is "silent".
 He simply opens a window for everyone to see what he sees, and lets the reader make their own interpretations and
judgments.
 For example, he describes the misery that exists, "the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love attempted to be hid," and
doesn't comment on how awful that is, or what we should learn from it, or how we should change the misery; his next line is
simply, "I see these sights on the earth".
 No moral imposition, no call to action. He is simply reporting what he sees. That is the silence he is referring to, a silence
of judgment or analysis on the events.

13. Refer to the whole poem:

13.1 Discuss how the theme of ‘Personal Responsibility for Human Suffering’ is evident in this poem.
The world is full of examples of suffering and cruelty. 
• Every person has a choice regarding suffering: to do nothing and let it
continue, or to take a stand and refuse to let the suffering continue. 
• The speaker of the poem chooses to do nothing about the suffering, he
chooses to just sit passively. 
13.2 Provide a quote from the poem that best illustrates this theme.
‘See, hear, and am silent.’ (line 10) 