Heres a virtual movie of the great Walt Whitman reading "Goodye my fancy" which he wrote in 1891 his final year as something of an eptaph by this time his health was in steep decline. Walt Whitman (1819-1892 was born in Long Island, New York, the son of a Quaker carpenter. Whitman's mother was descended from Dutch farmers. Good-bye My Fancy shows us a dying Whitman who is no longer fighting the inevitable, but rather embracing it. In Good-bye My Fancy, Whitman is giving his farewell address to his audience as he knows that he will soon be dying. Throughout his poetry he has turmoil with death and the idea of his own mortality. However, in this final poem, Whitman is accepting of his fate. Whitman begins this poem by saying that he doesnt know how much longer he will be around or to where he will be next, but he doesnt seem worried by this. Whitman is speaking to his reader as his love which makes this goodbye very intimate. Fareware dear mate, dear love!/ Im going away, I know not where,/ Or to what fortune, or whether I may ever see you again,/ So goodbye my Fancy. Its like Whitman is taking the reader by the hand and reassuring the reader that he will be all right. Its like if he hears himself reassuring us, it will help him to cope with his near death. Whitman continues his goodbye by reminiscing about old times and happy memories. Now for my last- let me look back a moment;/ The slower fainter ticking of the clock is in me,/ Exit, nightfall, and soon the heart-thud stopping. Whitman is getting melodramatic now. He can feel his heart slowing and he is capitalizing on that feeling. His heart, the clock, is slower fainter ticking while inside of him. He can feel his death coming soon. And yet he still rejoices in the past while separating himself from reality. Long have we lived, joyd, caressd together;/ Delightful! - now separation - Good-by my Fancy. He speaks to his love and reminds the reader of all the times theyve spent with him. Whitman delights in the relationship, but he realizes that it is his time to press on. So he separates himself, making the ultimate goodbye a lot easier. The next stanza is different from the previous three. Whitman goes back to his classical idea of being one with someone else continuing with the concept that he cant die quickly. He doesnt want his lover to think that he is being hasty in leaving. He drags his goodbye out, holding on to life. Whitman expresses how they have spent so much time blending into one and then reassures the lover that even after he passes they will still be one with him. Then if we die we die together, (yes, well remain one,)/ If we go anywhere well go together to meet what happens,/ May-be well be better off and blither, and learn something . . . Whitman wants his love (or his readers) to continue to learn him even after he is no longer present. The end of the poem is interesting. Whitman actually gives credit to his love for giving Whitman his songs to sing. May-be it is yourself now really ushering me to the true songs, (who knows?) He is passing the legacy on to his readers. Whitman wants us to take the baton and continue from where he left off. Walt Whitman ends this line with a question as a side thought. Whitman seems to be questioning now instead of answering each scenario with his own solutions. He finally begins to let go and give the credit to somebody else. He then calls his love the mortal knob really undoing, turning-, he is saying that the person is the key to his temporary immortality. It is the love that opens the door to his death, yet will carry on his memory after he is gone. He then says goodbye one last time and hails his Fancy.
Kind Regards
Jim Clark
All rights are reserved on this video recording copyright Jim Clark 2010
PLEASE NOTE - The image used in this animation is not actualy Walt Whitman it is a lookalike of Walt Whitman and is not to my knowledge a copyrighted image please write to me if you have bonafide information to the contrary. at my email address of hyperbolelad@hotmail.com
Good-Bye My Fancy!...................
Good-bye my Fancy! Farewell dear mate, dear love! I'm going away, I know not where, Or to what fortune, or whether I may ever see you again, So Good-bye my Fancy. Now for my last--let me look back a moment; The slower fainter ticking of the clock is in me, Exit, nightfall, and soon the heart-thud stopping. Long have we lived, joy'd, caress'd together; Delightful!--now separation--Good-bye my Fancy. Yet let me not be too hasty, Long indeed have we lived, slept, filter'd, become really blended into one; Then if we die we die together, (yes, we'll remain one,) If we go anywhere we'll go together to meet what happens, May-be we'll be better off and blither, and learn something, May-be it is yourself now really ushering me to the true songs, (who knows?) May-be it is you the mortal knob really undoing, turning--so now finally, Good-bye--and hail! my Fancy.
