Journal #38: Religion in As I Watch'd the Ploughman Ploughing"

Obviously this poem is an analogy for Hinduism. Whitman writes of the circle of life and the aspect of reincarnation can be easily tied into the concept of the circle of life. In reincarnation the idea behind the concept is that people have an infinite number of lives and they are born and die. Once they die their spirit inhabits another being as they are born again into another life. Whitman writes of the harvesting in this poem and reaping the benefits of what is sown from the sweat of one's brow. This portion is not so relevant to the concept of religion but it does set the analogous properties of the poem as a whole. The idea of farming the circle of life in which crops are planted and grown and they are harvested. When they are harvested they reap seeds, which are then planted. The seeds grow into plants and the cycle repeats and repeats until the end of time. The main concept of the religion of Hinduism is the idea of reincarnation so the poem shares similarities of their main concepts between the cycle of harvesting and reincarnation. This is how the poem is representative and analogous of religion. Speaking of society the poem is representative of the great prairie farmers of the United States. The poem was written around this time and Whitman looked to the west for inspirations of this poem. The poem shows the harvesters and farmers of society during the time period and is representative of these men and women of the time period. The main concepts of the poem are religion, and the cycle of life and society. The reader must dig to unearth the concept of spirituality in this poem, but underneath the surface it is evident in it's relationship to the Hindi concept of reincarnation. In reference to society Whitman uses the workmen of the fields as a basis for the society of the poem.