An Analysis of Walt Whitman's Song of Myself Essay

The suggestions of equality between all people are not blatant and are not abundant in “Song of Myself” but they do exist, showing that Whitman was not as neutral as most readers are led to believe. He believed in equality.

In stanza six of the poem "Song of Myself", by Walt Whitman, he poses the question "What is the grass?" I believe that grass is a metaphor for the cycle of life. Throughout the poem Whitman points out images that grass could represent. All of these images stem from the life and death that we come to expect in our lifetime. During your life you will experience death, it at times surrounds you, but if you look past the grief and look to the beauty you will see that it is a cycle that keeps our world in balance. The images of flags, tears, children and older people that are torn from the ones they love, but only to soon return to other lost ones are all parts of Walt Whitman's

a. The parts I read from Whitman’s Song of Myself are very interesting because right off the bat, Whitman informs his audience that he is writing this long epic poem about himself. His work shapes what it means to be an American. He discusses all different kinds of people and places and tries to find unity that forms positive relationships. To him, everything is good if it is contributing to the larger good in some way. His poem was controversial because he lacks any sort of “filter.”

Walt Whitman's 'Song of Myself' is, on the most basic descriptive level, a really long poem. Whitman is clearly a poet with a lot to say, or at least with a lot of different ways to say it. He meanders from the micro to the macro, from atoms to the whole earth. There are obviously myriad ways to explain what the poem is about, and myriad 'keys' to its true meaning. In what became Section 6 of the final edition (lines 90-121 of the 1855 edition ) Whitman himself addresses this sort of 'meta-question' of interpretation. By doing so in one of the quieter, more straightforward sections of the poem, Whitman invites us to use the section as one such 'key.' In Section 6, Whitman lays out a (possible)

Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" is an thought-provoking text for the reason that it was finished for a extended age of time and studied founded on Whitman's variations in his lifetime, involvement, and philosophy, though the material and flair remained fundamentally equivalent.

In Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself”, the concept of self is one of the most momentous aspect and theme of the poem. Whitman believes the self is a spiritual entity that is comprised of experiences, ideas, and insights during and beyond the conscious life. He is able to see through not only his own self, but the selves of many others because the self is not only individual but universal as well.

Intuitive decisions allow self-appreciation since the results of those choices were self-deprived. People can say “I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” The repetition of words, including “myself,” “assume,” and “belong,” emphasizes Whitman’s understanding of himself. He loves himself, as indicated through his free-verse style, and wants to convey that emotion to the audience. His exchange with them and the “atom” symbolizes the connectivity he feels with his readers. At the core of his identity is his humanity, which he shares with his readers, along with his thoughts and emotions. Whitman does not see himself as an outsider for following his intuition, rather a representative of humanity. Similarly, atoms are the simplest form of matter. As people conform, their life becomes complicated. To live a life adopted from society is to “live meanly, like ants” (Thoreau 395). Such a life involves following others and living a monotonous life without considering its purpose. Running a path that was designed by someone else is exhausting as one keeps considering what the next task is to continue the path. The longer this life continues, the longer one lives in

Walt Whitman was an 19th century American poet and author of “Song of Myself,” a 52-section poem that conveys a lot of the basic premises and themes of transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is the belief in the power of the individual, no one is better then anyone else, everything is interconnected, and the power and value of nature. It was a reaction towards rationalism that resulted in the development of transcendentalism. Walt Whitman shared this values and beliefs and is notable in a lot of his work, even more so in his poem “Song of Myself,” where he opens-up about his opinions with one’s self, nature, and the universe. Another theme of Transcendentalism believes that Authors should be equine and create new literature, just as Whitman have his own style of writing that made him equine and original. Throughout “Song of Myself” Whitman conveys the point of view of a transcendentalist as his constantly makes the connection connecting nature, humans, and spiritual. The poem tells us about Whitman, almost to the point that it was his form of writing his autobiography, but even more so it expresses his self-satisfaction is all that mattered and personally didn’t care if you joined in his-self celebration or not regardless he was going to celebrate.

Walt Whitman’s 1892 poem “Song of Myself” is an extensive selection consisting of 52 separate sections expressing Whitman’s different perspectives on different subjects concerning things such as his own inner personality, nature and the human perspective. Each, as expected, helps to reveal a part of Whitman’s psyche. In the case of Section 6 of “Song of Myself”, Whitman talks at length about the most worldly of the Earth’s creations, grass. Grass is used as a metaphor for many things throughout the section, from life to death to equality and, most importantly, the presence of the unknown, which connects back to the previous themes mentioned. Whitman establishes the theme of the unknown through his primary subject matter, thoughtful use of diction and his poetic form. Whitman helped to show what questioning and marveling at the world could do to help better an individual as they journey through the confusion that is human existence.

In the poem “Song of Myself” from the collection Leaves of Grass by the poet Walt Whitman, his interpretation of “the grass” is that it’s a child of nature and vegetation. Whitman insists that it’s a piece of the universe and is a part of nature, which we all share. This is important because it presents the grass as a vegetation of a universal thing. This affects the whole question because it proposes an idea or even truth of “the grass”. Furthermore the poet argues “I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic.../ sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow zones”. In other words, it explains “the grass as a forever growing thing in nature. In sum, this places the whole idea in a place of the universe. Over all this tells the age

Whitman wanted man to know that the only way he could get to know and allow the “self” to grow was through experiencing the world around him. Section 13 called man to look at nature and all of God’s creation. In Section 45 Whitman asked himself

The implication of individualism in Walt Whitman’s poem, “Song of Myself,” is in the title; “Myself” means the reader and or Whitman. He composed his free verse poem to be universal, because he expects everyone to obtain a different meaning since it took place a few years before the Civil War. Words such as me, myself, and I are used throughout the entire poem to express his self-reliance. On Whitman’s journey to find himself, he never allowed someone to judge him; he found belonging in the universe which made him encourage others to follow his path. He became curious and experienced towards the ending of his journey and he will explore much more after death. Whitman explains, everyone has different journeys so the answers to the questions being asked will be different, “... you must find out

“Has anyone supposed it lucky to be born? / I hasten to inform him or her it is just as lucky to die, and I know it” (section 7, 131), this is how Whitman starts section 7, celebrating life and death, proving that each one of us can be optimistic, even if everything around is falling apart. Whitman in his poem “Songs of Myself”, develops a new understanding of everything around, including life, self, and nature. He through his unique thoughts is able to overcome any difficulties in life, even if it is undefeated. In his poem, you as a reader will simply notice the unity of life and death, self and nature, and his brilliant ability to combine all these elements together in such a beautiful way. At the same time, Whitman

Normally poetry is a short body of writing, made up of less than 20 lines. Often the words in poems rhyme and referrer to one subject. Most poetry is brief and to the point, but that is not the proper way to describe the elaborate work of Walt Whitman. In Whitman's most famous work, "Song of Myself" Whitman "tries to prove that he both encompasses and is indistinguishable from the rest of the universe"(Whitman’s Poetry 24). Even though Whitman "had to leave school when he was 11 and was largely self-taught”, his works do not lack in cleverness (Anirudh). When writing "Songs of Myself" he uses "three key episodes" that are important to understand his reason for writing (Whitman’s Poetry). Whitman's works stretch on intricately describing all kinds of people. Due to the immense amount of time, he spends tending to his works and striving not to leave anyone out, he succeeds in making his work relatable to everyone. Whitman's works might be long winded, but it is full of powerful and intense meaning.

Whitman, Birmingham warns, was “a great poet of experience and the possibilities it contains, but is actually a terrible philosopher”(Birmingham). According to him, a stanza from the last poem in Leaves of Grass slightly exaggerates how badly he often wrote when a philosophical mood came upon him, and gives the following quote: “Great is justice; Justice is not settled by legislators and laws .... it is in the soul, It cannot be varied by statutes any more than love or pride or the attraction of gravity can, It is immutable .. it does not depend on majorities .... majorities or what not come at last before the same passionless and exact tribunal” (Whitman).