Song of Myself by Walt Whitmas Essay

Charles Baudelaire explores the concept of modernity through the notion of ‘a strange man’ (Baudelaire, 1995, p.5). In The

In the first paragraph Emerson says, “Speak your latent conviction, and it shall be the universal sense; for always the inmost becomes the outmost—and our first thought is rendered back to us by the trumpets of the Last Judgment”. Emerson believes that all that man needs is within himself and to seek no answers outside of oneself. Whitman furthers this idea adding “you shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the specters in books…you shall listen to all sides and filter them from yourself.” Whitman and Emerson focus on the value of forming your own path and understanding your relationship with everything in society to be better off. They take the stance that institutions like school and church operate in a manner which restrict the individual. These institutions as a whole being against the freedom of the individual to maintain order praise conformity. Emerson and Whitman conclude that these institutions intoxicate us from the invaluable qualities within our self and that is why we should break

As the speaker sits in an auditorium, they observe the lecturer’s many notes, “When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me, / When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,” (lines 2-3). This line provides strong visual imagery of complex investigations in astronomy, and a reader can easily imagine a full lecture room with endless notes and charts which aids in providing the mind-numbing mood of the experience. Moreover, the repetitions of what are essentially synonyms in this context make these lines sound like the rambles of the astronomer, contributing to the tone. As the speaker tires of the lecture, he leaves the room and “In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, / Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars” (lines 8-9). Here Whitman again employs imagery to make the night seem appealing and

Walt Whitman was a revolutionary poet who let his emotions run free through his poetry. Whitman was never afraid to express himself no matter how inappropriate or offensive his emotions might have seemed at the time. This is why Whitman's poem still echo that same sentiment and emotion today almost as loudly as when the drums were first tapped.

This exemplifies the thoughts of Walt Whitman and his inner feelings about the divine existing in all of humanity, and nature and how he celebrates the divine in each soul, not only in America, but throughout the world then –

Whitman begins by creating a contradictory image of himself. On one hand he relays an egotistical representation by alluding that he is the center of the universe, "a kosmos, of Manhattan the son," almost a deistic type of character. Whitman also describes himself as not being above any one person, woman or man, an obvious contradiction to his previous representation. His God-like persona is depicted in human terms, physical qualities that all humans possess. Whitman creates this contradiction to show his belief that he is everything, but is only this way because everything is a part of him. He represents himself as part of a whole&emdash;nature, mankind, and the universe are all a part of him. By being everything in nature and nature being a part of him, Whitman has the power to become the voice of nature as a whole. He speaks for nature and mankind when they do not possess the power to do so. Whitman is the voice of all.

One quote that I found is “I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass (Whitman line 5). What Whitman is saying that in order to be an individual one must find himself in unity with nature and that a person should be a peace with himself also. Whitman compares the people to the grass stating that every atom of his blood is formed from the soil. That indicates that he is relating himself to the grass. He suggests that one blade of grass is an individual within a whole field of grass. This is important to Whitman's time because he is saying that people are not caring about nature like they used to and that people should reconnect with nature so they can find their true selves. American society is changing because people are not caring enough. Whitman's poem suggests that being an individual matters because if a person finds himself with nature it can separate him from everybody else.

From the very first stanza of the collection titled Songs of Myself, Whitman makes it clear that he see’s humanities existence in a dualistic sense. The statement, “I celebrate myself and sing myself” is riddled with personal pride and demonstrates the “not one” aspect of Buddhist dualism. Whitman boldly declares that he is unique, special and worthy of song and praise. Yet the bombastic opening is immediately followed by a voice that speaks to the legitimacy of collectivism, “and what I assume you shall

On this verse, we can see how Whitman tries to connect to mind, body, spirit and nature. In “Song of Myself” Whitman attempted to change the meaning of American poetry. I described identity issues that pertain to him, but that the audience was able to identify with. Whitman, opened the door to

Walt Whitman in his poem “Song of Myself” declares since the very beginning that he will celebrate himself through his poem, but in reality he celebrates all of humanity in a song about the self, the world, and nature. Since the beginning, he explains how “every atom belonging to [him] as good belongs to [everyone]” (l.3), proving what he feels, what he sees as his Self is similar to the rest of humanity. Yet, Whitman makes a distinction between himself, his “I”, and his “Soul” (l.4), indicating they will be treated as two entities experiencing things together. Whitman’s “I” is deeply connected to nature. He seems to believe nature and experiencing nature are all the teachers one needs.

In “A Clear Midnight”, everything in the world has to calm and quite just to even think about this spiritual side. Whitman shows that this spiritual side is hard to comprehend and understand as physical humans. Yet, this complex side of people means the most to humans. It shows how you think and why you think it, the true man that you

Not only does he imagine himself as the passengers currently on the ferry, but he feels as if he is everyone who had every rode the ferry. The symbolism behind the ferry is important because it expands the meaning of the speaker’s imagination. He is imagining himself as anyone that has ever or will ever experience life and the importance of nature. He begins to see the world differently. In stanza two, he describes his new insight as “the simple, compact, well-join’d scheme, myself disintegrated, every one disintegrated yet part of the scheme” (7).  Each passenger in the past, present, and future are joined together in Whitman’s imagination for a greater purpose. Ultimately, the speaker begins to disregard identity. While looking into the water in stanza 9, he said he saw “fine spokes of light, from the shape of my head, or anyone’s head, in the sunlit water” (126). He does not care to identify whether the face he sees is his own or someone else’s. In the end, everyone is the same person and has the same experiences. Everyone is looking at the water and seeing a reflection. As he said in stanza five, we have all been “struck from the float forever held in solution”

In Charles Baudelaire Les Fleurs du Mal, the condition of modern mankind is explored with both condemnation and celebration. Baudelaire expresses emerging emotional states, flawed fascinations, and new forms of beauty that he finds himself surrounded by. These themes are all centered around the common thread of modernity. He focuses only on things that are unique to the present. The beauty of modernity is the only beauty worthwhile to Baudelaire, despite the mainstream effort to silence modern movements with more traditionalist values. Modernity is a focus and beauty that constantly changes, it is enjoyed in fleeting moments, intolerant to nostalgic dwelling. One emerging modern state of mind in particular catches the attention of Baudelaire.

Alongside the revolving social orientation of its time, the piece of art which too assumes this very changing element of its time into itself transforms, or metamorphosizes, to reveal its most eternal aspects, and more importantly reveals these aspects to the attentive spectator who is too faced with the revolving social orientation of his time. Practically and in other words, only the poet who is exposed to a large sum of ephemeral art can extract the eternal aspect and can

As we begin analyzing the poem we must realize who the speaker is. The speaker of the poem is a sailor who had just sailed a very long and dangerous trip and witnessed the death of his beloved captain. As Whitman begins to write the poem he