Themes

Song of Myself is a poem by Walt Whitman’s.
This poem presents a continual

stream of human consciousness, where he attempts to analyze death as natural and
transformative process, which ought to occur to everybody. The speaker develops
this idea that life is a journey to unveil one’s identity throughout the poem. He
takes various forms and imagines himself performing some sacred roles just to
show the mystical union of his soul with the divine. He shows his infinite love for
humanity as he speaks on behalf of mankind. Also, he focuses on the equality of
mankind. The poet expresses that there is no difference between asterisk, cultures,
classes, genders, and races and that the things in nature are truly equal. Even death
does not violate this equality. It does not bring a ruination. Rather, it leads us to
new experiences. Men die and are reborn with new purposes, and this is how the
cycle of life and death continues. Various themes have been depicted in the poem.
DEMOCRACY:
In the poem, Whitman travels America to express solidarity with the experiences
of many different Americans in many different regions. He depicts Americans as a
new kind of people, unique in the history of the world. Whitman certainly does
begin his American celebration with a concentrated focus on himself, “I, Walt
Whitman.” He assesses that:
“The smoke of my own breath,
Echoes, ripples, buzz’d whispers, love-root, silk-thread, crotch and vine,
My respiration and inspiration, the beating of my heart, the passing of blood and air
through my lungs”
In his quest to speak for America, he assumes that every American has complete
equality with himself. Later, in section 24, he says:
“I speak the pass-word primeval, I give the sign of democracy.
By God! I will accept nothing which all cannot have their counter part of on the
same terms.”
Thus, though his journey may begin with himself, quickly he moves outward to
become one in spirit with many diverse American people, moving from a lonely
woman to a runaway slave to a trapper marrying a Native American to a prostitute
to a fallen soldier.
“Undrape! You are not guilty to me, nor stale nor discarded,
I see through the broadcloth and gingham whether or no”
From walking side by side with many kinds of Americans, Whitman then seeks to
identify with all aspects of American Nature: animals, vegetation, the sea, and
eventually with the divine cosmos itself. A guy with a big ego might stop by
enshrining himself in the realm of the divine, but instead Whitman returns from
this American journey to present himself at the end of the poem in the humblest
form of matter in the organic universe:
“I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love.
If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles”
SEARCH FOR EXISTANCE:

Many faith traditions interpret body and soul, the material and the spiritual, as
opposites, conceiving of flesh and the physical world as a lure or a barrier to
communion with the divine. “Song of Myself” illustrates a completely different
view that may seem stunning, even today: the physical world of sensation is not
seen as the enemy of the Spirit, but the exact path to it.
Through every intense experience Whitman reports, he illustrates that everything
received through his senses leads outward to a larger spiritual meaning, which is
why he declares at the outset of his work,
“I permit to speak at every hazard
Nature without check with original energy.”
It is through our material, physical encounters in Nature that we are put in touch
with, and come to comprehend, the Spiritual. For instance, he reports that his
observations of the natural world, as well as intuitions in his own soul, have taught
him the spiritual truth that there is no death:
“Has any one supposed it lucky to be born?
I hasten to inform him or her it is just as lucky to die, and I know it.”
DEATH:
Another theme critically depicted is Death. All through the poem, Whitman
describes death as a natural part of every individual life. He does not believe on
physical death, and he assumes that when one dies he will rise again in another
transformed form,
“They are alive and well somewhere, the smallest sprout shows there is really no
death.”
In this theme, he also affirms his contribution to the world, where he argues that
even after he dies, his corpse will contribute to establishment of new life on earth.
This means he does not believe in death.
Despite the fact that he sees death as transformation to another life, he eludes the
prospect of an afterlife after one dies. This theme is elaborated in section 6, where
he says -
“ All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses,
And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier.”
Whitman regards life as a gift from God, and he personifies life as anchor, which
links the living and the non – living.
SEXUALITY:
In relation to the theme sexuality, Whitman’s describes sexuality as an element that
makes soul sensual. The encounter of two individuals in section five expresses the
poets desire in relation to sex ,which he values as the synthesis of body and soul.
He critically argues that sensual feeling is part of life, which makes it more
enjoyable since if one is not living, they cannot enjoy it. He says:
“Loafe with me on the grass, loose the stop from your throat,
Not words, not music or rhyme I want, not custom or lecture, not even the best,
Only the lull I like, the hum of your valvèd voice.”

Themes

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Themes

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Song of Myself is a poem by Walt Whitman’s.

This poem presents a continual

SEARCH FOR EXISTANCE:

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