The colloquial expressions (void of obscure high-art references) give Whitman's poem an accessibility and charm that is both obscure and wandering, yet we want it to be within our grasp so we can celebrate right along with him. Whitman says he was 'form'd from this soil' and refers to 'talkers,' 'trippers and askers' (section 4) as wasting their time intellectualizing, when they could be enjoying simple things like watching a blade of grass. He reused these symbols consistently throughout his work, even beyond Leaves of Grass, as in When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd.Įxperiment of words: Whitman uses colloquialisms to merge spiritual and natural concepts and to discover the joy he experiences through his senses (e.g.: 'The sound of the belch'd words of my voice loos'd to the eddies of the wind,' (section 2) 'Loaf with me on the grass,' (section 5) and 'not contain'd between my hat and boots') (section 6). Grass is the central symbol to explain that the divinity is in the ordinary: 'the grass is itself a child, the produced babe of the vegetation' (section 6) and that nothing really dies: 'The smallest sprout shows there is really no death' (section 6). Symbols: Whitman uses symbols extensively to illustrate various states of 'self.' Perfume represents individuals, houses and rooms represent civilization, the atmosphere represents the universal. It's this simplistic beauty of inclusivity and at the same time its complexity that make this poem one of the most celebrated. Universal 'I': Though the poem is about the poet's self, he universalizes the concept of 'I' to include all of our selves in his experiences. The exact opposite philosophy is found in the genre, Dark Romanticism - Study Guide He is inseparable from his poems, he is his poems, which makes for a somewhat confusing, yet exhiliarting experience for his readers, establishing Whitman as a foremost poet of the ages.įind out more about other works in this genre, Transcendentalism - Study Guide Whitman has great respect for the mystical union of his self and his soul with God (the absolute self).

Whitman shares his belief that every object in the universe, no matter how small, has a natural and spiritual self that contain part of the infinite universe. We see all, are part of everything, and condemn nothing. It was called A Poem of Walt Whitman, an American until he changed it in 1881 to Song of Myself, a reflection of the work's broader implications: that the divine spirit resides within all of us, and that we have knowledge about ourselves that 'transcends' the world around us. Quite simply, Whitman's poem is an unabashed celebration all about himself, exemplifying the Transcendental Movement to a 'T.' The poem had no title when first published in his collection, Leaves of Grass (1855).

Song of myself poem