Humans have always wondered how and when the universe came into being. That is the reason why they rejected the old religious doctrines and began studying the farthest reaches of space and the innermost depths of matter and from the earliest beginning of time to the future billions of years from now. The theories and principles acquired from their rigorous research is the chief topic of the poem Kosmos by Walt Whitman. Various literary devices such as metaphor, conceit, simile, imagery, personification, pathetic fallacy, syntactic ambiguity, symbols and poetic textures are contained in the poem. Kosmos has an enlightening, inspiring and edifying effect on the reader. This commentary endeavors adduce quotes and consequent literary analysis and thematic interpretation in support of that claim.
             The poem Kosmos enlightens its reader about the immeasurable and unimaginable dimensions and compositions of the universe. Literary devices that facilitate the reader's grasp of the illuminative concepts abound through out the entire poem. The line: "Who includes diversity and is nature" (Whitman, Line 1), opens it with a redolent and informative tone, which is typical of a teacher or monologues speaker. It appears to be a good reminder of what is generally meant by the word cosmos. This familiarizes the reader with the speaker's unique and astounding picture of the cosmos. The heart of the poem contains even more theoretical and abstract description of the physical and mental universe. That is most efficiently exemplified when the speaker says, "Who, out of the theory of the earth, and of his or her body, understands by subtle analogies all other theories," (Whitman, Line 7). This line introduces an idea of multiple theories regarding the workings of the universe and its constituent objects. A reader might approach the world with a preconception that a single absolute law governs everything but Whitman enlightens h...