Song of Myself by Walt Whitman
As suggested in the title, Song of Myself is indeed concerned with the poet's experience. Yet it also is concerned with much more the human condition, nature, and the universe and it is presented through the lens of the poet's unique vision. Whitman's personality is powerful in the poem his opening lines state that I celebrate myself, and sing myself, / And what I assume you shall assume, / For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. But instead of being a simple statement of egotism, it is a statement of camaraderie. Whitman is symbolically reaching out to the reader, suggesting that they are interconnected even on a molecular level. And from that point on, Whitman is able to expand his concerns to include larger questions of brotherhood, human nature, and death. Whitman's concern of these questions is unyielding. His observations appear as a series of outbursts and revelations. As a result, the poem may seem to have no apparent organization or guiding principle. Yet closer assessment, one can argue that Song of Myself unfolds carefully as a mystical experience on the part of the poet. And while its tone is ecstatic and its scope is vast, the poem remains grounded in the self, the touchstone
In this awakened state he begins to consider questions of life and death. / I troop forth replenish'd with supreme power. To the poet, each individual contains the mysteries of the universe, as does he ( There is that in me I do not know what it is but I know it is in me ). In the third phase of the poet's experience roughly sections seventeen through thirty-two the nature of the poet's concerns shifts again. The feeling is of radical transformation: Unscrew the locks from the doors! / Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs! The theme of illumination dominates the sections that follow. The poet then goes on to discuss various human experiences and conditions, from the sublime to the suicidal. The theme of this phase of the poet's mystical experience is purification. The sprouts of grass suggest to the poet that death is an integral part of life; it is not an ending but simply another beginning. He yields to time I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass and as a result, becomes timeless. He describes bloody battles, massacres, and those who are forsaken: convicts, the dying, and the abused. He exalts sensuality and channels a spirit of liberation: Voices of sexes and lusts, voices veil'd and I remove the veil, / Voices indecent by me clarified and transfigur'd. Thus the poet suggests an identification with Christ, and a connection with the Transcendent. The mystical experience described in Song of Myself progresses with conviction. The poet calls himself a caresser of life, meaning that he is acutely sympathetic toward life in all of its forms. In the sections that follow, the poet experiences an awakening of the self.
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