What is this poem of Whitman mainly about? After reading the first nineteen sections of the whole work, I would say that <> is like a poetic meditation by the poet himself. At least two main points are elaborated in this meditation.
             First of all is the idea of celebrating oneself. The fist line of the poem "I celebrate myself and I sing myself" seems to be a hint that leads me to find out more why the poet want to celebrate himself. Later in the poem, he mentioned that the birthplace of poetry is in the self, and the best way to learn about poetry is to relax and watch the workings of one's own mind. From this, I believe that the reason why the poet wants to praise himself is because he has seen the importance of each individual, although it is at the same time, only sort of an indistinguishable part from the earth.
             Second, is the idea of eternity. The summer grass mentioned at the very beginning of the poem could be a symbol of eternity, since that all grass will eventually turn into the soil where it first grown. It is like the never-ending cycle of life. In addition, in the sixth section of the poem, it states:
             "They are alive and well somewhere,
             The smallest sprout shows there is really no death,
             And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the end
             And ceas'd the moment life appear'd.
             All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses,
             And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier."
             From this, I see the idea that "death" does not really exist. "Death" should not be the end of everything but actually, leads to the cycle of eternity.
             Some people say that this poem from Whitman is in someway an American epic with a loose quest pattern. I feel that the poems of Whitman we read so far are like deep philosophical meditation of oneself with a form quite different from the traditional English poems. It&apos
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