Walt Whitman’s, “Song of Myself”, was a great piece of writing that in my opinion is everywhere and yet, still all at the same time. Describing everything and seems messy but so well understood too. “I breathe the fragrance myself and I know I like it” I like how he begins by talking in first person about himself and what’s to love and not love about himself. It’s a sort of stubborn writing, kind of like the strong spoken Jane Eyre. He then draws his views towards the audients by asking rhetorical questions such as, “Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems?”. This quote is similar to when Jane is asking “Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless?”. It’s towards the audients and to engage them more to think and react. She questions herself but knows the truth about who she really is and does this “thinking out loud” scene which I admire the most about her. And AGAIN Walt shifts us to telling the audients how to think in a demanding tone, “You shall no longer take things at second or third hand…. nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books”. This quote is perfect to be told to Jane because this is what should’ve been her advice all throughout her life. Unfortunately, she has to tell herself this towards the end of the book. Whitman’s quote , “I am a free human being with an independent will… You will hardly know who I am or what I mean, But I shall be good health to you nevertheless.” What Walt Whitman means is that you will truly never know who a person really is because everyone is unique. He also wants to state that even if you are unique you are still “you, and that is truer than true, there’s no one on earth who is youer than you” from the wise words of Dr.Suess of course. You should always be yourself because we are from the same “dirt” Earth, born the same way, feel the same way, then why should I have to feel less than or different than anyone else. We are the same humans, just different beings.

In Whiteman’ poem, he pointed out that even though we born in the world with the identical way, our life paths will never be identical. Literary art such as poem allow us to access other’s life experience, and they are like “perfume”, which inspired our spirit. While, the author oppose to “take things at second or third hand nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the specters in books”. He suggests us to explore the world by ourselves instead of through the eyes of others. Those literature works are only the hints which highlight various possibilities waiting for us to explore. The meaning of life is discovering and developing self through various experience.
In different stages of life, we will have different interpretations of “myself” upon our experience. It makes our identity even more untranslatable. “You will hardly know who I am or what I mean”, as the author states, nobody was able to fully translate another. While, in the end of the poem, the author still hope to inspire and guide his offspring by his unique experience.

From “Song of Myself”, Whitman tried to express the idea that everyone is equal in the world regardless of their identity. He stated, “You shall no longer take things at second or third hand…nor look through the eyes of dead, nor feed on the specters in books”. We should not devalue ourselves to take things that were used by other people. Also, we should not use different standards or evaluation when think about ourselves and on others. It does not matter if you are a slave or a poor, we deserve the same equality as other people do at this country.

In my opinion, Jane Eyre always has self-depreciation on herself due to her background, social status and gender. Whenever she was in front of Mr. Rochester, she began to doubt herself and everything. I believe if she has the same thought as Whitman does, she would be more confident and have less struggle. I feel bad for her when I read the scene that Jane told Mr. Rochester if she is wealthy as him, he will be the one who can not leave her. I can imagine how desperate and upset Jane was, so that she revealed the truth of the society –people who do not have power or wealth(Woman) can be given up at time time.

When Whitman talks about “untranslatable self”, I think he tried to highlight the uniqueness of humans. There is no simple way to express a person or “translate” oneself. Everyone is different from one another; they are the only one knows about themselves. After reading the book Jane Eyre, I believe I still did not entirely understand this person. Whitman tried to tell us that everyone is equal living in this world, but they are also different at the time. We do not need to tell other people who we are or “translate “ourselves to them.

Walt Whitman writes in Song of Myself I, II, VI, & LII about the unity of the human race, the interconnectedness between oneself his past, and future. The untranslatable self in Whitman’s poem is that everybody is one. Whether we are white or black, men or women, human or animals. We are all part of this infinite world that although different from the outside, same from the inside, flesh and blood. When the child grabs a piece of grass and asks Whitman “what is the grass”? The grass seems to be a metaphor for existence, as well as the population of the human race. Whitman answers that he does not have better answers than the child, yet he is able compare the grass to democracy:

“…Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic,
And it means, Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow zones,
Growing among black folks as among white,
Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the same, I receive then the same.”

Although one thinks he knows himself, by thinking that he is better than others, one must remember that we are one. Hence, the untranslatable self is the understanding of who one is, and the philosophical point of view of it, that one is just like the other, equal. Furthermore, untranslatable self, can also be interpreted as the sense of the sublime. Knowing that everything is God’s creation, one may understand that we are all part of the existence, part of this enormous, as well as endless universe, and this sense is unexplainable. Just as the sense of sublime views of the Kilimanjaro mountain.

 Walt Whitman begins his poem by naming its subject himself. He says that he celebrates himself and that all parts of him are also parts of the reader. I notice in this poem Whitman calls his poems “songs” this implies that Whitman feels there is an audible quality to his work; moreover, that the true meanings of his poems will not be understood if they are not heard by a listener. In addition, he feels as though he will not be understood as an individual if he is not heard by the world. He emphases so many idea, characters, images and symbols all at once that reading this poem is “untranslatable”.

However, Whitman tell us what he believes and what he opposed to. he believes “everyone is equal, including slaves; Truth is everywhere, but unspeakable; people who think they preach the truth, like the clergy”.  In chapter IV Whiteman describe a child coming to him and asking him what is the grass. He has no answer, meaning that he cannot fully describe the “individual self” in people and human. At the end the poem, he says that he is going to give out his body back to nature and to continue his great journey. I think Whitman break up “Song of Myself” with a parable that offers a moral or instructive lesson for its readers.

After reading Walt Whitman’s poem I feel she’s totally free, and was in a relaxing mode. She enjoys her life and goods she likes, but not depending on that materiality. Well, it was kind like Jane Eyre; however, Jane Eyre was not depended on Mr. Rochester because of her self-pride, she doesn’t want others to look down to her true love. Plus, marry to Mr. Rochester due to his wealth. For the definition “untranslatable self” I personally think it means just let things go, and let it be what it is. People don’t have to care what other say about you because they never understand the issues others have.

I think the untranslatable self refers to the idea of not being able to put a person’s identity into words, into categories. We are who we are. We are not just a gender, or a social class, or a race. We are human beings. We can use words to communicate. We can use words to disagree or praise someone.

We can translate something from Spanish to English, from French to German, but sometimes there are things so unique to a language that they are untranslatable quite literally. So, to me it seems that Whitman finds people to have that same uniqueness that is untranslatable. We can’t put a soul into words.

Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” is a radical poem explaining the concept of self and identity. Towards the end of the poem Whitman writes, “I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable, I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.” This line in the poem, is a response to Whitman’s belief on the concept of self and individual identity.  Whitman explains in his poem that the search and exploration of the concept of identity, is always changing and connected with nature. Ultimately, Whitman debunks the idea of an absolute concept of identity. Whitman uses the word, “untranslatable”, in his poem in order to bolster the idea of an ever-changing view of one’s self. When something is untranslatable, according to Google dictionary, it means: (of a word, phrase, or text) not able to have its sense satisfactorily expressed in another language. The exploration of one’s self, is a subjective experince that cannot be explained to others. The ever-changing search of one’s identity is so complex, that it cannot be translated in words for people to understand–it’s explained by experiencing it yourself.

-Daniel Lee

After reading this Emilys Dickens poem, I think it is the poem that most related to Jane Eyre. In the poem, there is a key word “soul”, it also relates to thought, and it is coming from the judgment of objective things. Therefore, the title, “The Soul Select Her Own Society” is clearly explained that love has a side of serious and prudent. However, every individual has a different thought for the same thing, so we cant not ignore the existence of diversity and uncertainty, because it is de resource of mystery, if people cannot balance this conflict, it may have the opposite result. Also, the poem implies that love is free and beautiful, how to hold the freedom love prudently becomes a pair of conflict, people should find this balance between them, will truly have love. As I feel that in Jane Eyres world, the society and live are beat her down again and again, but she also eventually holds her true feeling to herself. She has experience the conflict when she fall in love with Mr. Rochester.

When analyzing these poems and comparing them to Jane Eyre, I found that they all carry a very similar tone. Each one seems to confront a feeling of longing to escape and the want to experience something different and new. Yet, this isn’t the longing to travel or explore in a positive or exciting way, instead it is very melancholy and you can almost feel the restraint they are experiencing from society and the world they know. All they know and can identify with is hope, and the possibility life may bring them something great and new. Although in Jane’s case, it never seems to work out in her favor.

Dickinson’s “I dwell in Possibility” immediately resonated with the incessant desire Jane has throughout the text of wanting to experience the world in a way that constantly feels out of reach. In chapter 4 while still at Gateshead, she saw visitors come and go, yet none interested her, instead she found solace in the spectacles of wildlife. If Jane were to read this poem it would elucidate the relentless feelings of longing for knowledge and experience outside of her familiar realm. She wants to know more of the world, to grasp and understand more than her own reality, but is constantly bound by the limits society puts on her because of her circumstances. This behavior is repetitive and while it is all so close to observe, it’s also impossible for her to ever fully have. Even when she finally has a decent job, and a man who claims to love her, it all so quickly is taken away and ruined.