The obvious thing that stood out to me was a recurring theme in Walt Whitman’s work of a very strong connection to nature. His charming and witty opening declaration of celebrating a lazy afternoon drew me in instantly, cleverly bookended by the foreshadowing promise that the reader will become a willing accomplice by the end. His disdain for manufactured scents and deep love for the odorlessness of the natural air leads you through a story he writes of life with the nature we’re surrounded with. He seems to also change the structure of each “part” or “chapter” with each idea, thus leaving a visual road map that almost makes you feel as if you are actually forming the thoughts yourself. I’m interested in the significance of his specific selection of Roman numerals as titles for each chapter. You really cannot draw any conclusion about the composition without considering the intended message hidden in the title, if any.

“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,
You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me,
You shall listen to all sides and filter them from yourself.”

I found these words to be extremely powerful and relatable especially in these days we’re living now. I feel there are too many people on this world today that forget how to think for themselves and how to absorb information and analyze it using their own knowledge rather then just regergetating what was “heard”. We now live in place where all the information we could ever desire is at our literal fingertips, yet we only seem to care for the things the are said and told rather than discovering for ourselves to create our own individual thoughts.