According to Walt Whitman, the untranslatable self refers to the abstract concepts of identity and self-awareness. From what I can understand, it sounds as if Walt Whitman does not know how he fits into the world on a greater spectrum. He is aware of his existence, but contemplates his experience and reason for being. He finds that there is no single way to exist, or experience existing, and that every person is entitled to have multiple views/outlooks on life (whether one view contradicts another or not). Whitman not only questions his own human existence, but also what he knows about the universe and believes to be true. He feels that humans are constantly changing and developing intellectual beings, therefore it is impossible to fully understand oneself or anyone else. For this reason, he distances himself from categorization or belonging to any one specific niche or group. He illustrates a sense of defiance through this, refusing to succumb to the will of society by defining himself as person without outside influence. Whitman believes himself to be apart of nature, connected to the “hawk”, and almost blending their identities into one. Whitman believes that his ideas and thoughts are too much to articulate in words or use his “voice” for. Each line of the poem diverges from a central point or theme, but as a whole, I feel as if the theme that Walt Whitman is trying to convey is one regarding self-awareness and transcendence from one sense of self to another.