Songs of Myself: Sharon Cheung

Section 32 of Songs of Myself is all about animals. Walt Whitman compares humans to animals and describes how we differ from one another. Animals are carefree, without worry, and look at life with a healthy attitude. Humans are plagued with distress, anger, guilt, and sadness. He is trying to achieve a place in his life where he can come to the same state as the animals. He wants tranquility and peace in his life without all the chaos. The video shows a family on a farm reciting the stanza of the poem. They are away from the busy city life with busy streets, technology and all of the media. They are on a farm that is surrounded by nature. It is peaceful with horses and cattle around them. They’re life is simple like the animals. There are trees and sunlight shining down on their face. It is a simple life they live. They portray a healthy and happy family like the animals they care for. It also seems like they live a simple and minimalistic life, which is also something animals have. They are not materialistic and depend on expensive material. They focus on the important and necessary things in life. They eat and rest. He states, “Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things, Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago, Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.” In the stanza, he also mentions a stallion in which he shares a special connection with. He lets the stallion roam freely. In the video, it shows a stallion who is not chained down and is able to walk and run freely. The horse is in nature where he belongs. We see it roll around on the ground happily which shows a happy and carefree horse that isn’t being restrained by its owner. The animal lives in the moment and does not stress about the past or present. Whitman is hoping that as humans, we achieve a similar state in which we are free from all the negativity in our lives and live in tranquility. He wants us to not dwell in the past but to live for the present. Human happiness is important to him and that is why he feels a strong connection to the animals.