In Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself”, I believe he is saying that the importance and meaning of a single image of nature in the poem is that nature is showing us that we all have a common cause: Nature is all around us, and that everything has a place and is in its place and that nature should be the model we choose to follow to realize our potential in life. Whitman states that we all started from nature, “My tongue, every atom of my blood, formed from this soil, this air” (1:6).

He describes how man has turned its back on the model of nature by not being happy with our selves or with what we have, “Battles, the horrors of fratricidal war, the fever of doubtful news, the fitful events” (4:7).  “Undrape! You are not guilty to me, nor stale nor discarded” (7:15) states that we are ashamed of what nature has given us and must cover ourselves with garments to hide that what we are ashamed of.

Whitman goes on to say that the model of nature tells us to be more like the animals. We shouldn’t bitch and moan about things, not to be out for all you can get, be respectable towards others no matter who or what they are, and not to enslave others. He speaks about giving and taking only what you need from nature. Whitman uses a stallion to point this out, “I but use you a minute, then I resign you, stallion” (32:23). That he caresses the horse, takes a ride on him, and then leaves him; he does not put a saddle on him and tie him up; he embraces the horse with his heels, and not “digs” them in is my interpretation.

In the conclusion of the poem, I believe that Whitman is saying that when our life is over, we will return to nature by suggesting that we will, one day, return to dust so that others may seek the inspiring qualities of nature by looking for us there. This is why it is so important to follow the model that nature has shown us.