Walt Whitman creates a very interesting personality for himself in his poem, “A Song of Myself”.   The way he depicts himself throughout the poem can be separated into two main subgroups: (1) a narrator (2) a being interconnected with everything.  “And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you” (p.982).  Prior to this line, he writes “I celebrate myself, and sing myself” – this egocentric view is seen throughout the poem.  Whitman will not allow himself to be portrayed as fallible or wrong – “Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself” (p.987).  Even if he contradicts himself, it doesn’t matter.  Nothing he does can be wrong – he exists “Myself moving forward then and now and forever”.   These traits are not human – giving the sense that the narration is actually from an omniscient being, interconnected with all, that is making a statement on our existence.

Evidence of an omniscient being is furthered by a lack of a gender, species, or class – “I am the poet of the woman the same as the man, And I say it is as great to be a woman as to be a man… Have you outstript the rest? Are you the President? It is a trifle…” (p.984).  There is a very zen, cosmic relation that Whitman has set up for the narrator – there are no boundaries, no right or wrong – there is only existence, one that the narrator and all of us are a part of and connected through.  Perhaps Whitman is saying that since existence is inevitable, we are what we already are and are a part of this interconnected world that we should just play out our parts and stop whining, weeping, discussing our duties to God, stop being so dissatisfied (page 985).  It seems as if our possessions, technology, and advancement have taken over/consumed our lives – we have become so separated from nature and the natural flow of life.  In reference to animals, Whitman writes “I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contained… Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?” (p. 985-986).

Lastly, this persona/narrator is asking you to join it – “I tramp a perpetual journey, (come listen all!)” while at the same time, you can’t – “Not I, not any one else can travel that road for you, You must travel it for yourself”.  There is a journey that the narrator has travelled to get to where it is – the journey is central to the narration that has taken place.  Life has been a journey for Whitman, and like his poem “Song of Myself”, has had different phases and has changed voices.  As the poem ends, a sense of resolution in his journey can be felt.  “I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love” reminds me of a phrase from the beginning of the poem, “My tongue, every atom of my blood, formed from this soil, this air, Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same…”(982).  By coming back to the beginning of the poem, Whitman has come full circle (as does the grass, dirt, and his parents), showing his individuality intertwined with a bigger whole.