Before I first looked at the title, I had an impression that it is going to be a song that I had to blog about. However, it turned out to be a collaboration of poems with 52 sections in total. Having doubts on the name of the title, I did some research and find out that the it was named songs by Whitman as there seens to be an audible quality to his work. Whitman thinks that the true meaning won’t be understood if they are not heard by a listener, nor will it be understood as an individual if the “songs ” are not heard by the world. Hence, the poems are titled with the name “song” in order to attempt to make himself heard.
Another part to the title on “myself”, I noticed Walt Whitman had an emphasize on all powerful “I” in the poems which serves as a narrator, who should not be limited to or confused with the person or Walt Whitman himself. The poem transcends conversational boundary of self. Just take a look at any session of the poem, one can see the frequent use of “I” , “me” and “my” that directed to the narrator . For example, Session 1 by itself had already over ten uses of reference to the narrator.
Whitman’s subject is himself, but it is clear that Whitman means more than just his physical self. Whitman calls himself a universe of meanings. He uses the symbol of his naked self in nature to symbolize his own fusion with the world around him. Whitman’s self is the whole of America and the whole of nature. From Session 2, the line “I will go to the bank by the wood and become undisguised and naked,” reflected Whitman’s idea of feeling the world. In this session, Whitman make uses of all our familiar pleasures senses to make others more appreciative about the world. In the same session, Whitman wrote that “You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me, You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self.” Not only do Whitman wants to feel the world on his own, but urge others to do the same as way, to use not only his eyes or your own eyes, but uses all of our senses in interacting with the world.
Whitman believes in the equality of humanity. In session 1, ” For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you”, reflects the thought of Whitman that what he have do not differ from what others have, that everyone is equal. They are born in this world in the same manner as anyone else. They, too, are allowed to develop in any manner that they desires, letting nature takes its course.
From the style of writing of Whitman in “Song of Myself”, there is a sense of realism within the poem. There is a symbiotic relationship between poet and the society. As it is written at the time right after American Civil War, there are certain aspect of the poems that could be especially related to that period of time. In Session 8, it directly relates to the situation after the American Civil War. For examples, there are ” The heavy omnibus, the driver with his interrogating thumb, the clank of the shod horses on the granite floor” , “The meeting of enemies, the sudden oath, the blows and fall” and “Arrest of criminals, slights, adulterous offers made, acceptances, rejections with convex lips,” could be related to the situation at that point of time.
Another thing to point out is that Whitman chose to write in free verse, that which he thinks it is the perfect form to explore the themes of identity, nationality and transcendence in a free country, the United States.
From reading “Song of Myself”, I feel that Whitman is an optimistic and positive man. I feel that not only Whitman wants to express his thoughts on his life, he also wanted to inspire and educate others in their values and the view of life. In almost every session by “Song of myself”, there are lessons left to be unpacked and learnt. For example, in session 3, Whitman had implied to live and appreciate the present and be satisfied with what we have. He mentions to live in the present and be contend of what every part of the world is. The sentence “Shall I postpone my acceptation and realization and scream at my eyes…”, seems to be that he knows that in the future, everyone will be changed by the society in one way or another through experience and be selfish and self-centered, but he phased and sounded as though he gave the idea of “let’s leave that thought in the future”. In addition, in session 7, he seems to believes that everyone has a latent potential within themselves and in their unique way, everyone is good. He believes in community and joint efforts. He also believes in humanity, and even though humans and borne flawed, they should not be bounded by their own worried or guilt. It also infers that Whitman had his own guilty but he is able to conquer from his negativity with his will power and stay strong.
There is one session that I especially liked on the poem, the view points on the life and death. In session 6, Whitman use the metaphor of grass and related it to the democracy of people. A child asks him what the grass is, and he doesn’t have an answer, which gets him thinking about all kinds of things, but especially about all the people buried in the earth who came before him. Whitman then gave the idea that “They smallest sprout shows there is no really death”. What I think he meant is that when a grass dies, it will be given a new life. When a life ceased, another life appears. There is a never ending cycle to life processes, it does not mean when your live end with your death but it signifies a new life is born. That positive outlook on life and death that Whitman hold intrigued me. However, I still have doubts should it even be considered “lucky” to die.
By Samual Shing.
