Song of Myself

The most appealing stanza to me from “Song of Myself” is the first stanza. It is interesting and it talks about how this poem is related to America. In the beginning, the author in this video emphasizes the first line “I celebrate myself, and sing myself”, which means that Whitman is going to write a poem that’s totally about him. For this reason, it also shows that he egoistical. Then, on the second and third line, “And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you,” Whitman speaks directly to the reader. He is trying to indicate that at the same time that he is celebrating himself, we the reader should celebrate ourselves too because we are the same. The significance of these two lines is that Whitman is beginning to speak about the concept of democracy. From the sixth to eighth line, “My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this air, Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same,” Whitman is trying to imply that we are born from the same place, we are all born from parents, and when we die, we go back to the same place (the ground). This being said, we are all equal. I think Whitman is writing this poem to bring everyone in America together, regardless of their race, religion, and age because this is the only way to achieve “we are all equal.”