Analysis Of Walt Whitman's Song Of Myself

Rough Draft of Research Paper Walt Whitman, an American poet and journalist, is born in May 31 in 1819 in West Hills, New York. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American history. He believed that poetry is “based on the idea of poet’s social function” and therefore he wanted change in the style of poetry (Reynolds 481). At the same time, he was respected for the love of America more than anyone and believed that all human should be attributed with equal rights and freedom. Also, he seeked for something new rather than conventional; therefore he desired for new democracy in America. Hence, Walt Whitman uses his prose style of writing to demonstrate the significance of democracy and patriotism in America. Among many poems

It was made as an eulogy to president Lincoln for his great accomplishment and moaning for his assassination. Even though, president Lincoln and Whitman did not know each other

He did not like to be fit in box and rather tried to think out of box to express his ideas to readers. “Song of Myself” is clearly the most famous poem that demonstrated Whitman’s unconventional style and his idea of democracy. The poem came first in series of twelve untitled poems and dominated other poems with its quantity of the size in volume, innovative techniques and original themes. Whitman is a strong believer in democracy, the freedom of individuals. Therefore his poems have many free verses which demonstrated freedom in writing poems. Looking at section 5 of “Song of Myself”, Mark mentions that it is the “rhetoric of Whitmanian democracy”, and Whitman’s rhetoric is “one with harmony” (Mark 372). Whitman put emphasis on “diverse individuals, the atoms of a spiritual whole, compose a community whose soul, which embraces each member equally, and which therefore communicates the experience of each to all, express itself in a harmony of voices” (Mark 372). The entire poem is catalogued in 52th sections. Catalog is Whitman’s example of collectiveness. “This refers back to his opening inscription in which Whitman proclaimed that his work is of the self, both the individual self and the democratic self. The collection of all people in the land forms a self that is distinct from the individual self, yet is similar in that it has its own soul and being” (Davis). Other metaphor can be found to