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Section 38 Of Walt Whitman's Song Of Myself

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Section 38 of Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” is a typical example of the poet’s writings. If the reader was to read the beginning half of the section, then the poem would seem depressing and surrender to all possibility to one’s achievement; but as the reader continues, they will discover there is perseverance and self-actualization to the writer’s words. Also, there is a small amount of anaphora in this section by Whitman repeating the words “That I could” (963, 964, and 966). The repetition of I’s throughout the section emphasizes the idea of handling the struggles of a person’s inner doubt. After analyzing section 38 of “Song of Myself”, the main theme Whitman conveyed was perseverance to remain true to one’s self even from receiving doubt from others. …show more content…

Whitman reveals the frustration of the remarks made by these people through the use of exclamation marks. Also, Whitman claims the narrator is “on the verge of a usual mistake”, which shows the speaker is about to let those judgements get to him or her (962). The section describes a defeated person who constantly lets the hurtful words of others impact the way they see him or herself, and these negative thoughts never leave their mind. The “usual mistake” is not the action of people doubting the narrator, it is the fact that the narrator allows the words to dictate the thoughts they have of

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In a modern prose poem,“When Walt Whitman Was A Little Girl” by M.C. Biegner, Walt Whitman, a nineteenth-century male poet, Whitman is described as an genderfluid character as the poem traces his transition from a little girl to a grown man. Because of this gender ambiguity the pronouns used to describe Walt shift throughout the poem from she to he as Whitman matures. The poem addresses the expected conformity attached to gender stereotypes by using Walt Whitman’s gender fluidity to present a contrast to these stereotypes. By imagining Walt Whitman as a “little girl,” Biegner encourages the reader to examine the existence of gender fluidity by breaking down the gendered stereotypes and through exemplifying traits of both genders in Walt. This analysis of Whitman is not distant to who he really was as a writer.

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Based on what I read, in the text on “Song of Myself” I believe that Whitman is expressing the individual’s place in the world by whatever means they were meant to do. Whitman does not compare himself to others and other’s to himself. Whitman word’s sounds like he believes that all people are equal and the same. In the text of line 16 he says he is old of young and foolish as much wise.

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489 Words | 2 Pages

He mentions the “mother” and “young wife” working hard (8). When he writes his poem, women are seen as inferior to men because they have very little rights in society, but Whitman still recognizes them and includes them in his poem. The use of anaphora expresses the importance of freedom for individuals which creates unification and pride for one’s

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525 Words | 3 Pages

“Song of Myself” is part of the larger work of Leaves of Grass. Since most of his work did not have a title he titled his poems later. To understand poetry at a deeper level, it is essential to consider the background of the author. Author, Walt Whitman was born on May 31,1819 and died on March 26, 1892.

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302 Words | 2 Pages

Both of Walt Whitman articles are transcendentalism; Mr. Whitman shows individualism and nature in “Song to Myself” which are qualities of transcendentalism. In “Song to myself” he mostly uses individualism as you can tell just by the title he is describing himself in a song. Mr.Whitman uses repetition in his poem “I celebrate myself”(Whitman 1). Throughout the poem he uses the word “I” to describe himself which shows individualism which is a romantic quality. Mr.Whitman also uses imagery in his “Song to Myself”.

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1415 Words | 6 Pages

The water of Whitman's work parallels the wind of Frost’s—both embody the prehistoric treadings of darkness, establishing the essence behind existence as an indifferent and untamed gust or an everlasting immensity of water. However, the fundamental divide between the ideologies of Frost and Whitman forms as Whitman poses no initial movement or direction of the water, however pointless these may be, and given no intrinsic purpose as prescribed to the wind of Frost’s poem. This is an entirely different preface to humanity, as it establishes a similarly “pointless” but wholly purposeless nature of existence. This seemingly small variation—purposed pointlessly or purposed not at all—between the poems poses a dichotomy between Frost’s and Whitman's interpretations of humanity. In “Had I the Choice,” the torch beholden to humanity is the only light, and that light is the only movement and upheaval the water ever faces, whether it be with direction or without it.

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1633 Words | 7 Pages

Throughout his poem, he constantly talks about the importance of coming together and merging. Whitman says, “I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you” (Whitman 1). On the surface, this quote may appear to illustrate that Whitman thinks highly of himself, but it is more than this. The last part of this quote emphasizes that we are all connected and even though we are all individuals, we should not forget that we are connected to one another. Whitman also says, “Urge and urge and urge, Always the procreant urge of the world.

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1111 Words | 5 Pages

One word that stuck out to me most in Walt Whitman’s collection of poems, Leaves of Grass, was the word “myself”. The word appears in the text a total of sixty times giving the word many interpretations. Each poem win this collection has its own focus point although, many share similar ideas. Whitman’s promotes his belief’s and he is able to do so by using the word “myself”.

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2353 Words | 10 Pages

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself “And what I assume you shall assume, “For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” A groan escaped my lips as Mary’s polished voice began to recite the first three lines of Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself. She had almost the entire poem memorized, and would begin to quote certain lines when they pertained to a situation, or when she was just trying to annoy me. She fell in love with the poem when she was in the eighth grade after doing some American poet project for her English class.

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1876 Words | 8 Pages

Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” is an autobiographical poem about discovering himself, the world around him, and expressing his desire for Americans to be united in their differences and come together as one. Identity is at the forefront of the many themes in “Song of Myself,” therefore it goes to show how important identity is to Whitman and the significant role it plays in our lives. The opening stanza of “Song of Myself,” “I celebrate myself and sing myself, and what I assume you shall assume, for every soon belonging to me as good belongs to you,” ( Pg. 1330) begins Whitman’s expression of unity and identity. This stanza stands to grab the readers attention and draw in their minds the notion that everything he is about to say is meant to relate not only to him but to the readers as well.

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2109 Words | 9 Pages

In the Poem “Song of Myself”, written by Walt Whitman, Whitman expresses to the audience his religious and spiritual views of the world. Coming from a more mature standpoint because of revising and already understanding his own beliefs, Whitman guides the reader and advices them on what aspects in life to hold dear and how to reach the same form of enlightenment and freedom as he has found. Specifically through nature, understanding, and equality. Similarly, the book “Dharma Bums”, written by Jack Kerouac, also expresses Kerouac’s religious and spiritual views of the world. However, unlike Whitman, Kerouac’s book is about his journey into achieving his own form of enlightenment through Buddhism and nature.

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1203 Words | 5 Pages

The message he’s attempting to convey is that many people who, throughout his life, betray his expectations. He describes cities full of foolish people and reproaches himself for being no better than these faithless masses. He also says "o me!", "o life!" throughout the poem which is an example of Repetition. This repetition is used in the beginning and the end to confirm the distress that Whitman is experiencing.

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878 Words | 4 Pages

Lastly, “Song of Myself” lacks both uniform meter and rhythm, thus deviating from historical poetic methods. Rather, the stanzas and line breaks are stylistic decisions driven more by content than tradition. Whitman’s usage of free-verse echoes Emerson’s view that

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739 Words | 3 Pages

Walt Whitman One of the theme in “Song of Myself” is theory of self. As stated in the tile itself, it is a poem in which Walt Whitman sings the praises of himself. Throughout this poem, he has admired the uniqueness of an individual. And shares the joy of being who he is. The poem opens in a successful hymn to the individual, “I celebrate myself, and sing myself”.

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1125 Words | 5 Pages

In this grand poem, Whitman glorifies the unity of all people and life. He embraces the geographical diversity as well as the diversity of culture, work, as well as sexuality or beliefs. Whitman’s influence sets American dreams of freedom, independence, and self-fulfillment, and changes them for larger spiritual meaning. Whitman appreciates hard work as well as being simple and non-egotistical. His major ideas are things such as soul, good health, as well as the love of nature.

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