Vocabulary And Sexual Themes In Walt Whitman's Work

Walt Whitman (debatably) one of the greatest poets of his age. Acknowledged for his life’s work Leaves of Grass, consisting of more than 400 poems and several editions that include the better known Song of Myself. During the year 1855, he published his first edition to Leaves of Grass making up a total of twelve poems. Over the time that he self-published his work it was banned in several places, because of the more controversial and sexual themes that he wrote about. In his fourth edition titled Inscriptions, he included several poems beginning with One’s-Self I Sing (which was is a revised and shortened version of the original Inscription). His poem Eidolon included with One’s-Self I Sing, has themes and meticulous vocabulary that add a depth to his free verse writing making it complicated to understand if one doesn’t understand the

Eidolon refers to a phantom, or an ideal. The way that the word eidolon is used as a spirit or part that is a phantom. As said by Mark W. McGinnis’ blog, it shows that “As our capacities have expanded though science the evidence that we experience as life is illusion has been verified to the extent our limited capabilities allow. All of what we experience as our solid existence is infinitely tiny bits of energy that appear to temporarily manifest as forms our consciousness calls me, you, chair, computer, earth, etc.-eidolons.” This observation and claim can be backed up by sentences in Eidolon one of them being “Lo, I or you, Or woman, man, or state, known or unknown, We seeming solid wealth, strength, beauty build, But really build eidolons.” With the start of this stanza he uses the word Lo, an archaic word used to draw attention to an object or event. Walt Whitman draws attention towards the fact that we all, doesn’t matter who we may be, create an eidolon. Through our short or long experiences, we construct our