ipl-logo

Walt Whitman's I Sing The Body Electric

471 Words2 Pages

Walt Whitman was a forward thinker of his time. His poems carry out messages that are much deeper than their lines of writing. In his poem, “I Sing the Body Electric”, he writes about the movement and energy of the body and how it relates to the soul. His poem is enriched with beautifully written lines relaying what the soul truly is, the connections through the body, and what can be learned from being attentive to the embodiment of others. Whitman ends his poem with the lines, “O I say these are not the parts and poems of the body only, but of the soul, O I say now these are the soul!”. By this, he means that bodies are not who a person is. Bodies merely are the outward appearance of a deeper being. Whitman shows readers that the soul of the body is what makes the body beautiful, and that a body is beautiful because it is the casing of the soul. This message can also be seen in the lines, “You are the gates of the body, and you are the gates of the soul”. …show more content…

He conveys this with his line “As I see my soul in Nature, As I see through a mist, One with inexpressible completeness, sanity, beauty,”. Souls are spirits. With the poem focusing on the energy and spirit of the body, it is also alluding to the soul. I have connected with others on a much deeper level. In particular, I have not only connected, but have fell in love with another soul. After connecting, he held an inborn fondness within me that could not be

Show More
Related
1102 Words | 5 Pages

To find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions. Facing the blind death stone alone, with nothing to help you but your hands and your own head.” This relates to the beliefs of Walt Whitman by stating the reliance on the physical body and soul. In mentioning his new dependence on anything but “your hands and your own head,” Christopher connects to Whitman’s idea of the body’s unpredictable abilities. In I Sing the Body Electric #7, Whitman emphasizes the value of the physical body and the “wonders within there yet,” connecting to Christopher’s idea that his physical body is capable of surviving independently in the wild.

Read More
709 Words | 3 Pages

Whitman, in this outstanding piece experienced this cosmic realisation, and was ‘mythological’ and at the forefront steering it as a literature guru. His personal life spilled over to his poetry which enthused his readers more into his personality. Did other achievements of Walt Whitman’s influence his poetry? Such a man portrayed a philosophical or mystic mind, and may have given rise to themes breaking literary boundaries as with ‘A Noiseless, little

Read More
1094 Words | 5 Pages

This quote describes Whitman’s life because he was always alone and quiet and thus he enjoyed doing things quietly. This poem shows Whitman’s connection the Romantic Era through his connection to the

Read More
450 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
2326 Words | 10 Pages

By doing this Whitman introduces himself and at the same time identifies with the reader. He also states that he should be celebrated not only by himself, but also by the reader because they are the same. He also gives off a feeling that his writing is true and good, we get the feeling he is one of us and at the same time a poet. This leads to comparing Whitman with a preacher or public speaker of some sort, he wishes to be

Read More
888 Words | 4 Pages

Walt Whitman’s poem Song of Myself is a poem where he celebrates the self. One can argue that his poem is quite arrogant especially if they only would focus on the title or the first verse “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, 1892). Despite this, Whitman had a lot of interesting

Read More
545 Words | 3 Pages

When you go to the store and buy a soda and the cashier says that is one dollar and six cents and you don’t have enough money only because of that one cent. America is making thousands of pennies every year yet nobody uses them. Pennies should be removed because they are a waste of materials, money and space. First, the penny is pulling the government deeper into debt because they cost to much to make.

Read More
1652 Words | 7 Pages

Whereas Emerson believes the self strictly exists in your soul, Whitman believes that sense of self is found in both your soul and your body. Whitman sees your soul and body as a point of connection and that you cannot have one without the other and that the two are equal. For instance, Whitman says, “I have said that the soul is not more than the body, And I have said that that body is not more than the soul, And nothing, not God is greater to one than one’s-self is” (Whitman 51). Whitman is illustrating that the soul and the body are equal to one another and that one is not more important than the other.

Read More
682 Words | 3 Pages

Gilchrist follows a similar rationale to Fern, citing Whitman's "calm wisdom and strength of thought" (802). Gilchrist praises the ways in which Whitman speaks of the body so candidly as the body is the protector and root of the soul (802). This paper does not seek to diminish Whitman's modernity of thought in the nineteenth century, or these women's opinions and critiques of Whitman. Instead it looks to show how, despite his strengths, Whitman

Read More
271 Words | 2 Pages

In his poem, “To the Sayers of Words,” Walt Whitman recognizes the problems associated with language and its inability to fully convey meaning. As we have discussed in class, Whitman seeks to discover a natural, organic language, which can embody the living force of things on earth. “To the Sayers of Words” is Whitman’s renunciation of “audible words,” as he acknowledges his “tongue is ineffectual on its pivots” and that “the best of earth cannot be told anyhow.” Because we use to mediate or signify things, there is an implied distance between the object and our languages. In this poem, Whitman seeks a merger of “the presentation of the unspoken meanings of the earth,” or to bridge the gap of distance by making “dictionaries of the words that

Read More
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.

Read More
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.

Read More
485 Words | 2 Pages

Whitman’s ability to create a piece of literature quickly moving from subject to subject allows the reader the opportunity to see things only for what they are, not allowing the reader to find things about the subject that could hinder their thoughts and change their ability to love such a thing equally when comparing to another

Read More
973 Words | 4 Pages

To begin with, Whitman throughout the poem shows a lot about what he believes and what he's opposed to as the states that he is both the body and the soul. By providing the lines he provides, it reflects his individualism as well as gives ideas about the topic of his poem as the title says it clear that it is about himself. Whithmand in the poem relates to the Romantic era as he mentions nature a lot making it obvious of his love for it. Romanticism era shown by Whitman is expressed in the poem as he says ïn the beginning, second stanza ¨I loafe and invite my soul, I learn and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer

Read More
1116 Words | 5 Pages

Whitman, in the end, uses his poems to express his inner feelings that he did not want to share directly to the

Read More

More about Walt Whitman's I Sing The Body Electric

Related Topics

Open Document