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Walt Whitman's Leaves Of Grass Was The Word Myself

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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”. By using the word Whitman is asserting himself in each poem even if it specifically is not about him. Throughout the use of the single word “myself” Walt Whitman is able to speak in depth about equality between all humans, compassion and pain of others, and his relationship with god. Each show to be just as important to him as the next. The premise of equality is essential …show more content…

A quote where we see Whitman show how compassionate he is with his quote, “Agonies are one of my changes of garments; I do not ask the wounded person how he feels . . . . I myself become the wounded person, My hurt turns livid upon me as I lean on a cane and observe.” ( Whitman Raaaa). This quote from Whitman is incredibly powerful. He puts himself in the shoes of a wounded person and treats them how he would want to be treated. He creates this connect by saying “I myself become the wounded person”. These signs of compassion for others in painful circumstances does not stop with injuries. Later in the text he says “I become any presence or truth of humanity here, And see myself in prison shaped like another man, And feel the dull unintermitted pain.” (Whitman 44) This quote again shows how Whitman feels for all people. Although this person is incarcerated for a crime he committed, Whitman shows forgiveness and feels the pain this man feels. Whitman is able to portray all of these feelings by using the word “myself”. In each of these two quotes he is able to connect himself with another human being and put himself in their shoes. This allows for the reader to truly see how compassionate Whitman …show more content…

Whitman touches upon his relationship with god through the word “myself” when he states, “I swear I will never mention love or death inside a house, And I swear I never will translate myself at all, only to him or her who privately stays with me in the open air.” (Whitman boobs). This quote from Whitman explain how he views his relationship with his god. He is expressing that he does not speak upon love or death with other people, but he will speak in privately with the god who walks with him everyday. This is a pivotal message for the readers as it captures Whitman’s sense of religion. He throughout the text has shown us numerous times his relationship to other humans and animals but now we begin to see his relationship with his god. He asserts himself by using the word “myself” and captures a belief that he strongly embraces. Another similar quote appears later in the text. Whitman talks about his relationship to god again when he says, “No array of terms can say how much I am at peace about God and about death. I hear and behold God in every object, yet I understand God not in the least, Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself.” (Whitman 55) This quote is much more straight forward but relays the similar message. Alike the first quote he shows how god is with him in everything and everyday yet here he goes more in-depth as to what god means to him. He views

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Walt Whitman was an American poet and journalist born on May 31, 1819. Whitman was influenced by transcendentalism, which was an idea emphasizing that to understand nature, one must analyze the reasoning or process behind it. Whitman had done many writings throughout his life that had been inspirations for other poets. For example, in the spring of 1855, Whitman published “Leaves of Grass”, which was a collection of twelve unnamed poems. This writing was enticed by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who thought that the collection of poems were “the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom.”

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In the two poems, “I Hear America Singing,” and, “I, Too,” there are many similarities and differences that show us that know matter what is happening you have to stand up for yourself and do what you love. We see this in the two poems, “I Hear America Singing,” and, “I, Too” when the authors, Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes, both talk about what America was a like in the 1900s, and how people were doing jobs that they had liked to do. We can see how a African American man would stand up for himself and we see this in the poem “I, Too” because we are able to see how he was able to stand up to everyone else and prove he was able to be treated like anyone else.

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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

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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.

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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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He says that “The spirit of God is the brother of my own,” meaning that God, the divine creator, the person who stresses, ‘Love thy neighbor,” is his brother, and all people’s brother which indirectly suggests that everyone love each other and take care of each other because we are family. Whitman then goes on, saying that while America is great, life is not perfect, as everyone face challenges and tough times in our lives, “It is not upon you alone the dark patches fall/ The dark threw its patches down upon me also,” (Whitman 12). He discusses the fact that while America is an ideal society where people love each other, life is not so perfect, as the hardships we face are difficult to overcome.

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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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