Song of Myself
(Summary)
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Whitman begins this poem by naming its subject
– himself. He says that he celebrates himself and that all parts of him are
also parts of the reader. He is known as an individualistic poet. In this poem,
Whitman at the age of 37 having good health singing about himself. He enjoys
and says that the truth is always the same for all because he is made of the
same atoms of which the other people are made. He gives a message of unity in
diversity. He welcomes his life whether it is good or bad. He puts all “Creeds
and schools in abeyance” hoping to set out on his own, though he admits he will
not forget these things.
Whitman
then describes a house in which “the shelves are / crowded with perfumes” and
he breathes in the fragrance though he refuses to let himself become
intoxicated with it. Instead, he seeks to “go to the bank by the wood” and
become naked and undisguised where he can hear all of nature around him. He has
a great love for nature. He wants to celebrate the unity and brotherhood by
singing himself. Whitman describes an encounter between his body and soul. He
tells his soul to settle upon him, “your head athwart my hips and gently turn’d
/ over upon me…..” He invites his soul to undress him and reach inside him
until the soul feels his feet. This will bring him perfect peace “that pass all
the argument of the earth….” This peace is the promise of God and is what
allows all people to become his brothers and sisters.
Whitman
says that he has heard “what the talkers were talking, the talk of the /
beginning and the end,” but he refuses to talk of either. Instead, he rejects
talk of the past or future for an experience in the now. Whitman sees all the things
around him – “The latest dates, discoveries, inventions, societies, authors old
/ and new,” but he knows that “they are not the Me myself.”
The
poem celebrates the glory and greatness of the whole humanities. By singing of
his own ‘Self, the poet sings of the ‘self of every- one. He sees himself in
others and whatever others have, he proclaims to be his own. The poet is also
fond of Nature. Every object of nature reflects his own soul. He declares that
he is made of the same soil and breathes the same, sir. There is no difference
between man and man whether young or old. He wishes to remain healthy and
active throughout his life. He also hopes that Nature will continue to give him
strength and guidance.
Whitman
recalls a scene in which a child came to him with a handful of grass and asked
him what it was. Whitman has no answer for the child. The grass is the
“handkerchief of the Lord….” It is also the child or a symbol for all of
humanity. Whitman sees the grass sprouting from the chests of young men, the
heads of old women, and the beards of old men. He remembers all those that have
died and recalls that each sprout of grass is a memorial to those that have
come before. He then gives a parable of twenty-eight young men bathing on a sea
shore while a young woman hides behind her house. She observes the men and
finds that she loves the homeliest of them. She then goes down to the beach to
bathe with them, though the men do not see her.
Whitman stops to observe groups of people: the first is a “butcher-boy” sharpening his knife and dancing, the blacksmiths taking on their “grimy” work with precision, and a “negro” as he works a team of horses at a construction site. Whitman describes the work of all people of the land – the carpenter, the duck-shooter, the deacons of the church, the farmers, the machinist, and many more. He says, that these people “tend inward to me, and I tend outward to them” and they all “weave the song of myself.”
Whitman
describes himself as “old and young” and “foolish as much as…wise….” He is
“Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man….” He is of all the
land of North America from the South even into Canada. He says, that these thoughts
have been a part of the human condition for all of time. His thoughts are for
all people, even those that society has considered outcasts. He says, that he is
“august” and vindicated by his own nature. “I exist as I am, that is, enough.”
He does not have to explain his inconsistencies. Those are only to be accepted.
“Do I contradict myself? / Very well then, I contradict myself, / (I am large,
I contain multitudes.)” He describes himself as: “Turbulent, fleshy, sensual,
eating, drinking and breeding,” he does not feign interest in manners. He hears
the “primeval” voices of democracy and mankind and gives himself over to these
forbidden lusts. Above all, Whitman says, “I believe in the flesh and the
appetites….”
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