Language and Idea in Walt Whitman's Song of Myself - Essay Example

 The poem, “Song of Myself” was one of the untitled poems that were written by Walt Whitman. The poem was one of the brilliant displays because of the original themes innovative techniques that they use. The poem was in the lead position in the year 1856 and the edition was given its first title. The poem was initially known as “Poem of Walt Whitman an American”. It was later shortened to “Walt Whitman”. This was apparently the third edition of the poem and it was done in the year 1860. This paper will endeavor to analyze the form, content, figurative language and engagement issues of wider interest in the poem. An analysis of Form in the poem From the poem, the poet says, “I celebrate myself and sing myself,” (Whitman 332). From this quote, the poet, Walt Whitman, demonstrates himself as a transcendentalist, through the use of self-reliance. Transcendentalism is a form of ideology that came about the earlier years of the 19th century. The supporters of these ideals include Emerson, Fuller and Thoreau. Whitman’s transcendentalism is demonstrated by the fact that he shows optimism, nature, simplicity and self-reliance. “And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” This line from the poem advocates for transcendentalist ideals. By using “I” and “Me”, Whitman demonstrates the parts of life that are the most significant. His other quote, “Hoping to cease not to death”, demonstrates his desire to live longer than he would wish to. His desire to live life to a full extent is also demonstrated in the poem. Whitman also says, “Creeds and schools in abeyance” demonstrates his love for simplicity (Whiteman 82). Abeyance in this line refers to the poet being temporarily inactive. Schools and creeds exemplify many ideas. First and foremost, they exemplify the idea of simplicity and self-reliance. Transcendentalist ideals are demonstrated by the poet by being temporarily inactive and going slow on the ideals of life. Content The “Song of Myself” mythologizes and portrays the poetic and birth of Whitman. His poetic birth and journey into the poetic world made the poet to be very well known. In the poem, there is the talk of the “I” in the poem to demonstrate that he speaks alone. This is not the case as he is not alone in the poem (Whiteman 78). The “you” that is addressed in the second line of the poem, is the poet’s camerado. The poet places readers to this work in a shared ground with him. As the poem begins, readers encounter the poet “observing a spear of summer grass”. He also extends his soul for invitation. Awakening is also one way or another portrayed in section five of the poem. The reason as to why awakening is portrayed in the poem is for the fact that there is a new kind of knowledge that is being revealed. Section six launches the poet into the journey of knowing that begins with a child questioning, “What is grass?” The journey extends to section 32 whereby the poet aids readers to his works to understand the themes and subjects that he endeavors to address in his poem. In sections 18-32, the poet is in a celebratory mood because he celebrates all erotic dimensions. His miraculous touch is demonstrated in section 28, whereby he says, “Is this then a touch? Quivering me to a new identity?” The poet’s tender farewell is demonstrated and his complicit tender touch is demonstrated in section 29. Experience that is bestowed by knowledge is demonstrated in section 30-32. The specific line that supports this fact is that, “What is less or more than a touch?” In section 38, he demonstrates a strong rejection to him being a beggar. He says, (“Enough! Enough! Enough!”) This line demonstrates the poet stand on being poor. Figurative language Figurative speech is a form that poets use quite often so as to convey a particular message to their audience. They usually use these kinds of stylistic devices so as to enrich their literary works. The poet has explored this stylistic device in his poem thoroughly. In his poem, the poet described himself as an American at first and then as someone who is not polished and refined. The term rough refers to the poet being uneducated. The poet also uses the Greek term “kosmos” that is usually spelt as cosmos. The term means the outer world as a whole and according to the poet; he means a world that is entirely unknown (Whiteman 67). The poet also exemplifies the use of humor in his poem. The most humorous parts of the poem are from the line, “Unscrew the locks from the doors! Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!” From this line, we find that the poet exemplifies radicalism in his way of addressing his audience. Readers are able to draw humor from these lines because the poet, because he believes that he can get past the door metaphorically by going past the door. This sounds reasonable one way or another. He gets angrier by saying what the heck and tears the door apart. The poem draws many insights that happen within the society. Whitman, in his poem, speaks for the voiceless in the society. He goes further to reaffirm the very many principles of democracy that exist within the society. His love for nature is also well elaborated in the book. He goes ahead and says that nature makes him aware and humble of himself. Engagement of issues in the wider interest is well demonstrated from the fact that the poet demonstrates himself as someone who is not the best but someone who appreciates the world in its own entirety. The poetic technique relates to Canto’s contents because the poet has defied the many attempts to have his work interpreted in many ways. Many critics have added different dimensions to the poem and this has led people to interpret the poem quite differently. The poet has explored many issues such as poverty that exists within the society, inability of the voiceless to be heard and lack of the authorities to take care of the poor in society (Whiteman 75). In conclusion, when one reads the poem, one gets to clarify many mysteries that may exist. The reason is that there have been many analysts to the poem and each and every analyst has got different interpretations to the literary artwork. Each and every critic to the poem has different versions of stylistic devices. When fundamentals are adhered to, we find that the poem can be analyzed critically and the audience will get to understand what the author is trying to convey. References Whiteman, W. (1982). Complete Poetry and Collected Prose. New York: Justin Kaplan. Read More