Thursday, August 20, 2009
"Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman
From reading the title you would think this poem is about him. Him referring to Walt Whitman’s life, up’s and downs, good and bad. But while reading this poem you see how it refers to everybody in the world; dead, alive, or just an ordinary person. He expresses his feelings deeply for the one’s he lost in the Civil war. He uses grass to symbolize all these good and bad situations. Grass can either be something that’s apart of mother nature which is good, or the grass that feeds on the bodies of the dead. As you read further Whitman seems kind of stumped. He states: “I wish I could translate the hints.” I guess saying that you can come across a lot of things but your inability to express what it means is hard and also natural. When Whitman talks about speech being the twin of his vision, I understand what that means. He’s saying that just like what he see’s he can feel which doesn’t allow room to comment. “I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I then become the wounded person.” He steps into the wounded man’s shoes because he uses his vision to see how that person is in pain which leaves no room for questions because he already sees it. He tends to say everything by saying nothing which makes you think there is another person, another side to him maybe. He has different ways of expressing himself, allowing you to believe that their’s multiple sides or personalities.
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A good post. You discuss two important aspects of the poem: the grass, which becomes part of the title of the book that Whitman kept adding to as his life progressed; and death, one of two poles of Whitman's universe. You point out that the two themes come together in Stanza 6.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to imply, though, that the "grass that feeds on the bodies of the dead" is bad. But Whitman doesn't use the word "feed," and he doesn't call death bad. The grass is "mother's laps" and "uttering tongues." As for death, in Stanza 6 he writes, "The smallest sprout shows there is really no death"; in Stanza 7 he says, "Has any one supposed it lucky to be born?/I hasten to inform him or her it is just as lucky to die, and I know it."
I absolutely agree with you when you said that his title indicates that the poem focuses solely on himself, but as you read further you realize that he refers to other people, as well.
ReplyDeleteCertainly, there is something about him that makes you feel uncomfortable while reading what he had to share with the world and his readers. Furthermore, I agree with Mr. Murray's point that Whitman never said death is bad, and he even think that "one is lucky to die". I tend to disagree with his opinion, but again, everyone has a right to think differently from everyone else.