Walt Whitman, steel engraving, July 1854

"Song of Myself" is a poem by

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...

(18191892) that is included in his work ''

Leaves of Grass ''Leaves of Grass'' is a poetry collection by American poet Walt Whitman. Though it was first published in 1855, Whitman spent most of his professional life writing and rewriting ''Leaves of Grass'', revising it multiple times until his death. T ...

''. It has been credited as "representing the core of Whitman's poetic vision."Greenspan, Ezra, ed. ''Walt Whitman’s "Song of Myself": A Sourcebook and Critical Edition''. New York: Routledge, 2005. Print.

Publication history

The poem was first published without sections as the first of twelve untitled poems in the first (1855) edition of ''

''. The first edition was published by Whitman at his own expense. In the second (1856) edition, Whitman used the title "Poem of Walt Whitman, an American," which was shortened to "Walt Whitman" for the third (1860) edition. The poem was divided into fifty-two numbered sections for the fourth (1867) edition and finally took on the title "Song of Myself" in the last edition (1891–2). The number of sections is generally thought to mirror the number of weeks in the year.

Reception

Following its 1855 publication, "Song of Myself" was immediately singled out by critics and readers for particular attention, and the work remains among the most acclaimed and influential in American poetry. In 2011, writer and academic Jay Parini named it the greatest American poem ever written. In 1855, the ''Christian Spiritualist'' gave a long, glowing review of "Song of Myself", praising Whitman for representing "a new poetic mediumship," which through active imagination sensed the "influx of spirit and the divine breath."

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...

also wrote a letter to Whitman, praising his work for its "wit and wisdom". Public acceptance was slow in coming, however. Social

conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

denounced the poem as flouting accepted norms of morality due to its blatant depictions of

human sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

. In 1882,

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

's district attorney threatened action against ''Leaves of Grass'' for violating the state's obscenity laws and demanded that changes be made to several passages from "Song of Myself".

Literary style

The poem is written in Whitman's signature

free verse Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French '' vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech. Defi ...

style. Whitman, who praises words "as simple as grass" (section 39) forgoes standard verse and stanza patterns in favor of a simple, legible style that can appeal to a mass audience. Critics have noted a strong Transcendentalist influence on the poem. In section 32, for instance, Whitman expresses a desire to "live amongst the animals" and to find divinity in the insects. In addition to this

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

, the poem seems to anticipate a kind of realism that would only become important in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

literature after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. In the following 1855 passage, for example, one can see Whitman's inclusion of the gritty details of everyday life:

The lunatic is carried at last to the asylum a confirm'd case,
(He will never sleep any more as he did in the cot in his mother's bed-room;)
The jour printer with gray head and gaunt jaws works at his case,
He turns his quid of tobacco while his eyes blurr with the manuscript;
The malform'd limbs are tied to the surgeon's table,
What is removed drops horribly in a pail;
The
quadroon In the colonial societies of the Americas and Australia, a quadroon or quarteron was a person with one quarter African/ Aboriginal and three quarters European ancestry. Similar classifications were octoroon for one-eighth black (Latin root ''o ...
girl is sold at the auction-stand, the drunkard nods by the bar-room stove, ... (section 15)

"Self"

In the poem, Whitman emphasizes an all-powerful "I" which serves as narrator, who should not be limited to or confused with the person of the historical

. The

persona A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatr ...

described has transcended the conventional boundaries of self: "I pass death with the dying, and birth with the new-washed babe .... and am not contained between my hat and boots" (section 7). There are several other quotes from the poem that makes it apparent that Whitman does not consider the narrator to represent a single individual. Rather, he seems to be narrating for all: * "For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you." (Section 1) * "In all people I see myself, none more and not one a barleycorn less/and the good or bad I say of myself I say of them" (Section 20) * "It is you talking just as much as myself... I act as the tongue of you" (Section 47) * "I am large, I contain multitudes." (Section 51) Alice L. Cook and John B. Mason offer representative interpretations of the "self" as well as its importance in the poem. Cook writes that the key to understanding the poem lies in the "concept of self" (typified by Whitman) as "both individual and universal," while Mason discusses "the reader’s involvement in the poet’s movement from the singular to the cosmic". The "self" serves as a human ideal; in contrast to the archetypal self in

epic poetry An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...

, this self is one of the common people rather than a hero. Nevertheless, Whitman locates heroism in every individual as an expression of the whole (the "leaf" among the "grass").

Uses in other media

Canadian doctor and long-time Whitman friend

Richard Maurice Bucke Richard Maurice Bucke (18 March 1837 – 19 February 1902), often called Maurice Bucke, was a prominent Canadian psychiatrist in the late 19th century. An adventurer during his youth, Bucke later studied medicine. Eventually, as a psychiatrist ...

analyzed the poem in his influential and widely read 1898 book '' Cosmic Consciousness'', as part of his investigation of the development of man's mystic relation to the infinite. Simon Wilder delivers this poem to Monty Kessler in ''With Honors''. Walt Whitman's work features prominently throughout the film, and Simon Wilder is often referred to as Walt Whitman's ghost. The poem figures in the plot of the 2008 young adult novel '' Paper Towns'' by

John Green John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author, YouTube content creator, podcaster, and philanthropist. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including '' The Fault in Our Stars'' (2012), which is ...

. A documentary project, Whitman Alabama, featured residents of Alabama reading Whitman verses on camera. The poem is central to the plot of the play ''I and You'' by

Lauren Gunderson Lauren Gunderson (born February 5, 1982) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and short story author, born in Atlanta. She lives in San Francisco, where she teaches playwriting. Gunderson was recognized by ''American Theatre'' magazine as A ...

. "Song of Myself" was a major inspiration for the symphonic metal album '' Imaginaerum'' (2011) by Nightwish, as well as the fantasy film based on that album. The protagonist of the film ''

Nine Days Nine Days (stylized as ''ninedays'') is an American rock band from Long Island, New York. It was formed in 1994 by John Hampson and Brian Desveaux, and released three independent albums in the 1990s before their mainstream debut album, '' The M ...

'' (2020) recites selections of the poem at its conclusion.

References

External links

The University of Toronto's full text, with line numbers

Alice L. Cook's "A Note on Whitman's Symbolism in 'Song of Myself'"

John B. Mason's "Walt Whitman's Catalogues: Rhetorical Means for Two Journeys in "Song of Myself"

WhitmanWeb's full text in 12 languages, plus audio recordings and commentaries
* Audio
Robert Pinsky reads from "Song of Myself"
* (individual sections) * {{Authority control 1855 poems Poetry by Walt Whitman English-language poems Philosophical poems Epic poems in English