Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" and Structure

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself "is divided into 52 parts and it is evident from the beginning that, as far as structure is concerned, no apparent logic holds the body of the work together. The author points out that the first section of the poem begins with "I celebrate myself" and that is what the whole piece is about, not the celebration of Walt Whitman, the persona or the poet but of the concept of the universal "self", which the poet seeks to embody. The paper relates that, in the second part, the image of "Nature" is awe-inspiring, all-powerful and full of dangerous beauty, certainly a rather carnal beauty capable of attracting its progeny to their natural state.

From the Paper:

"The poem is based on rhythm, not the normal rhythm of speech but one organized in a more or less regular pattern. The cadence has extreme freedom. Broadly, the poem is composed in iambic feet but modifications are made very quickly. Song of Myself is a poem of movement and change, and all its parts are driven by the force of gradual and fluid interconnection of opposites ("fragrance" vs. "odorless", "respiration" vs. "inspiration"), by the constant repetition("myself", "assume", "perfume") and Whitman's long lists of nouns and adjectives of which we have the first example in the second part of the poem (lines 22 - 23). The "-ing" forms ("beating", "passing") change dynamically, which gives the poetic movement its smoothness. Movements within the poem occur gradually and cautiously with the help of the numerous blanks Whitman creates."

More papers on Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" and Structure:

• Analytical Essay # 63110 : "Song of Myself": Chant 21"
• Analytical Essay # 65060 : "Walt Whitman and the Union of Self and Society"
• Analytical Essay # 64836 : "Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself"

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