Song of Myself

A detailed Summary of Song of Myself

Through his poetry, Whitman's "Song of Myself" makes the soul sensual and makes divine the flesh. In Whitman's time, the dichotomy between the soul and the body had been clearly defined by centuries of Western philosophy and theology. Today, the goodness of the soul and the badness of the flesh still remain a significant notion in contemporary thought. Even Whitman's literary predecessor, Emerson, chose to distinctly differentiate the soul from all nature. Whitman, however, chooses to reevaluate that relationship. His exploration of human sensuality, particularly human sexuality, is the tool with which he integrates the spirit with the flesh.

Key to this integration is Whitman's notion of the ability of the sexual self to define itself. This self-definition is derived from the strongly independent autonomy with which his sexuality speaks in the poem. Much of the "Song of Myself" consists of a cacophony of Whitman's different selves vying for attention. It follows that Whitman's sexual self would likewise find itself a voice. A number of passages strongly resonate with Whitman's sexuality in their strongly pleasurable sensualities. The thoroughly intimate encounter with another individual in section five particularly expresses Wh

By projecting his sexual self against such broad parameters, Whitman generates a decidedly transcendental experience. With such vivid imagery in his celebration of the sensual, he elevates the limited faculties of man to being capable of limitless understanding. The role of the sexual in his work is integral to this sense of active, individual discovery. Whitman's notion of sexuality acknowledges it as one of the highest forms of sensual pleasure, and one of great personal and communicative importance.

Whitman's choice of the word "reached" in "...And reach'd till you felt my beard, and reach'd till you held my feet," is a powerful image. It connotes not only a physical bridging, which Whitman establishes as a elemental force in its sensual nature, but also a direct application of the will. In this context, this passage echoes Whitman's earlier "Urge and urge and urge, always the procreant urge of the world," in its hunger and desire. Both words "reached" and "urge" indicate willed effort, revolving around the basic function of human nature in sexuality. The centralness of the "procreant urge" to both these passages makes the sexual act the volta around which comprehension and truth are achieved.

The mechanism of this integration may be one of a number of possibilities included in Whitman's work. Whitman's notion that "All truths wait in all things" very broadly defines the scope of his desire to distill truth from his surroundings. He indicates that "...all the men ever born are also my brothers, and the women my sisters and lovers," suggesting that perhaps sensual understanding of the interconnectedness of man bridges the spiritual to the corporal. Within the context of the passage, the cause/effect relationship between sensual contact and transcendent understanding becomes cl

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Approximate Word count = 1209
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English