2. Introduction of Poet
Walt Whitman is an American poet, essayist and
journalist.
Also known as ‘Father of Free Verse’.
Poem is from a collection initially called ‘Leaves of
Grass’
The name later changed to ‘Song of Myself’.
3. Introduction of Poem
The poem has no title but it is mentioned under ‘section
21’.
Deals with ‘Individual Self’, ‘Transcendentalism’ and
‘Realism’.
Transcendentalism: philosophy which believes that
people are inherently pure and good but the society
corrupts them.
Realism: depiction of realities of life as they are.
Written in 1st person narrative.
by using ‘I’ the poet appoints himself as the speaker on
everyone’s behalf.
4. Explanation
I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the
Soul. Can represent materialistic and spiritual side of
humanity.
He challenges the religious concepts of heaven and
hell, saying that he has made heaven part of his
present life, and that the idea of hell needs to be
"retranslated." We get the sense that he's not very
keen on traditional Christian notions of hell and
punishment.
5. Explanation
It celebrates women.
Gender equality.
He's tired of people being modest and insecure. His
song is a song of "pride" and celebration. He
recognizes that his attitude is new and unusual, but
he thinks people need to get over their individual
anxieties.
He describes the night, the earth, and the sea in
glowing and beautiful terms. The earth has shown
him love, so he's going to love the earth right back.
6. Analysis
Spokesperson for all
Contradictory aspects eg. Body/soul, men/women,
Heaven /Hell etc
Dismissing the religious idea of Heaven and Hell or
reward and punishment. In other words reimagining the
ideals.
Equality for all
Celebration of expansion/growth.
Thanking Earth and promising to return the love that
nature has given to humanity.
Rejecting the separation of the self from the world.
