Topic > rather open to different interpretations, all of which are correct. The relationship between the body and the other is continued and elaborated into the broader question of the self in relation to others and nature. This concept is another important theme throughout the poem. Whitman asserts his individuality through the very act of singing himself, but he also refers to himself as closely connected to and even part of every other person on this earth. One tool he uses is repetition, both of words and concepts. In poem 37 he lists various people and then describes how he feels their suffering as if it were happening to him. Not a young man is caught for theft but I go there too, and I am tired and condemned. No cholera patient lies at the last gasp but I also lie at the last gasp [...]He who asks becomes incarnate in me and I am incarnate in them, (953-56) Whitman repeats that he is connected to everyone and that he derives himself from the things he has seen the experience of others. He does not literally state that he feels the pain of others but that the self is something that is built from experiences and that everything that happens in the world influences the creation of an individual self just as atoms and air can physically connect people . This theme is consistent throughout the poem. Whitman often devotes long passages to vivid descriptions of people, from prostitutes to the president. Each person receives a line of evocative language, such as "The clean-haired Yankee girl works at the sewing machine or in the mill or in the factory" (295) or "From the crowd comes the shooter, takes his stand, levels his piece " (284). These vivid descriptions evoke some images that Whitman later incorporates into himself, saying that “of these one and all I weave the song of myself,” (329), meaning that what one perceives becomes a part of oneself. Connections with nature are also important. . Whitman expresses a connection or desire to be connected to the air and grass, representatives of nature. In poem 2 he wants to be in touch with the atmosphere, he is “mad to be in touch with” himself (20). An almost sexual desire to unite with nature and the people of the world pervades this part of the poem. Whitman often uses the language of sex to talk about himself, whether he's talking about undressing to feel closer to the earth or the desire to create a new life. The idea of undressing is particularly important because it represents the idea of undressing, something to discover the fundamental meaning, as poetry undresses itself until it is naked and unrecognizable. Death is another way Whitman feels connected to nature and others. Whitman views death not as something finite but as an extension of life. Since death is inevitable, it becomes a fundamental part of the self. Whitman is interested in death as it physically connects him to his surroundings. He is not afraid of death. He challenges him, writing "And as for you death, and for you the bitter embrace of mortality, it is useless to try to alarm me" (1289). He considers death as something necessary to produce life, speaking of the corpse as "good manure" (1294). He continues when he writes “I bequeath myself to the earth to grow from the grass I love, / If you still want me seek me under the soles of your boots” (1340). Therefore the idea of self is not necessarily connected to life. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom article from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay Song of Myself never answers the questions it raises. Part of his disposition is that he makes a statement and then contradicts it, questioning whether the statement is really valid. At the end of the poem Whitman reveals his goals. He wants readers to provide their own answers and their own definitions of themselves. However,.
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