Song of Myself

There is an argument to be made that the nature of “Song of Myself” defies cohesive analysis. In his own words, Whitman sets out to be the “voice” of every member of society, every person who has ever lived in the past and will ever live in the future (Section 24). When this philosophy is put into poetic practice, the result is an almost schizophrenic text, a poem in a constant state of change and tonal shift. Like the United States of his day (and our own), Whitman’s poetic vision seems divided against itself, even as it welcomes and embraces its contradictions.

Some sections of “Song of Myself,” for example, stand alone. They describe an isolated story or scene (a vignette) which ends as neatly as it begins. Others meander and bleed from one part into the next, meta-poetically reenacting Whitman’s resistance to the “talkers” who obsess over beginnings and ends (Section 3). Naturally, in his poem, Whitman sometimes defies expected poetic structure by breezing right past section breaks (a good example of this can be seen in Sections 27-29, which all center loosely on touch).

This diversity in structural form is reflected in other areas too. Themes are revisited, but from different angles and in different lights.