Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" p.30

I chose to write about Walt Whitman because he strikes me as a very interesting fellow. Although he comes across as very conceited at times, I admire his boldness. From the very beginning of "Song of Myself", one can sense the arrogant tone of Whitman's poem. He starts off with, "I celebrate myself, and sing myself, and what I assume you shall assume..." He puts himself on a pedestal. Later on, Whitman continues with:

"Divine am I inside and out, and I make holy whatever I touch or am
touch'd from,
The scent of these arm-pits aroma finer than prayer,
This head more than churches, bibles, and all the creeds."

This passage struck me to be very daring, as he portrays himself as holier than the holiest. It seems to me that he didn't care what people thought about him. He would say what he wanted to say, and did as he pleased.

As arrogant as he may seem, I can also see a sympathetic side in him. For example, in passage ten, he writes about a runaway slave whom he took in, bathed and clothed, and kept in his home until he had recuperated. Not only does he voice his political views against slavery, but shows the kindness in his heart.

One of the most unusual passages that I came across in Whitman’s poem is passage eleven. This passage is very sexual, much like most of his poem. When I first read the passage, I thought that it was unusual that he was watching a woman whom in turn was watching “twenty-eight young men bathe by the shore.” Although his focus in the passage is on the woman, it is interesting that he was able to describe the men in great detail. After reflecting on what I knew about Whitman’s homosexuality and rereading the passage, I think that Whitman is the “woman” looking on. Furthermore, he mentions that “an unseen hand also pass’d over their bodies.” This could be a metaphor for his desire to physically touch the men himself and to satisfy his temptation.

Throughout his poem, and similarly to another one of his poems, “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”, Whitman describes his fascination with the simple things in life. In passage two from “Song of Myself”, and passage three of “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”, Whitman gets very intimate with his surroundings. He takes in all of the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings that surround him, and reflects this in his writing.