Song of Myself

“Song of Myself” is one of the most famous of the twelve original pieces from Whitman’s works in the edition of Leaves of Grass. It is a combination of poetic meditation, sermon, and biography. To get at critical issues, Whitman uses sly commentary and symbols. He uses precise and small drawn scenes to convey the message of the poem. As the title suggests, the poem explores the entire possible individual communion. The relationship among human beings is explored across time and space. Whitman thinks that if people see similar things and react in the same way he does, this will bring them together in a real sense.

The last line of the poem “Song of Myself” by Whitman states, “I stop somewhere, waiting for you”. This is a message of hope that Whitman tries to give to the future readers as a conclusion of the entire poem. The words are full of hope, high spirit, and possibility. Whitman is not referring to himself as an individual by using “I” in the last line. The “I” he uses is universally referring to everyone alive, including his future readers. He is giving his experiences, truths, and feelings some identity. He is alerting and encouraging those who find it challenging in getting what he means. He gives hope and reveals possibilities to the readers. These are the smartest of the scholars, meekest of intellectuals, and the cruelest of offensive hawks.

The poem explores the relationship among human beings. The last line tries to explain how two different people struggle in order to understand one another and end up on a common ground. The two people are different in the way they see things and how they react towards things. However, these two people are tied together, maybe, by love that encourages them to struggle in trying to understand one another. The understanding will persuade them to start seeing things and reacting in a similar manner, which would lead to individual communion.

In the line “I stop somewhere waiting for you”, Walt Whitman did not place any period at end of the sentence. This implies that the poem never ends as it is an open-ended proposition. The readers are supposed to fulfill it. The voice of Whitman that is fading into a faint but seductive pianissimo means that Whitman will be waiting for the reader to read his leaves. The reader and the writer miss each other because of the love they share despite their differences. Whitman sets out to expand the way he sees and reacts to things. He expands his American individualism to the fellow Americans and the whole world. He believes that democratic self will become large before it dissipates into fragmentation and contradiction. He believes in getting to the limit.

The reader and the writer hope to get to a level of learning to accept and living in plurality so as to reject nothing and live absorbing everything. The “I” he uses is American democracy model voice that the reader and writer hope to attain. He invites the reader to occupy “you” as an identity place. At some point, the “you” in his song interchangeably addresses the entire nation, world or the individual reader. Starting the poem with “I” and ending with “you”, Whitman is trying to enact a transfer of some of his absorptive energy to his reader from his experience and feelings. Leaving the final line without a period sends the reader alone to continue the journey that has been started by the poem.

The writer is helping the reader liberate from enslavement of all kinds, physical, social, moral, and philosophical. Whitman understood how the culture of incipient capitalism had resulted into the emergence of “wage slavery,” and he is liberating the reader from this. He takes his reader on what can be referred to as a “perpetual journey” using his poem; and the last line is sending off the reader to continue that journey to which he/she has been introduced. Liberty is what they hope to find in this journey. The poem acts as an escape narration to those individuals who are hoping to liberate themselves from the challenges that prevent individual growth, like possessions and enslaving beliefs.

Whitman gives hope and possibility to the reader as he addresses them more directly compared to other writers. He brings out the reader’s intimate sensory experience during the impersonal act of reading. This expresses the reader’s physical awareness in relation to the poem. He creates a democratic reading as he is implying not to be much of the “authority”. He passes his message as someone who wants to be listened and, at the same time, to be talked to.

In Foakes’ King Lear, the main character, Lear embarks on a vanity game with his daughters. After giving them his possessions, he gets trapped in an anger position. The story expresses life experiences which include madness, human folly and suffering. King Lear remains among Shakespeare’s best drama that enlightens people with a test of endurance from its cruelty, and despair. It conveys the writer’s message, ideas and feelings in a majestic way. Readers are allowed to make their own editorial judgments.

Mari Sandoz masterpiece is unquestionably Old Jules bookthat has a new introduction by Linda M. Hasselstrom. From Sandoz recalling in her book, “So it was that I heard the accounts of the hunts”. From the way she portrays her father, his decision was to become a pioneer, through his hard work, leadership, and friendship with the Indians. The success of the writer was not earned easily as she suffered poor health and malnourishment. The writer reveals and portrays her ideas and experiences on frontier life hardships that enlighten the readers.         

Reading what someone wrote helps individual minds think over the objects of interest and discover new things and ideas. This helps in making decisions that are informed and in nourishing the intellect of a human, when it comes to matters of probing things deeper. It is through reading that an individual gets skills in analyzing things and is provided with guidance even in those instances of life he/she has not yet been exposed to. It expands the individual’s knowledge and imagination. The knowledge one attains from reading someone’s words gives individuals the power in making their choices and in speaking their minds.

Through writing, the writers share their experiences, feelings, and their truth. Ideas of great writers have changed the nation’s destiny either for better or worse. Reading from those writers gives the reader an idea that he/she needs to research and build on, and exposes the bad ideas that could bring destruction. Reading improves one’s analytical thinking. The reader gets to know more about things he/she did not know in his/her life, and this helps prioritize his/her goals. A person’s mind drifts to more important things in life as he/she reads from what someone wrote.

Writing anything for others to read is a way of expression. In writing, an individual can express his/her inner self. When writing, an individual shares ideas, memories, feelings, and experiences. Writers are able to share their ideas that may manipulate and control individuals, especially the illiterate ones. What someone wrote may influence the reader’s life. There is a value, importance, and relevancy that a reader gets from reading what someone else wrote. An individual may get to know more about a writer’s country or his/her perspective. The reader may find a variety of emotions in anything written. As part of functioning civilization, these written articles are necessary. The reader gets lessons on morals, history, codifying philosophy, and religion and also ideas that help the individual shape his/her life.

Often people write to feel clever and gain fame. They leave a legacy for future readers to remember them. Walt Whitman is remembered for his enlightening poems and articles. Readers still talk and remember him even long after his death. Writers release their articles with a motive and desire to manipulate and push the nation and the entire world in a certain direction. A writer gains more knowledge by sharing knowledge to others.