The Transcendentalism In Walt Whitman's Song Of Myself

Walt Whitman was a poet who lived throughout most of the nineteenth century and drew a wide following by disregarding “classic” conventions and using imagery that angered many. Whitman promoted himself greatly by writing anonymous reviews of his own work and sending his work to other prominent poets and writers for reviews and support. He worked in many areas of the newspaper business before becoming a nurse during the Civil War. He believed in transcendentalism. The theory that everything and everyone is connected. Walt Whitman used catalogue and parallel structure in Song of Myself, verse 21, to draw attention to the closeness between humans and nature; and uses it in verse 38 to create the imagery of a phoenix rising from the ashes, drawing …show more content…
By repeating “Earth” in the beginning of several lines Whitman gives earth a prominent place in his poem and makes earth the most important part of his poem. “Earth of the slumbering and liquid trees!” (21. 18). 21 is essentially a love letter to nature and creates a transcendentalist view of nature and its relationship with human beings. Whitman’s transcendentalist views are pulled forth through this poem and into the reader’s mind. “Earth of the limpid gray of clouds brighter and clearer for my sake!” (21. 22). The earth is there for people, and people don’t always appreciate what nature offers them. People need to appreciate nature and be one with nature because if they are not they become disconnected from the world. People and nature create a web by interlocking people with nature and when people do not appreciate nature they disconnect from …show more content…
“That I could forget the trickling tears and the blows of the bludgeons and hammers!” (38.6). The bludgeons and hammers are part of a list that shows the horrors and tragedy the Civil War produced. “Corpses rise, gashes heal, fastenings roll from me” (38.11). Catalogue is used to create the imagery of bodies rising and being healed from death and a phoenix dies and then is rebirthed through the ashes. These bodies have died in the war and Whitman uses catalogue to make them rise again. The soldiers may be dead, but Whitman believes that they are still alive in everyone and in nature. Verse 38 moves from a tragic tone about the tragedies of war to a tone that is filled with hope and renewed energy as the phoenix is reborn. Whitman is feeling what everyone else is feeling. The sadness and pain as well as the hope and love that fill the world everyday. No one ever truly