Attempt a critique of Walt Whitman as an American poet.
Answers
Walt Whitman's poem “Song of Myself” is about the communion of an individual to his real own-self. The poem reflects deep search of the identity of oneself. It depicts the life of the natives of America who are in constant search for their identity. In the poem, a child asks the poet “What is the grass?” the bunches of grass in the hands of the child is symbolic of the fact that the rules of nature undergo through the process of regeneration. He explains that after the death, the person’s body is buried in the ground and the grass feeds on the bodies of the dead. Grass also symbolizes that the people from all over the world live with each other unitedly. They also symbolize that the end of everyone is when one dies. It can be assumed that the natural roots of democracy are based on mortality. Whitman through this poem wants to bring and highlight the “poetic identity” of the poets of America. Walt Whitman in his poem “Song of Myself” prohibits himself from singing the songs of war, rage, and journeys and instead sings the song of himself as the subject of his poem. The poem deals about his journey and experience in this world. There are two main characters in his poem, which are 'I' and 'you.' Whitman speaks about the grass which is the symbol of democracy. He says that the grass of democracy feeds itself on the bodies of the dead. In the poem Whitman used stanzas of varying length and the topic of his poem changed with change in stanzas.