![]() It might help to remember that the poem was written only a few years before the outbreak of the Civil War, and Whitman viewed friendship as the last hope to save a fractured union. As you read "Song of Myself, you might wonder why Whitman is so eager to be friends with, literally, every single person he has ever met. It is a "democratic" poem that draws all different kinds of people and places into itself and tries to forge them into a unity. The poem has also helped shape the idea of what it means to be an American. ![]() ![]() Few poems are as fun to read aloud as this one. His lines are highly rhythmic, and they have a mesmerizing chant-like quality. Whitman wrote his verses without a regular form, meter, or rhythm. For one thing, it represents a huge break from the formal traditions of the past. It takes guts to write a long epic poem about yourself, and Whitman was nothing if not gutsy.įirst published in 1855, without a title, as part of his collection Leaves of Grass, the work we now call "Song of Myself" just might be the most important and influential American poem out there. In the first line, American poet Walt Whitman kindly informs us that he is going to celebrate himself, and throughout 52 glorious sections, he does just that. ![]() " Song of Myself" might be the most egotistical poem ever written: it's all about me, myself, and I. ![]()
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