Whitman-Song of Myself

                I found Whitman’s Song of Myself to be a bit confusing. Essentially, I think what Whitman is trying to convey in his work is that life is great. There is nothing better than living, and you should make the most of it while you can. In his work, Whitman relates countless stories that have occurred in his life and numerous things he has seen in his time (especially lines 266-321). In lines 219-224, Whitman describes the work of a Blacksmith with a sense of beauty. This is a job not typically thought of as beautiful, but Whitman finds beauty and purpose pretty much everywhere he looks. All of these events have shaped Whitman and made him who he is and the way he is

Up until section 11, I found myself confused as to what Whitman was trying to convey. I think he was conveying the greatness of life, as I stated before, but there are certain parts like lines 52-54 where I feel like Whitman is just talking in riddles. Also, in section 4, I found myself confused. I felt the entire work Whitman was giving accounts of things that shaped him, but the first part (lines 66-74) of part 4 make it seem like everything in life influence and affect Whitman (as I stated) but don’t necessarily make the person. This kind of goes against everything I thought.

I found Whitman to be a very tolerant individual. This is evidenced in the fact that helped a run-away (line 189). In all the previous stories we read, run-aways were frowned upon and never helped. Also, when Whitman describes the Negro doing his work, he is very admiring in his tone. Both of these acts were kind of unheard of from this time period, so it just surprised me to discover these things.

I’m not quite sure I understood Whitman’s explanation of the grass either. I think he is trying to say that it could be anything, as in who is to say what anything truly is? His explanation kind of reminds me of when you go outside and look up at the stars and you get that sense of wonder and awe because you can’t even fathom how far they reach or how many they are. It kind of puts life in perspective. There is just so much that we don’t know and maybe aren’t meant to figure out.

Other points of confusion for me were lines 139-144; they completely baffled me! Also, in lines 154-161, is Whitman describing a murder or death? I wasn’t sure what Whitman was trying to convey in lines 199-216, either.