Which Of The Following Statements Best Describes The Effect Of The Long Lines In Song Of Myself?
Philip Martin
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In “Song of Myself,” the effect of the lengthy lines is best described by which of the following statements? They bring to the reader’s mind the speaker’s independence and the self-assurance they exude.
What theme does Whitman develop in poem 1 of Song of Myself quizlet?
What overarching idea does this excerpt from “Song of Myself” further explore? The connection that the poet feels with the natural world.
What is the main theme of Song of Myself by Walt Whitman?
Synopsis and Critical Thinking: Song I Sing to Myself First Things First – The initial edition of Leaves of Grass, published in 1855, did not have a title for this poem. In the year 1856, it was referred to as “A Poem of Walt Whitman, an American,” but by the year 1860, it was referred to only as “Walt Whitman.” In 1881, Whitman renamed the poem “Song of Myself,” which had been the original title.
The poem’s meaning develops significantly along its course, and these shifts in the title help to illustrate this development. There are three significant themes: the concept of the self, the identifying of the self with other selves, and the poet’s interaction with the natural world and the cosmos as a whole.
Houses and rooms are symbolic of civilization, while different scents stand in for the individual identities of their wearers and the environment itself represents the global self. The concept of the self is that of a spiritual entity that, despite and even in the midst of the ever-shifting thoughts and experiences that make up its conscious life, manages to maintain a degree of stability.
- A person’s thoughts, experiences, psychological moods, and spiritual revelations are all components of the self.
- The idea of the self is the most important to Whitman, both conceptually and in terms of his work.
- According to Whitman, the self can be either individually specific or universally applicable.
In contrast to the global or cosmic self that the universe itself possesses, man possesses an individual self. The poet has a desire to merge his individual self with the universal self, which would involve the poet’s self being identified with mankind and the poet’s mystical union with God, who is the Absolute Self.
- While the poet has a desire to maintain the identity of his individual self, he also has a desire to merge his individual self with the universal self.
- Sexual connection is a symbolic precursor of spiritual unity.
- As a result, the poet experiences an ecstasy that is on both a bodily and a spiritual level, and he comes to feel a loving brotherhood with both God and all of mankind.
Even the most mundane things, like leaves, ants, and stones, hold the infinity of the world inside them. “Song of Myself” is a wonderful illustration of the aesthetic elements that are present in Leaves of Grass. The author’s unique personality shines through in his writing style.
In a letter that he once sent to his biographer, Horace Traubel, he stated, “I sometimes think the Leaves is merely a linguistic experiment.” For Whitman, the meanings of words may be broken down into two categories: “natural” and “spiritual.” Because he believes that colloquial language is capable of uniting the natural and the spiritual, he employs a large number of colloquial terms.
In addition to that, he enjoys employing vocabulary from other languages. The catalog is another another distinctive element that distinguishes the literary method of Walt Whitman. He employs a wide variety of imagery, most of which are taken from the natural world, to imply and emphasize the sense of a poetic notion.