Songs of Myself 2 Themes

the Statesn Democracy
Whitmans song is significant because it is an artistic embodiment of the ideals of democracy, freedom, and transmutation; the ideals on which the coupled States was founded and for which it fought during the Civil War. He recognized that America undertook a unique democratic experiment, one which was not at all certain to succeed. Whitmans poetry, like Americas politics, broke the established mixture and structure. It relied not on tradition but on innovation.
Whitmans poetry idealized traveling, searching, and exploring. This mirrored the American beautify of the nineteenth century. During Whitmans lifetime, the United State grew from 22 states to 44 and acquired most of the territories that would later bewilder the remaining six states. America was a wilderness, and Whitman sought to notice what was wild and what was natural about the land and the people that populate it. As the country traveled West, so did Whitmans poetry. It was an attempt to capsulate an American spirit that crossed a vast landscape and was common to all people in the nation.
Individuality vs. Collectivity
In Song of Myself, Whitman admits that his poetry is absurd. He acknowledges that he contradicts himself. The reason, he says, is that I contain multitudes.



Whitmans work embodies two ideals which seem to oppose separately other: the first is his notion of the self, the second is his idea of the tribal, or collective, spirit of America. Whitman sings odes to the individual, and lifts up self-discovery as the highest ideal of the individual. But the self, inconsistent on its own, must also battle with the needs of society. It is some(prenominal) physical and spiritual and Whitman attempts to reconcile these differences. This duality, for Whitman, is mystical and mysterious. The speaker is two the individual and the microcosm of society - he contains multitudes.
Whitman also upholds the collectivity of the nation. Crossing Brooklyn convey is, perhaps, Whitmans best...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay



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