Song Of Myself Quote

1056 Words3 Pages

Tyeisha Moton
Dr. Kathy Lou Schultz
ENGL 4346
26 February 2016
Song of Myself
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, democracy is defined as a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting and religion is defined as an interest/belief/activity that is important to a person or group. Connections between culture, society, state, politics, and religions are reciprocal. I personally believe that religion has an influence on democracy and while reading Song of Myself and the Preface there were two quotes that stood out that related to that. In this paper, I will be discussing how religion relates to democracy and how a leaf of grass symbolizes democracy.
A quote from Song of Myself stated, “I have what the talkers were talking….the …show more content…

In Song of Myself I believe that a leaf of grass symbolizes a person in the society. In my perspective, in Whitman’s whole Song of Myself I believe in any sentence/stanza when he relates a leaf of grass to something that he is relating it to human life. Human beings relate to the grass because individuals as well as grass struggle to survive just as people do in daily life. Grass stands for what all individuals go through in life. Individuals have to have a plan from survival and grass does the same thing to survive in the world. A leaf of grass is weak without the rest of the family and if it is more than one leaf then it becomes stronger and greater. Plants, such as leaves, represent growth, formation of new things/regeneration, and beauty in it. Overall, a leaf of grass symbolizes the individual in the …show more content…

There were so many injuries of the Civil War which were extremely tragic but Whitman took everything in a positive and beautiful way. I examined one narrative in particular titled Back to Washington which was very significant and portrayed an image to the audience without having to actually be there. In my perspective, Back to Washington illustrates what Whitman thought was the greatest injury of the Civil War. The loss of humanity was definitely portrayed in this narrative.
Back to Washington discussed how there were so many wounded soldiers (both young and old) and how a number of soldiers went north. Whitman contributed quite a few things to the war effort including himself. Most of his day was spent at the Armory- Square Hospital. Throughout the Armory-Square Hospital there were various medical wards that were for the wounded soldiers. The soldiers were extremely broke and Whitman was very generous to help them. Whitman supplied every section in the hospital with writing paper, stamp’s envelopes and small gifts that included fruit and candy. The wounded were very grateful to receive these small gifts because they did not have anything at all. Whitman believed that these small things would help their spirit. Throughout this narrative it continued to discuss how many were wounded which was a large

Show More
Related

  • From Renaissance Law to Modern Democracy: A Historical Perspective

    880 Words  | 2 Pages

    Despite law having evolved to what it is today, religion is still embedded within modern democratic government systems used today. In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt recognized the place that religion holds in democracy. “Religion, by teaching man his relationship to God, gives the individual a sense of his own dignity and teaches him to respect himself by respecting his neighbor. Democracy, the practice of self-government, is a covenant among free men to respect the rights and liberties of their fellows. International good faith, a sister of democracy, springs from the will of civilized nations of men to respect the rights and liberties of other nations of men.

    Read More

  • Witman's Calvalry Crossing the Ford and Crane's War Is Kind

    431 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Whitman’s poem, “Cavalry Crossing a Ford” he writes about a Cavalry marching off to war. From my research, Whitman recreates a scene from [Union General Lovell H.] Rousseau's raid through Alabama in July 1864, when his troops were crossing the Coosa River at Ten Islands Ford. He brings to life his poem by describing many details about the Cavalry’s surroundings by using lots of visual imagery. It has much visual imagery considering the length of the poem. Whitman also writes using free-verse. The speaker in the poem is taking his time to view nature; he isn’t in a rush to go to war. War is not what the speaker wants to think about. He wants to savor what may his last moments. For he knows that when he crosses the ford, he may not return home alive.

    Read More

  • Anne Hutchingson and Freeborn Garrettson

    1197 Words  | 3 Pages

    While the impact of religion on democracy has been well documented, it is difficult to trace the impact of democracy on religion. Nevertheless, historians like Nathan Hatch argue that democracy was a significant influence on the development of American religion. Hatch identifies three marks of democratic spirit found in early American religious movements – redefined leadership, acceptance of spiritual experience, and grand ambitions. All three are exempli...

    Read More

  • Walt Whitman Oh Captain My Captain Analysis

    527 Words  | 2 Pages

    The way he writes the poem shows how he was in love with the president on how Lincoln conducted himself during the war. He refers to Lincoln as the captain of the ship which is the Union, throughout the poem he begins to call out to the Captain acting like the president was never shot. Through this all, it seems like Whitman could never bring himself to acknowledge the assassination of the late president. He also wrote it as a way to express the grief of losing the beloved commander and chief, and also explain to the American people how Booth killed the man who helped bring the Union together once again. However, he makes the metaphor in this poem explain why he would have wrote it, it shows that through an imaginary situation that things begin to seem alright in the world. Finally, Whitman deals with the pain through the metaphor to cover up the hurt America feels even if he despised the poem later on in

    Read More

  • Walt Whitman's Drum-Taps

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    Whitman was drawn to the nations capital roughly a year after the Civil War began, at the age of forty-three. The wounding of his brother, George Washington Whitman, who served in the Union Army, precipitated his contact with the carnage of the war. Reading the notice of his brother’s injury in the New York Herald, Whitman went immediately to Falmouth, Virginia, where he found his brotherly only slightly wounded. Perpetually short-handed, Army officials asked the poet to help transport injured soldiers to field hospitals in Washington. Whitman agreed, and began a mission of mercy that would occupy him from 1862 until the war’s end in 1865 (Murray).

    Read More

  • Walt Whitman and War

    1630 Words  | 4 Pages

    Life in its ever-evolving glory seems at times to be nothing more than a serious of random events that lead us from one place to another. It takes many years of grace and wisdom to see that life is much more than that. Life is far bigger than any one person or group of people. Life is a lesson and sometimes lessons need to repeat. Life during the time of Walt Whitman was oddly and sadly similar to our very own time in some ways. Like us, Whitman dealt in "Leaves of Grass" with living in a nation during wartimes; and if you can say anything about war, it is that, it is never fast and never easy.

    Read More

  • Song of Myself

    1385 Words  | 3 Pages

    The work “Leaves of grass” was written by Walt Whitman, an American poet of the 19th century. Whitman titled his work with this suggestive name for the reason that he loved simple people; and as the humble people, leaves of grass are the most simple and healthy among the living things. The poetry book “Song of Myself”, included in the work “Leaves of grass”, is contrary to what its name suggests, a song inspired by humanity, of which each one is part.

    Read More

  • The Cycle of Life in Walt Whitman's Song of Myself

    798 Words  | 2 Pages

    In stanza six of the poem "Song of Myself", by Walt Whitman, he poses the question "What is the grass?" I believe that grass is a metaphor for the cycle of life. Throughout the poem Whitman points out images that grass could represent. All of these images stem from the life and death that we come to expect in our lifetime. During your life you will experience death, it at times surrounds you, but if you look past the grief and look to the beauty you will see that it is a cycle that keeps our world in balance. The images of flags, tears, children and older people that are torn from the ones they love, but only to soon return to other lost ones are all parts of Walt Whitman's poem.

    Read More

  • Visualizing Eternity in Walt Whitman's Song of Myself

    994 Words  | 2 Pages

    Whitman's poem "Song of Myself #44" stands as a confession and testaments of not only who he is and what he is, but also as who we are, we being people in general. The poem is not about a self-idolizing author claiming to be the greatest being of all time. Instead it paints a picture for all mankind alike to relate to. It puts a mirror in front of the world and presents an angle of an image that, though familiar, we have never seen or realized before.

    Read More

  • How Is Walt Whitman Democraticly Minded

    485 Words  | 1 Pages

    He feel like he needs to help others. He would care for the wounded during the civil war, listen to their stories and write letters to the patients families. Even years after the civil war Whitman continued to visit soldiers who experienced the worse of it. Whitman's own love for America and its democracy can be at least partially attributed to his upbringing and his parents.

    Read More

  • Ee Cummings Meaning

    521 Words  | 2 Pages

    The words rolling down the page symbolize how the leaf would be falling. I relate to this because of the way I see something falling down slowly and gracefully reminds me of how something can be so peaceful even with all of the violence going on in the world. Another instance of symbolism in this poem is how the letters for “(a leaf falls)” (Cummings 565) are inside of the “loneliness” (Cummings 565) letters.

    Read More

  • An Annotation of Section 24 of Walt Whitman's Song of Myself

    1355 Words  | 3 Pages

    Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" is a vision of the American spirit, a vision of Whitman himself. It is his cry for democracy, giving each of us a voice through his poetry. Each of us has a voice and desires, and this is Whitman's representation of our voices, the voice of America. America, the great melting pot, was founded for freedom and democracy, and this poem is his way of re-instilling these lost American ideals. In this passage from "Song of Myself" Whitman speaks through his fellow man and speaks for his fellow man when his voice is not socially acceptable to be heard.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Emily Dickinson And Walt Whitman

    722 Words  | 2 Pages

    He crossed the boundaries of the poetry literature and gave a poetry worth of our democracy that contributed to an immense variety of people, nationalities, races. Whitman’s self-published Leaves of Grass was inspired in part by his travels through the American frontier and by his admiration for Ralph Waldo Emerson (Poetry Foundation). He always believed in everyone being treated equally and bringing an end to slavery and racism. Through his poetry, Whitman tried to bring every people in America together by showing them what happiness, love, unison, and real knowledge looked. His poetry and its revolution changed the world of American literature

    Read More

  • Identities and Transcendentalism in Song of Myself by Walt Whitman

    830 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... a much bigger picture such as a lawn. Whitman also shows the each of our self-identities are vital to the universal identities when he writes about growing among different races and groups. Again, he is telling us that even though we are our own entire person, we are equal. No man is greater than anyone else. Whitman shows his transcendentalism side here because to come to this conclusion that grass is so much more than just grass, he had to look deeper than his senses or his logical knowledge of grass. Sight, taste, touch, smell, or sound couldn’t have helped him answer the boy’s question. Taking classes on the importance of grass could not have accomplished this either. Whitman shows here that a person must look inside themselves and see what their soul is telling them because at times, it can provide infinitely more wisdom than a scholar or a book ever could.

    Read More

  • The Writing Style Of Walt Whitman

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walt Whitman was one of the most controversial poets of his day. The background of Whitman for his styles of poetry included love, friendship, sexuality, and democracy. Because of these topics, Whitman published his own works because no one would publish them. In fact, if anyone were to obtain a copy of the book Leaves of Grass, they were told to burn and destroy it. The works Song of Myself, which is included in Leaves of Grass, was no less different in his controversial works. Today, these works are

    Read More

More about Song Of Myself Quote

Open Document