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149041884
Lecturer: Mr Nick Everett
Seminar Tutor: Kathleen L. Bell

A look in-depth at the concept of democracy and the figure of the prophet poet in
Song of Myselfs section twenty-four

Walt Whitmans Song of Myself has been one of the most widely read
American poems by far. However, unlike other American works, Whitmans work has
gone through many different versions since he kept on revising it until his death. The
poem itself belongs to the collection of poems Leaves of Grass; the version of the
poem analysed below belongs to the 1881 version, which it is structured in fifty-two
sections and the first version to be published anonymously. Having a look at
Whitmans poetry, the reader is able to identify some key elements, themes and
motifs present throughout the whole poem. Yet, having a closer and in-depth reading
of the poem will be needed for the common reader to be able to clarify what the main
characteristics are, concerning its different sections. Thus, in this text the purpose of
the essay is to analyse the section twenty-four in some different aspects as it is the
sense of democracy and egalitarianism present in the excerpt, briefly explaining some
relevant aspects of the text linked to this concept and connecting it with Whitmans
figure of the new kind of poet.
One of the most visible elements in the section twenty-four is the concept of
Democracy. The structure, as mentioned above, is divided in fifty-two sections, even
though the whole structure of the poem seems to unify the whole poem, one of the
main characteristics of the authors poetry and personality is freedom, and that
freedom comes from this poetry that is emancipated from fixed meters. This freedom
is somehow connected with democracy itself, not talking about political issues but in
the sense that the speaker supports equality and brotherhood for all the people, no
matter what social class, gender or age. This can be seen throughout all the poem,
when he is equalizing himself to the rest of the humankind: No sentimentalist, no
stander above men and women or apart from them,/ No more modest than
immodest. (lines 499-500), or Whatever degrades another degrades me,/ And
whatever is done or said returns at last to me (lines 502-503). Therefore, it can be
seen some kind of empathy; the speaker has a strong sense of empathy, he feels
identified with others. This could be also expressed in a sense of egalitarianism, in
which the speaker celebrates and loves all human beings. At the same time, Whitman
equates the human body and democracy. Experiences go through the body. This is

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highlighted in the section through the following comparison: Copulation is no more


rank to me than death isline 521, therefore, both are equal, if death is something
natural, the sexual act should be regarded as natural as death also. In the section there
appear also different erotic descriptions of Nature compared with the intercourse in
which the body takes part: Root of wash'd sweet-flag! timorous pond-snipe! nest of
guarded duplicate eggs!...(534) or Winds whose soft-tickling genitals rub against
me(541) This connection is what implies for Whitmans thoughts that if we can
agree that the body is a sacred thing then we can reach democracy.
Concurrently, modernity also takes places in the whole poem, as the lines do
not follow any kind of meter, it is kind of free, new and modern. This free verse has in
some cases very long lines which point in common with prose, e.g. Broad muscular
fields, branches of live oak, loving lounger in my winding paths, it shall be you! / Hands
I have taken, face I have kiss'd, mortal I have ever touch'd, it shall be you.(542-543),
among many other similar cases. In fact, the poem relies on alliteration, rhythm and
musicality, what leads to Whitman to achieve what he was seeking, to transmit
accessibility in his work to get in touch with the reader. The reader takes part in the
poem while reading it, you is the reader, who is mentioned throughout all the
section. Some examples of alliteration are: voices of the diseased and despairing and
of thieves and dwarfs(510) and voices veild and I remove the veil(517).
There
is also a pattern for the formal organization of the poem, parallelism. This is led
through the use of phrases, e.g it shall be you!, sentences with similar content,
e.g.Unscrew the locks from the doors!/Unscrew the doors themselves from their
jambs!, and even sentences with similar content but also length, e.g. voices
of/voices of(509-510) . This gives a sense of repetition, rhythm and intensification
that contributes not only to the unity of the section itself but also to the unity of the
poem as a whole.
The next point to analyze is not less important, as this is connected with the
beginning of the section being analyzed and I preferred to discuss it after analyzing the
other points. The beginning states: Walt Whitman, a kosmos, of Manhattan the
son(497). This is the first time that the author is introduced, the first time its name
appears, a little bit shocking not being introduced at the beginning in the first section
instead of in the twenty-fourth. This is due to his different perspective on the role of
the new poet. He declares himself a cosmos, a metaphor for an encompassing entity,
where everything belongs to him because everything is in him. This is the new kind of
poet that he wanted to represent, a poet who should replace the figure of the priest:
Divine am I inside and out, and Ii make holy whatever I touch or am touchd
from,/The scent of these arm-pits aroma finer than prayer,/This head more than
churches, bibles, and all the creeds(524-526). He describes the new kind of poet as a
spiritual leader, a kind of poet prophet who has special spiritual powers, a visionary, a
seer, someone able to penetrate beyond the surface who has the capacity to be a

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leader for the mass of common people. He is a cosmos, in some way giving it a sense
of completeness; he represents all ideas of the universe. This ideal of the new kind of
poet, the prophet poet can be found in the preface of Song of Myself, and it is
somehow something of importance to understand the speaker through each one of
the different sections but also as the poem as a whole.
As a way of conclusion, it is noteworthy the importance of the notion of
democracy, which is at the same time based on equalizing, inclusiveness,
conectiveness and a sense of communication between all the creatures in the world.
For Whitman the body is as important as the soul, so he is original in this sense
inasmuch as he equalizes them. The mere title of the book, Leaves of Grass, is for the
speaker a symbol that unifies the poems in the book, he chooses this symbol as the
whole unit of the book; nature is the symbol of grass, if it dies it comes back to life and
there is renewal and regeneration. So it could be also a symbol of hope; peoples life is
as brief as leaves of grass. This is understood as a never-ending process, and the best
symbol for this is the grass. Finally, theres obviously noted the figure of a prophet
poet, a superior lyrical subject and speaker who is believed to be as a kind of Supreme
Being, a kind of hero. This is, Whitman portrays the figure of the poet as someone who
is complete in himself. And it is through this unique and fascinating idea conveyed by
the author (the poet prophet) and by means of the employment of an ambitious but at
the same time accessible language, that just as this poet is complete in himself, it is
Song of Myself completed in itself.

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