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Walt Whitman's Song Of Myself

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Walt Whitman's Song Of Myself
If I could live each day feeling as Walt Whitman feels in his first section of Song of Myself, I would be a much happier person. His lyrics are so cheerful and optimistic that you can't help but feel better about life in general as you read on. "I celebrate myself, and sing myself;" his opening line summarizes his dominating theme for the rest of the poem, which is to be yourself and love every atom of that being. Another important theme of the poem brought up in section 1 is "hoping to cease not till death." Whitman demands that he doesn't give up on living until living itself has given up on him, and he once again returns to the nature which he was born out of. Section 4 is one of my favorites because of its lyrical beauty, but it also …show more content…
He discusses the many possibilities of grass, saying it could be "the handkerchief of the Lord" or even "the babe of vegetation." However, it is his final realization that brings about another one of his themes; Death is not scary, but a part of nature. He talks about how the grass is the beautiful uncut hair of graves, and all who die return to the ground that their mothers bore them from. In this same theme, he teaches how death isn't scary because it isn't the end, it's just your replacement in the circle of life. We are born from our mothers, we live our life, and then we are buried and live as a part of the grass for all to remember us. "They are alive and well somewhere, the smallest sprout shows there is really no death." He closes this section by saying, "All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses, and to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier." The circle of life is never ending and the part after our living on earth is not a bad stage to enter. In section 48, Whitman really gets into his perspective of God. Many people fear what they do not understand, and do not understand what they cannot touch or see. Whitman tells us to not fear God or even try to understand him. "Be not curious about God." This section has brought about yet another theme of Whitman's which is God is in us and equal to us. Whitman believes that God created each one of us but is not greater
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