Walt Whitman

Mysticism, Democracy, Individuality&Personality

The 1881 publication of the Leaves of Grass contained more than twenty-four poems, which were reasonably filled with ten or more diversified types of themes. Walt Whitman the author and compiler of this exceptional work changed the status of poetry writing through his utilization of thought and expression in the publication of the Leaves of Grass. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a collogue and admirer of Walt once spoke this of him '…Whitman, that Sir, is a strange case, a case unknown to any of us, unless we should stumble upon him at church one day…';(Chase 142). A prevalent subject in all of Whitman's poetry is his use of the Divine Soul (god), which tends to explicate that Whitman was a very strong believer in his religion. Whitman use of themes discusses his own individuality and personality; he wanted to explain the democracy of America, and its achievements, while giving poetical thought to the great mysteries that plagued mankind of his generation.

The human self was comprised of physical and spiritual annex which both contained a self and soul as was characterized by Whitman.

The self that Whitman spoke of was a man's own individual identity, which has a distinct quality and being, different from the selves of other men, but could be utilized to identify other men. The soul is another type of identity of mankind, which finds its niche in a human, and begins to amplify its personality. This self and soul that embodies every man on this celestial body is a portion of the divine soul also known as god. Whitman's use of these two elements led him to a closer path towards god, as he once said '… A man, who finds himself, is I the way of coming closer in contact with god…';(Whitman 104). Some critics confuse Whitman's use of self and soul to be egotism through his use of the pronoun 'I';, but he uses 'I'; as a universal, a part of the angelic world (God), and therefore he is not an egotistical man.

Whitman had a deep faith in the democracy of America because this political form of government respected the individual. He believed that the United States was best expressed through the common citizen, not the executive branch or the legislature. Another belief of Whitman is that in democracy, the common person had a deathless attachment to freedom. This attitude of Whitman could be traced back to the Enlightenment of the 18th century, where he thought that all evil dwelled in the oppressive social institutions, not in the naive human mind.