What Is The Use Of Transcendentalism In Walt Whitman's Song Of Myself

Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself is composed of 52 poems. Throughout these 52 poems, Whitman uses metaphors, similes, and euphemisms. His simplistic way of writing is beautiful and down to earth, but also controversial. Whitman is not a self-proclaimed religious writer, but many people have argued that his writing has “democratically spiritual” undertones. By democratically spiritual, they mean that his writing has influence from transcendentalists and their beliefs. Others have even stated that he was a transcendentalist. In poems 1, 6, and 17, a certain type of universal connection can be easily witnessed. Whitman’s use of parallelism, cataloguing enhances his views of a “united front” for the readers. Poem one begins with the line, “I celebrate myself, and sing myself.” This line does not signify a democratic spirituality, but most of the remaining portion of the poem does. Whitman specifically uses his narrative point of view to express his passion for writing. “For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you,” line 3 states. This line is

Whitman’s closing lines are exemplary details of his “democratic spirituality.” “This is the grass that grows wherever the land is and the water is, This is the common air that bathes the globe.” This sentence shows Whitman’s unified ideas for the world. He emphasizes the part of the “...common air that bathes the globe…” Once again, this is an example of a common factor that we all share, just like the use of the atom in Poem 1. Whitman’s idea is that we are all alike in more ways than we are different. We are all connected by the air we breathe, which is all relatively the same. We all are united with this air and all participate in using it, yet we still focus on why and how we are different. These kinds of views were not common during Whitman’s time and his innovative ways of writing shaped authors later ways of writing