sincerelyfia

“I have said that the soul is not more than the body,
And I have said that the body is not more than the soul,
And nothing, not God, is greater to one than one’s self…”

Walt Whitman may have confused many of his readers the first few times they’ve read his poems.  Considering his work was never meant to be read fast. I feel as if it was meant to be read slow and comprehensive. In “Song of Myself” he constantly switches roles between an advice giver, a very demanding person and a confused individual. Many times in the poem he makes himself feel higher than all gods possible. In the 19Th century the Church was the most powerful source. However, when Whitman was being the “advice giver” he told his reader and himself that they have to look at themselves as something higher than that. He took quite a risk writing those lined above in his poems but that was how he was able to get his message across. I chose this image because its a photo of a church in the 19Th century in Brooklyn Heights where Whitman grew up.

“I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul,
The pleasures of heaven are with me and the pains of hell are with me,
The first I graft and increase upon myself, the latter I translate
into new tongue.

I am the poet of the woman the same as the man,
And I say it is as great to be a woman as to be a man,
And I say there is nothing greater than the mother of men.

I chant the chant of dilation or pride,
We have had ducking and deprecating about enough,
I show that size is only development.

Have you outstript the rest? are you the President?
It is a trifle, they will more than arrive there every one, and
still pass on. “

“I believe in the flesh and the appetites,
Seeing, hearing, feeling, are miracles, and each part and tag of me
is a miracle.

Divine am I inside and out, and I make holy whatever I touch or am
touch’d from,
The scent of these arm-pits aroma finer than prayer,
This head more than churches, bibles, and all the creeds.”

(I chose those lines from “Song of Whitman” to represent this picture because in this photo, the background is very colorful, vibrant but relaxed, beautiful, creative and natural. However, the silhouette is of me, a small young woman who remains strong through it all. Looking at my small but firm muscle, knowing that with my courage and force I can tackle any task thrown my way.)

-sincerelyFia

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-sincerely fia