emilym

Looking at the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass as a whole, it is clear that many of the themes in “Song of Myself” carry over into the other poems in the collection.  I was able to find connections very easily, and for each one I found there are probably many other possibilities.

In “Song for Occupations,” Whitman writes, “Come closer to me,/Push close my lovers and take the best I possess,/Yield closer and closer and give me the best you possess” (1-3).  In “Song of Myself,” Whitman writes “I celebrate myself,/And what I assume you shall assume,/For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you” (1-3).  The poet is creating an informal, welcoming introduction in both of these passages.  He celebrates himself and everyone else in “Song of Myself” and expresses the intimacy of equality in “Song for Occupations.”

Moving from the theme of intimacy and equality, Whitman also considers the theme of time as it relates to life and death.  In “To Think of Time,” the poet writes:

Pleasantly and well-suited I walk,

Whither I walk I cannot define, but I know it is good,

The whole universe indicates that it is good,

The past and the present indicate that it is good (116-19).

This is similar to the passage:

They are alive and well somewhere;

The smallest sprout shows there is really no death,

And if there was it led to forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it,

And ceased the moment life appeared (“Song of Myself” 116-19).

In the former passage, Whitman is discussing death metaphorically.  He is walking towards a future he can’t define, but he knows it will be good.  He knows this because he has seen the circle of life occur throughout nature—all around him, so he isn’t worried about where he’s going—in his life or his death.  The second passage actually helps explain the first (notice, it occurs first in the book):  The excerpt continues a discussion of death answering where the old people are.  “The smallest sprout” grows from the once dead, showing “there is really no death.”  This is part of the universe which “indicates that it is good.”   These excerpts echo each other as many of the lines throughout Leaves of Grass do.

Going back to the theme of equality, Whitman often saw himself in others.  As a poet he often writes in multiple personas—shifting from race to race and gender to gender.  In “The Sleepers” he does this throughout the entire poem.  He sets up the premise in the following passage:  “I dream in my dream all the dreams of the other dreamers/And I become the other dreamers” (29-30).   He enters the dreams of those sleeping and becomes part of their dreams—part of the dreamers.  This is a good device to allow the speaker to switch between personas without confusing the reader too much.   After reading “Song of Myself” it is obvious that Whitman will write in this manner with relative ease.  In a passage that could be taken as an explanation for his ability and fondness for writing in various personas, Whitman writes, “In all people I see myself, none more and not one a barleycorn less,/And the good or bad I say of myself I say of them” (“Song of Myself” 400-01).  The speaker considers himself equal with everybody; therefore, he has no trouble becoming them in his poetry.  He doesn’t care about “good” or “bad;” he writes it all the same, with the same energy and enthusiasm.

In short, Whitman’s Leaves of Grass is consistent in its energy and thematic elements throughout the poems—with “Song of Myself” setting the stage.  Considering the length of “Song of Myself” compared to the other poems in this edition, it really isn’t too surprising that the themes would re-emerge in later poems.