Song-of-Myself

full hands; / How could I answer the child? I do not
know what it is any more than he. / I guess it must
be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green
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Background information
It has been credited as “representing the core of Whitman’s poetic vision.”
The poem was first published without sections as the first of twelve untitled
• ① 开纳克人，加拿大人之别称；塔卡河人，弗吉尼亚人之 别称。
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It may be if I had known them I would have loved them, / It may be you are from old people, or from offspring taken soon out / of their mothers' laps, / And here you are the mothers' laps. / This grass is very dark to be from the white heads of old mothers, / Darker than the colorless beards of old men, / Dark to come from under the faint red roofs of mouths. / O I perceive after all so many uttering tongues, /And I perceive they do not come from the roofs of mouths for nothing. / I wish I could translate the hints about the dead young men and women, / And the hints about old men and mothers, and the offspring taken / soon out of their laps. / What do you think has become of the young and old men? / And what do you think has become of the women and children? / They are alive and well somewhere, / The smallest sprout shows there is really no death, /And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the /end to arrest it, / And ceas'd the moment life appear'd. / All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses, /And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier. 11
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Commentaries of others
A New Comment on Song of Myself written by ZHU Hua (Sichuan Normal University )-- Song of
Myself, an issue of long debate in American literary circles ever since its publication, proves to be a great realistic poem rather than an apocalyptical piece of mysticism, which reflects the life of American times. The theme of democracy and nationalism runs through the whole poem. Its grand structure, its sweeping historical picture and its panoramic landscape of America make it an American epic that enjoys great fame in the literacy circles of the world.
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• In 1882, Boston district attorney
threatened action against Leaves of Grass for violating the state’s
obscenity laws and demanded that changes be made to several passages from “Song of Myself.”
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WALT WHITMAN’S VIEW OF NATURE-AN
ECOCRITICISM OF SONG OF MYSELF
written by LI Jian-feng (Foreign Language
Institute of Southwest University)-- He
respects the earth as Father and tphic, / And it means, Sprouting alike
in broad zones and narrow zones, / Growing among
black folks as among white,/Kanuck, Tuckahoe,
Congressman, Cuff, I give them the same, I receive
young men…
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• 一个孩子说：草是什么呢？他两手满满地摘了一把送给我， / 我如何回答这个孩子呢，我知道的并不比他多。/ 我猜 想它必是我的意向的旗帜，由代表希望的碧绿色的物质所 织成。/ 或者我猜想它是神的手中，一种故意抛下的芳香 的赠礼和纪念品，/在某一角落上或者还记着所有者的名字， 所以我们可以看见并且认识，/ 并说是谁的呢？/ 或者我 猜想这草自身便是一个孩子，是植物所产生的婴孩。/ 或 者我猜想它是一种统一的象形文字，/ 它的意思乃是，在 宽广的地方和狭窄的地方都一样发芽，/ 在黑人和白人中 都一样地生长，/ 开纳克人、塔卡河人①、国会议员、贫 苦人民，我给予他们的完全一样,/ 我也完全一样地对侍他 们。/ 现在，它对于我。好像是坟墓的未曾修剪的美丽的 头发。/卷曲的草哟！我愿意待你以柔情，/你或者是从青 年人的胸脯上生长出来的…
者我猜想它是一种统一的象形文字它的意思乃是在宽广的地方和狭窄的地方都一样发芽在黑人和白人中都一样地生长开纳克人塔卡河人国会议员贫苦人民我给予他们的完全一样我也完全一样地对侍他现在它对于我
Song of Myself
Syllabus
--Background information --Commentaries of others --Theme --Section analysis
used the title "Poem of Walt Whitman, an American,” which was shortened to “Walt Whitman” for the third (1860) edition.
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The poem was divided into fifty-two numbered sections for the fourth (1867) edition and finally took on the title “Song of Myself” in the last edition (1881-2)
Rousseau’s "regression to nature" and sings
for a simple and wild life. The theme of
ecology permeated in Whitman’s Song of
Myself, and the significance of the harmony
confirming its epic aspect and Whitman’s unique perspective and unusual artistic composition. Fundamentally, Song of Myself is a song of freedom, democracy, equality and love. It shows poet’s philosophical and religious thinking of life and cosmic inventory. Also there is marked
Public acceptance was slow in coming, however. Social conservatives（保守派） denounced the poem as flouting accepted norms of morality due to its blatant(公然的) depictions of human sexuality.
as Mother and compares himself to a blade of
grass. Human, in his view, is equal of all the
other living beings in the world and they form
a unified ecological system. He advocates
Following its 1855 publication, “Song of Myself” was immediately singled out by critics and readers for particular attention, and today, remains among the most acclaimed and influential poems written by an American.
them the same./And now it seems to me the beautiful
uncut hair of graves. Tenderly will I use you curling
grass,/ It may be you transpire from the breasts of
transcendentalism in Song of Myself. It
incarnates the process of mysterious experience of a transcendentalist.
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Section analysis—section six
• A child said What is the grass? fetching it to me with
between Man and Nature in an attempt to
enhance the environmental awareness of the
public.
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Theme
In my opinion, Song of Myself was the concentration of Leaves of Grass,
stuff woven. / Or I guess it is the handkerchief of
the Lord, / A scented gift and remembrancer（纪念品）
designedly dropt, / Bearing the owner's name someway
poems in the first (1855) edition of Leaves of Grass. The first edition was published
by Whitman at his own expense. In the second (1856) edition, Whitman
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On the Consciousness of “Ecological Self” Embodied in Whitman’s Song of Myself
written by Song Ge ( Nan yang Normal University ) -- Song of Myself, the representative poem of this collection, uses Nature as the setting to celebrate the self. Whitman’s self absorbs the essence of both space and time, therefore becomes an immortal self consisting of human, nature and piety. His concept of self reveals the original consciousness of Ecological Self that is expressed in "Deep Ecology" in the 20th century.
in the corners, that we may see and remark, and say
Whose? / Or I guess the grass is itself a child, the
produced babe of the vegetation. / Or I guess it is a