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In his most highly regarded poem Song of Myself Whitman states, You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the specters in books, you shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me, You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self. (Whitman 28). This is everlasting and reflects his personal outlooks. Walt Whitman has a lot to contribute to his writings. This information is focused on his personal history of his childhood, adulthood and the text behind one of his many themes, friendship. In Chants 15 and 19, Whitman uses the idea of equality to convey his belief that God is the divine creator of all things and thus they should all be treated impartially. Although the same idea of equality is disclosed in both sections, Whitman uses two intensely different examples to illustrate further his point of view.
In Chant 15, for example, Whitman presents the reader with a lengthy inventory that illustrates different people doing various daily activities. From the pure contralto singing in the organ loft to the patriarchs sitting at supper with sons and grandsons and great-grandsons around them, the author is unobtrusively implying that these are all items of equal value. This is evident in the dissimilarities of the people in what they are doing, seems not to have any relationship as far as the other is concerned. For instance, "the one-year wife" who gives birth to her first child and the clean-hard yankee girl who works as a seamstress! The images of these two women can be construed as having a higher social status than a woman who has a child out of wedlock or one who is a beggar, for example. However, Whitman disproves this notion by placing them in the same category as a man who abuses the drug opium and a prostitute dragging her shawl on the street.
By placing all of these contrasting images together in one parallel verbal form, Whitman is emphatically revealing that they have one similarity: they are equal because they are all the divine creation of God. In Chant 19, on the other hand, Whitman uses the image of a meal to convey his belief in equality. He states that this is the meal equally site will not have a single person slighted or left away to exhibit his unprejudiced attitude toward mankind. Again, he gives a few contrasting images to reiterate his openness and welcoming of people: the heavy-lipped slaves, the kept-woman, the sponger, the thief, are all invited to this feast, which he calls the "meat for natural hunger.
Furthermore, by calling this hunger natural, Whitman is implying that all men get hungry, regardless of race, profession, social status, etc. because it is a part of human nature and thus there should be no difference in them and the rest of the people in the world. Despite the contrarieties that are customarily found throughout the world, Whitman implies that we all have something in common because we are all Gods children. Song of Myself is a poem that portrays the mystical experience undergone by the author that he attributes to God, which ultimately changes his view of the world and his relation to the entities within it. This is what formulates his view of the equality of all things because they are the divine creations of God. As suggested in the title, Song of Myself is indeed concerned with the poets experience.
Yet it also is concerned with much more the human condition, nature, and the universe and it is presented through the lens of the poet's unique vision. Whitman's personality is powerful in the poem his opening lines state, I celebrate myself, and sing myself, / And what I assume you shall assume, / For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. Instead of being a simple statement of egotism, it is a statement of camaraderie. Whitman is symbolically reaching out to the reader, suggesting that they are interconnected even on a molecular level.
Moreover, from that point on, Whitman is able to expand his concerns to include larger questions of goodwill, human nature, and death.
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Research essay sample on Idea Of Equality Human Nature
