Skip to main content

What is the meaning of sections 12, 17, and 32 of Walt Whitman's poem "Song of Myself"?

Below, you'll find basic explanations for sections 12, 17, and 32 of Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself."


12: this section describes the movements of both a butcher boy (217-18) and a group of blacksmiths (219-24). Though the images seem random, they function as one of the poem's many "slice of life" sequences. These sections, which generally focus on seemingly random scenes from everyday life, seek to capture the beauty of ordinary existence. Thus, Whitman transforms the ordinary movement of the butcher boy and the blacksmiths into a dignified, poetic occasion.


17: this short section promotes the universality of Whitman's poetic message. Whitman says "These are really the thoughts of all men in all ages and lands" (355), and in making this statement, he asserts that "Song of Myself" taps into a universal experience of the self that is relevant for all times and for all peoples. The description of a universal human experience is one of Whitman's primary poetic goals. 


32: Whitman begins this section by contrasting the peace of animals with the anxiety of human society, thus illustrating the latter's absurdity. Then, he transitions into a specific description of taming a wild stallion, only to assert that he can "out-gallop" (708) the noble beast. In that case, though Whitman acknowledges the folly of human society in comparison to the peace of the animal world, he still asserts the supremacy of the human individual.    

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is 'efficate' a word in English?

I routinely hear the word "efficate" being used. For example, "The most powerful way to efficate a change in the system is to participate." I do not find entries for this word in common English dictionaries, but I do not have an unabridged dictionary. I have checked the OED (I'm not sure if it is considered unabridged), and it has no entry for "efficate". It does have an entry for "efficiate", which is used in the same way. Wordnik has an entry for "efficate" with over 1800 hits, thus providing some evidence for the frequency of use. I personally like the word and find the meaning very clear and obvious when others use it. If it's not currently an "officially documented" word, perhaps its continued use will result in it being better documented.
Post a Comment
Read more