"Song of Myself" is a poem by Walt Whitman that was included in his book of poems Leaves of Grass. The poem appeared in the 1855 edition. There are 52 different separations in total; one written every week for a year. Walt Whitman Walter Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) is widely considered to be one of Americas best and most influential poets. ... Walt Whitman, age 37, frontispiece to Leaves of Grass, Fulton St. ... 1855 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...
There seems to be a strong Transcendentalist influence on the poem, a theory somewhat validated by Ralph Waldo Emerson's enthusiastic letter praising the second edition of Leaves of Grass. Transcendentalism was a group of new ideas in literature, religion, culture, and philosophy that emerged in the New England region of the United States of America in the early-to mid-19th century. ... Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 -April 27, 1882) was an American author, poet, and philosopher. ...
External links
Full text of the poem: http://www.princeton.edu/~batke/logr/log_026.html
I dote on myself, there is that lot of me and all so luscious, Each moment and whatever happens thrills me with joy, I cannot tell how my ankles bend, nor whence the cause of my faintest wish, Nor the cause of the friendship I emit, nor the cause of the friendship I take again.
Myself moving forward then and now and forever, Gathering and showing more always and with velocity, Infinite and omnigenous, and the like of these among them, Not too exclusive toward the reachers of my remembrancers, Picking out here one that I love, and now go with him on brotherly terms.
Embody all presences outlaw'd or suffering, See myself in prison shaped like another man, And feel the dull unintermitted pain, For me the keepers of convicts shoulder their carbines and keep watch, It is I let out in the morning and barr'd at night.
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