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The multitude of voices in Whitman’s Song of Myself
By: Cristine Severo

Song of Myself was published for the first time in 1855, as part of the Leaves of the Grass edition and it was only in 1881 that the poem received this title, after a final revision. This poem is divided into 52 sections that cover subjects related to the self, to the relation between human beings and to the relation between the self and the universe and nature. In this article the second type of relation will be explored, since it is related to the idea of multitude of voices included in Whitman’s poem.

In the very beginning of the poem (1st section), the author creates a proximity with his reader, by affirming that “(…) what I assume you shall assume, for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” This sentence gives the idea of equality as part of an individual’s moral, since every individual is made of the same material (and spiritual) substance. This idea will be present throughout the entire poem, but it is important to note that equality does not mean, for Whitman, that the differences are erased and that only one individual (the western and male individual) has space in a society. Whitman praises and values the differences that exist among people as constituent of the world. Then, there seems to be a paradox in Whitman’s poem: equality and difference are both sides of the same coin.

The idea of difference presupposes another value as essential do the human condition: respect. This can be noted in the following passage (5th section): “I believe in you my soul … the other I am must not abase itself to you, And you must not abase to the other”. The idea presented here is that respect for other people and self-respect may be together or, in other terms, that there can only be respect among individuals when there is respect for the self. Whitman seems to be incisive in this aspect since he uses an imperative construction (must) to compel the reader not to be allowed to lower himself in relation to the others. Also, the idea of respect is connected to the value of brotherhood: “And that all the men ever born are also my brothers …” (5th section).
Another value that is common in Whitman’s poem is universality – human beings are not only connected to the universe and God, they also share one thing: the grass grows “among black folks as among white, Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff (…)” (6th section). In this way, the grass – as s symbol of democracy and regeneration – represents something that is common to people of different race, occupation or origin.

Another paradox that can be noted in Whitman’s poem is the relation between universality and individualism, although this individualism can not be seem as egoism or privilege – it is related to the capacity the individual has to be in contact with him/herself and in contact with the universe.

Another idea that is related to the values exposed above and to the multitude of voices presented in the poem is the one of freedom. This value can be noted in the following passages: (a) “(…) I permit to speak at every hazard (…)” (1st section), which implies people’s freedom of opinion and of expressing it, without having their discourse regulated or censured. (b) “Wonderful cities and free nations we shall fetch as we go” (46th section), which gives the idea of desire for a society that is free and democratic.
The consideration and inclusion of a multitude of voices in Whitman’s poem can be best seen by the importance he gives to the diversity, that can be noticed by his description of the voices that are part of the world and that are constituent of human identity; these voices are not hierarchically posed, but they are considered as belonging to the same level in a society – nobody is better or worse than anyone: “There shall be no difference between them and the rest” (19th section). Also, it seems that Whitman tends to value the quotidian and excluded voices in relation to the hegemonic ones. The voices in the poem make reference to: different and ordinary professions (driver, policeman), women and men, old and young people, different races, different religions, people of different social and economical classes, different nations or origins, time, outcasts, slaves, criminals, prostitutes, sick or deformed people, dwarfs, sexes and lusts, forbidden voices etc. (8th, and 24th sections). The excluded people that Whitman rescues in his poem are made invisible by the modern society where the hegemonic power tends to reject (erase) those who do not belong to the Eurocentric/American lifestyle. To criticize this, Whitman questions ironically “The souls moving along … are they invisible while the least atom of the stone is visible?” (8th section).

Among the voices above, Whitman seems to give special consideration to two of them: the women’s and the slave’s voices. The first case can be notice in the following passages: “And that all the men ever born are also my brothers, and the women my sisters and lovers” (5th section); “I am the poet of the woman the same as the man. And I say it is as great to be a woman as to be a man; And I say there is nothing greater than the mother of men.” (21st section); “In the faces of men and women I see God” (48th section). This attention given to women as being equal to men and worth of the same rights than men has influenced the feminist movement. The slave’s voice can be seen in the following: “The runaway slave came to my house and stopt outside, I heard his motions crackling (…) and brought water and fill´d a tub for his sweated body (…) And gave him a room (…)” (10th section); “Voices of the interminable generations of prisoners and slaves” (24th section); in this case, Whitman recognizes the slave as a human being that deserves the same attention, care and rights than the white man, since all individuals are made of the same substance.

Diversity is profoundly valued by Whitman and that can be noticed in several lines used to appraise it: “I resist any thing better than my own diversity, Breathe the air but leave plenty after me, And am not stuck up, and am in my place” (16th section); “I will not have a single person slighted or left away” (19th section);
In addition, there is an ethical principle in Whitman’s poem that seems to lead all the ideas presented above that are related to equality x difference, universality x individualism, respect x self-respect, brotherhood, freedom, and appreciation of the diversity: that “whoever degrades another degrades me … and whatever is done or said returns at last to me, And whatever I do or say I also return” (24th section). This principle demonstrates the importance of responsibility, which is related to the idea of being present – in the presence of others, assuming a position in the world and acting; for this, it is necessary to accept others as constituent of the self and of a life in community (Arendt, 2005). This responsible posture in life requires another (ethical) attitude that is pointed by Whitman: “Now I will do nothing but hear (…) I hear bravuras of birds (…) the sound of love, the sound of human voice, I hear all sounds running together, combined, fused or following (…)” (26th section). It is the capacity of listening to the other.



References

Abrams, M. H. et al (eds). 2000. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, vol 2. New York: Norton.
Arendt, Hannah. 2005. A condição humana, 10 ed. Rio de Janeiro: Forense universitária.

Article Source: http://journal.ilovephilosophy.com

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