Walt Whitman's poetry contains many basic elements that come together to characterize his position in 19th century social and political thought. An analysis of Whitman's "Song of Myself" and "I Sing the Body Electric" specifically highlights Whitman's interest in the human body. Through these poems, the human body is continually glorified and eroticized by Whitman. However, Whitman's focus on the body is deeper than a physical infatuation, as these poems also establish the body's connection to one's soul. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Another important feature in Whitman's interest in the human body in these poems is his ability to universalize the human image, bringing the reader and the poet into a single entity. This article seeks to demonstrate how Whitman's bringing together of these highly connective representations of the human body allows readers to understand Whitman's response to the social and political separatism that characterized nineteenth-century thought. Writing in an era of radical inequality, Whitman's characterization of the body in these poems serves to promote a broader message of social and racial equality in a time period that worked to largely suppress both. After the initial analysis of Whitman's focus on the human body in “Song of Myself” and “I Sing the Body Electric” explicit descriptions of eroticism are prevalent. These poems place great emphasis on the juxtaposition of sensual yet sacred descriptions of anatomy human and sexual unions. I argue, however, that these striking images function to serve a larger purpose in Whitman's message of human unity and commonality that his poetry represents human “I Sing the Body Electric,” stating, “[The body] of the male is perfect, and that of the female is perfect” (I Sing the Body Electric 10 ). This sentiment is also expressed in “Song of Myself,” since Whitman again uses sensual terms to describe a sense of perfection found in every human body, for example, he describes a slave in one scene, stating, “His blue shirt exposes his wide neck and chest and loosens at the waist. , / His gaze is calm and authoritative... / The sun falls on his crisp hair and moustache, falls on the black of his / shiny and perfect limbs” (“Song of Myself 224-229). Descriptions of this kind fill Whitman's poems, and it is clear that he has a deep respect and admiration for the human form, regardless of sex or race. William White's critical essay, “The Erotic Poetry of Walt Whitman: New as Foam and Old as Rock” agrees with this argument as it references Whitman's “cosmic vision of love as a force that permeates all living things , which bestows dignity and glory on the human body, and which unabashedly proclaims sex and procreation as the true Spring of the life cycle” (White 654). Another example of Whitman's continued emphasis on the glorified image of the human body is found in “I Sing the Body Electric” in the linesMan's body is sacred and woman's body is sacred; /No matter who it is, it is sacred; /Is he a slave? Is he one of the dull-faced immigrants who just landed on the dock? /Everyone belongs here or anywhere, just like the wealthy, just like you; /Everyone has their place in the procession. /(Everything is a procession; /The universe is a procession, with measured and beautiful movement) /(“I Sing the Body Electric” 83-89). With Whitman's focus on the body forming what he often describes asa sacred entity, he again draws attention to a common point that he claims is shared by all of humankind, forcing readers to see the "bigger picture": a universe that supersedes physical distinctions. “Do you not see that these [bodies] are exactly the same for everyone, in all nations and in all times, all over the Earth? / If there is one thing sacred, the human body is sacred” (“I Sing the Body Electric 123-125), Whitman later adds. This focus on an identical sacredness found within each individual supports an analysis showing that there is a universality of all human beings outside of temporary physical restrictions, which are essentially meaningless in Whitman. on a wide range of male and female manifestations of love. In “I Sing the Body Electric,” for example, readers can find an explicit description of a male and female engaged in a sexual act as the speaker states, Ebb stung by ebb, and ebb stung by ebb: flesh of love swells. and deliciously sore; /Infinite clear hot and enormous love jets, trembling love jelly, white breath and / delirious juice; /Groom night of love, working sure and sweet in the prostrate dawn;/………..This is the core: after the child is born of the woman, the man is born of the woman; /This is the bath of birth: this is the fusion of the small and the large, and again the outlet /(lines 58-65 of "I Sing the Body Electric"). Lines like these leave readers with little doubt about the substance the speaker is describing, but they also operate on a deeper level than physical infatuation. It is Whitman's focus on the necessity of sexual unions for the continuation of life that gives depth to his erotic descriptions and a greater cause. “It is indeed a peculiar form of eroticism that begins with the miracle of all life, particularly of the human body, and that conceives of all forms of love as existing and expanding as a primordial life force and as an indicator of infinite potential of love. the democratic ideal and the harmonious evolution of the universe toward ever-increasing greatness,” (White 651) adds White. Therefore, a close look at Whitman's writing demonstrates that the inclusion of erotic scenes and descriptions were not simply ends in themselves, but a mere building block to a broader definition of "love" that his writing sought to establish. of sexual acts as promoting a higher ideal, readers can also understand the meaning of the numerous homosexual descriptions found in his poetry. In “I Sing the Body Electric,” for example, readers are exposed to a scene in which “two lusty apprentices” engage in an act of homosexuality. The speaker states: The coats and caps thrown down, the embrace of love and resistance, / The upper and lower grip, the tangled hair blinding the eyes / The march of the firefighters in their costumes, the play of male muscles through clean pants and belts at the waist, / ("I Sing the Body Electric" lines 25-30). Intense, descriptive scenes of homosexuality like this have prompted many critics to label Whitman himself as homosexual. However, to analyze the text along the lines of Whitman's promotion of human equality and “love” as the materialization of all human interaction, it seems appropriate to offer scenes like this. Again, White's essay agrees with this sentiment. It states: “[Whitman's] intent seems to be to elevate love to a new level and to see it as a symbol of democratic egalitarianism. Of course, many poems emphasize the body, sex, and physical love as part of nature and as part of a celebration of lifestyle. They describe more than justpassion…nearly all of Whitman's poetry is a 'love' poem in the broadest sense of the word'” (White 652-653). According to this translation, then, readers can make sense of Whitman's various descriptions of homosexuality to reinforce his theme of human equality. In a world where the spiritual and the physical are almost fused, sexual unions take on a new definition; sexual barriers are no longer relevant. Building on Whitman's use of sexuality to spread his personal message, Whitman also works to express the unity between body and soul and the tremendous personal power this connection grants individuals. This message of unity is particularly significant as it allows readers to expel traditional 19th-century views of the physical distinction between races and sexes that served to place one individual above another and to turn instead to a radical response that "leveled "the soil for all human beings. .Both “I Sing the Body Electric” and “Song of Myself” focus on how people are inextricably the same, proposing a message that while our bodies may be different, it is the intrinsic connection with the human soul that creates equality. Stating: “Do not be ashamed, women: your privilege contains the rest and is the exit from the rest; / You are the doors of the body and you are the doors of the soul/” (I Sing the Body Electric 66-67), Whitman uses women as an example of the connectivity between the body and the soul to foster unity and equality of the human race, helping to break down the sexual barriers that so defined the thought and practice of the 19th century. In addition to this concept, "Song of Myself" also works to clarify Whitman's combination of body and soul to create the sacred vision of humanity as it directly states this theme in the lines “I said the soul is no more of the body, / And I said that the body is no more than the soul, / And nothing, not God, is greater to anyone than he himself is ” (“Song of Myself 1269-1271). Through Whitman's continued attention to the connection between the human body and the soul, readers can gain a sense of unity that Whitman illustrates in every aspect of his poetry. “Not only are the body and the soul completely the same,” adds critic Arthur Wrobel in his essay “Whitman and the Phrenologists: The Divine Body and the Sensuous Soul,” but “there is no essential distinction between the two” (Wrobel 20 ). Consequently, it is this intentional "non-distinction" that works to promote a universal equality that Whitman sees in every individual. In addition to the already inextricable link that Whitman established between the body and the soul, I argue that the poem also universalizes the poet himself to readers and, as a result, readers share and are receptive to his message. This universality of the poet once again provides a message of commonality between the poet and the masses, reinforcing the theme of a “shared” human spirit. Consequently, this message of “one unity” through the multitude diminishes the importance of the racial, social or political divisions that dominated this era. For example, Whitman immediately states this universal theme of poet-reader identification by stating, “I celebrate myself, and what I presume, you should presume. For every atom in me, as good belongs to thee” (“Song of Myself” 1-4) to alert readers that his thoughts are essentially their own. By extending his words and ideas to invite readers to share the feeling directly, Whitman's message about the universal human body can take root. He later displays this notion in the verses: “These are indeed the thoughts of all men in all ages and in all lands, / They are not original mine, / If they are not as much yours asmine are nothing, or almost nothing, /” (“Song of Myself 354-356). By assigning readers a shared responsibility in his words, Whitman does not simply work to express his theory of a physical and spiritual human unity, but assures readers that, through this unity, they too are part of the claim. According to Wrobel's article, "Whitman's vision of the universe...emphasizes its underlying unity, a unity characterized by the exquisite adaptation of all its parts to form an ordered whole" (Wrobel 18). In this sense, just as Whitman imagined and described a harmony in the physical anatomy among all human beings, this equality also expands to encompass his vision of the universe at large. Whitman's decision in both “I Sing the Body Electric” and “Song of Myself” to add lines that simply list parts of the human anatomy tap into this concept that these parts, while unique in appearance, are universal. Inserting one of these anatomical lists into "I Sing the Body Electric," the speaker describes shared "Sets of strong thighs, carrying the trunk well above, / Leg fibers, knee, knee cap, upper leg, under leg, / Ankles, instep, ball, toes, toe joints, heel; /" ("I Sing the Body Electric, lines 146-150). In the next line, Whitman adds his theme directly, stating, "All the attitudes, all the form, all the possessions of my body or yours, or anyone's / body, male or female / . . . Or I say, these do not are only the parts and poems of the Body, but of the Soul, / Or have I seen now that these are the Soul! (“I sing the electric body 147 – 165). Whitman's crucial decision to end his poem with a sensationalist note of the universality of the physical body and connectivity with souls serves as a testament to his radical 19th century worldview; it demonstrates unity in the face of what originally appear to be individual differences. image of a poet universalized through his many direct statements that place themselves not simply alongside the reader, but within the reader himself Claiming to be “the poet of woman as well as man,” and later stating: “I know each of you, I know the sea of ​​torment, of doubt, of despair and/of disbelief/… I take my place among you as just as among all / The past is the drive of you, of me, of all, exactly the himself /” (“Song of Myself” 1113 – 1118), once again, Whitman emphasizes the universal element for himself and his message. Through these lines, Whitman asserts a commonality not simply between the poet and the reader, but between the reader and the rest of society. Although Whitman's poem may not seem to send shockwaves to the modern reader, this idea of ​​a "many in one" type of society in which human beings are essentially equal parts in a larger, functioning whole was a radical thought in disintegrated 19th-century society. According to Peter Simonson's essay, “A Rhetoric for Polytheistic Democracy: Walt Whitman's 'Poem of Many in One,'” Whitman published Leaves of Grass at a time of national fracture and “through free poetic verse, he hoped to do what traditional political institutions seemed incapable of doing: refreshing the nation's democratic faith and uniting the many as one” (Simonson 355-356). Therefore, consider “I Sing the Body Electric” and “Song of Myself.” ” as a cohesive whole illuminates a much larger philosophical picture problem to be addressed in universal human equality. Whitman invites readers not simply to recognize it, but to take responsibility for finding a place for the variety of the world. This, Simonson agrees, is.