Learning from Nature

Very much in the vein of the Romantic poets, the poetry of Walt Whitman speaks of a special and internal connection with nature. Formed from the atoms of the earth, the speaker of Whitman's poem "Song of Myself" describes how through careful observance, "the origin of poems" (Line 36) as well as "the good of the earth and sun" (Line 37) can be easily possessed.

The speaker describes that "every atom of [his] blood" is "formed from this soil, this air" (Line 6). This narrator is a creature of nature just like anything else. Formed from the bare minerals of the earth that keeps him alive, this speaker is an entity with a strong connection to natural splendor. He asks his audience, "Have you reckon'd a thousand acres much? Have you reckon'd the earth much?" (Line 33). Through the observance of the earth and her acres, the speaker begins to suggest that possession of intimate knowledge (which he describes later) can be achieved.

Whitman creates a speaker who appreciates the minutiae ignored by the common masses. He elegantly states in a serious of statements careful observances from his daily life outdoors. He says, "The play of shine and shade on the trees as the supple boughs wag" (Line 29), "The smoke of my own breath" (Line 21), "The feeling of health" (Line 31) "The delight alone or in the rush of streets" (Line 30). This person is someone who takes a positive stance on how to look at and how to appreciate the beauty of the world around us. Simply by his notice, the world seems to be more beautiful and something to hold very dear.

Walt Whitman is a poet known for his descriptions and connections with nature. Although he sounds like the Romantics, Whitman's view of Nature seems to be more primal in essence. He's more like Keats than Shelley in that sense. Gone is the embellished language of yesteryear to make way for a natural poetry that mirrors the natural world that it describes. The experience of nature is what Whitman hails, not the escape from reality through nature. For this narrator of this poem, observing the natural world that constructs our reality is what makes him sing.