Text analysis “One’s self I Sing” by Walt Whitman Approaching Literary Genres p. 42 Millennium

ONE'S-SELF I sing ONE'S-SELF I sing, a simple separate person, yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse. Of physiology from top to toe I sing, not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I say the Form complete is worthier far, the Female equally with the Male I sing. Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power, cheerful, for freest action formed under the laws divine, the Modern Man I sing. FOCUS ON THE MEANING What is the poet celebrating? Name three subjects of those mentioned in the poem. He sings of the self , that is the individual in all its aspects. He sings of: each individual, with no regard to his/her social status (“the word Democratic …. En-Masse”, l. 2); the body (“physiology”, l.3); male and female; man and woman (“the Female equally with the Male I sing”, l.5); life in all its richness and beauty (“Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power”, l.6); in a word, he sings of what he considers to be “The Modern Man” (l.8)

ONE'S-SELF I sing, a simple separate person, yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse. Of physiology from top to toe I sing, not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I say the Form complete is worthier far, the Female equally with the Male I sing. Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power, cheerful, for freest action formed under the laws divine, the Modern Man I sing. FOCUS ON THE MEANING What do you think the poet means by the line highlighted in yellow? The poet implies the idea that the whole body, sex and physical life in general (see also “passion, pulse and power”, below), not only just the mind , have to be appreciated for what they are. ONE'S-SELF I sing, a simple separate person, yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse. Of physiology from top to toe I sing, not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I say the Form complete is worthier far, the Female equally with the Male I sing. Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power, cheerful, for freest action formed under the laws divine, the Modern Man I sing. Highlight in green the expressions that indicate that the idea of completeness, of unity runs through the whole poem.

FOCUS ON THE MEANING ONE'S-SELF I sing, a simple separate person, yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse. Of physiology from top to toe I sing, not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I say the Form complete is worthier far, the Female equally with the Male I sing. Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power, cheerful, for freest action formed under the laws divine, the Modern Man I sing. FOCUS ON THE MEANING This is both a poem of the self and of the universe. Highlight in red the expression which emphasizes individualism. Highlight in blue the expressions which emphasize a sort of cosmic force The poem is divided into three stanzas. Do you think this corresponds to a progression to three different stages? Give reasons for your answer.. Yes, there is a progression in the development of the poem. In the first stanza the poet starts from the individual as part of society (“Democratic … En-Masse”, l.2), then he continues contemplating the body, and the idea of the body leads him to consider the basic distinction between man and woman (second stanza). This idea leads him to sing of Life as a divine entity, of which man and woman partake (third stanza). In conclusion, we may say that there is a progression from the particular to the general, from the individual to the universal.

FOCUS ON FREE VERSE ONE'S-SELF I sing, a simple separate person, yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse. Of physiology from top to toe I sing, not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I say the Form complete is worthier far, the Female equally with the Male I sing. Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power, cheerful, for freest action formed under the laws divine, the Modern Man I sing. FOCUS ON FREE VERSE This is unrhymed poem, yet three lines end with the same identical word (and therefore sound). What is it? It is “sing” (ll3,5,8). What effect do you think the poet tries to achieve by this? Give reasons for your choice/s: a hymn-like rhythm a triple rhyme to stress his role as a speaking voice The poet may try to achieve a hymn-like rhythm, as if he were a preacher presenting his religion: here the poet is expressing a sort of pantheistic religion of life (“formed under the laws divine”, l.7). But … he may also want to stress his role as a speaking voice, as a sort of interpreter of the self, of each living individual, of the Modern Man .

FOCUS ON FREE VERSE The rhythmic quality of the poem owes a lot to certain repeated sounds. Highlight in grey the examples of alliteration. ONE'S-SELF I sing, a simple separate person, yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse. Of physiology from top to toe I sing, not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I say the Form complete is worthier far, the Female equally with the Male I sing. Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power, cheerful, for freest action formed under the laws divine, the Modern Man I sing. Highlight in pink the examples of assonance. Underline the repeated key words. Repeated key words: “I sing” ll. 1, 3, 5. 8 Try to scan at least three lines, indicating the number of beats for each line. Line 1: One’s / self / I / sing / a / sim / ple / sep / (a)rate / per / son (12 syllables / 6 beats) Line 2: yet / ut / ter / the / word / Dem / o / crat / ic,/ the / word/ En- / Masse (13 syllables / 6 beats) Line 3: Of / phys / i / ol / o / gy/ from / top / to / toe / I / Sing (12 syllables / 5 beats)