In the poem “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman he goes through several different phases that basically talk about himself, his connection to nature, and his religion and relationship with God. In this journey of self-discovery, Whitman refers to himself and others as “I” throughout and he talks about others, nature, and God as if they are him. The 52 sections are split up into three different sections where he goes from him as an individual to talking about him, others, and his religion to talking about him and nature. He knows that the world is not perfect but he encourages everyone to live as though they will never die because, according to him, no one ever does. In the poem Whitman believes that no one dies but instead they are reincarnated, seeing as he’s died “a thousand times before”. Whitman’s “Song of Myself” is his personal journey of realizing who he is and the reasons that he is living, not just for himself but also for everyone.

In the second line of the poem, Whitman uses the word “you” to get the reader involved. This makes sure that the reader knows that Whitman is speaking to them on a personal level instead of the reader just reading along to something that he wrote. In the first phase, Whitman talks about himself finding himself. He refers to other people as houses and rooms full of perfumes and talkers talking about the beginning and the end but he doesn’t talk about either. Whitman talks of going to the bank by the wood and being naked and undisguised so he can blend in with the atmosphere. He doesn’t want to join in conversation; he just wants to be one with the world.

Whitman talks about how he’s met people, he’s seen things and heard news, he’s also been in love (it doesn’t say with a man or woman), and he says how all of these things have affected him and are probably the reasons that he wants to find himself and be one with the earth. Even though he’s been through so much, he still wants to celebrate himself, which is a reference to the first line of the poem and the theme behind his self-discovery. Section 5 introduces Whitman’s soul who he asks to lay with him on the grass, showing how close he is with his inner being. In this section, he also introduces his faith in knowing that the hand of God is the promise of his own and that all men and women are his brothers and sisters. At the end of this section, he begins to bring forth his connection to nature.

In section 6 of the poem, a child asks Whitman “what is the grass?” Whitman cannot answer because he doesn’t know anymore than the child knows which gets him to thinking. He starts to think about what could the grass be which leads him to thinking about the people that are dead and buried under the grass. He wishes that he could talk to them but instead he starts to speak from what he thinks their perspectives are such as a woman watching men bathe to someone on a ship fighting a war to a slave that he had helped by providing him with water and a shower in sections 7 through 20. He sees himself as being a part of them just like he’s apart of the grass. This also represents Whitman’s journey of self-discovery because just like these people are apart of the earth, so is he by being a part of them and the grass, becoming one with nature.

In section 21 of the poem Whitman calls himself the “poet of the Body’ and the “poet of the Soul” which starts his religious journey from his self-discovery of nature. He thanks the earth and the sea for loving him and in return he loves the earth and sea. He states that he isn’t only the poet of good but also he is the poet of wickedness to show the reader that he isn’t prejudice against anyone and he can find righteousness in the good and the bad. Whitman believes that he is apart of the universe and everything that has happened to him and everything that he has seen. He believes that everyone is equal and that truth is everywhere because God is everywhere.

Section 32 shows how Whitman says that he could live with the animals in nature because they are born pure and do not act like humans act. In 33 through 37 he begins to realize what he is meant to do, live amongst the nature. He stated “I am the man, I suffered, I was there” which shows that he doesn’t want to live the human life anymore. He doesn’t want to be one of the people that he saw living amongst the grass. He’s living for a bigger purpose but at the end of Section 37 he sits and begs with shame on his face because he finally realizes that all of the people mentioned are him. They are all one in the same and Whitman doesn’t want to be this way. Section 38 starts with him saying enough because he can’t take living like this anymore. He has replenished with supreme power, knowledge of what he has to do. In the end, Whitman realizes that he is a man of religion and just as Christ was a healer, so is he. He celebrates this power that he has found and gives himself to the nature, telling the reader to keep encouraged when they can’t find him but if they want him to look under there shoes because he is one with the earth and nature.

Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” is about how he came to realize that he is needed more by the world than by the people of the world. He realized that he is not only a human being that can make a difference but he can make a difference by doing a better service and getting “lost” in nature. He is now a part of the grass that he loves and the pure animals that he can trust. His journey, in his opinion, was worth traveling so that he can do the world more justice. If everyone lived by the ways of nature we could all be better beings than we are now.