Walt Whitman’s poem, “One’s-Self I Sing” embodies the Good Gray Poet’s obsession of being a “separate person” as well as “en-Masse.” What is unique about this poem is its brevity. Whitman is most celebrated as creating the American epic, Leaves of Grass; he is seen here constricting his verse and his ideas. The concise poem starts with a line short in length, full of alliteration, and is almost suited to be in a Longfellow sonnet. However, the poem continues and the poet breaks the style of the times. The first stanza, a couplet, relays to the reader his main idea and also reverses the technical form of poetry that would more typically end with a couplet.
With the second stanza, Whitman again makes a modern turn; he utilizes what his predecessors would deem “non-poetic” language such as the terms “physiology” and “physiognomy.” He is celebrating the beauty in the natural affairs of human beings. These words give the speaker a voice that is knowledgeable of ancient sciences, and also his noting that both, appearance and intelligence are not “worthy for the Muse” alludes to his understanding of past poetry. The speaker proves his ethos and does so while using a sprawling line and scientific jargon. This poem is a juxtaposition of modern form and ideas against highfalutin ideas that the poet saw as demeaning of the power within all individuals.
The scientific speak is cleared in the third and final stanza where Whitman truly reveals his poetic talent. The seventh line of the poem uses alliteration to provide the reader with a sense of empowerment in life during a time where central ordering principles were being constantly unhinged. Whitman is describing the modern man and does so with the masterful assonance in line eight, “Cheerful for freest action.” This line allots the reader freedom in an ornamental fashion, as well as, show the fluid movement of the author. Whitman moved through this short poem as the master of verse he was. The first stanza danced with the contemporary verse he aimed to replace, the second stanza furthered his passion for equality and his notion separate-togetherness, and finally the third stanza wraps the poem up by empowering the reader and flourishing his skill.
Great reading of this poem. We didn’t discuss this as much as we might have in class, but this poem was written as one of his “inscription” poems written after a number of editions of Leaves of Grass to help prepare the reader for what was to come. In that sense, the way this poem seems to prepare us for so many of the themes to come–singing of physiology and physiognomy, the emphasis on the reader joining in on the process, and broad democratic scope from one to many–is very fitting given its position within the eventual “deathbed” edition of LG. I like the careful formal attention you offer at the front–the reading of the rhythms and the role of the couplet. Whitman was himself steeped in contemporary verse as well as the classics–work he both reacted strongly against, but work whose rhythms he often couldn’t help but lightly mimic.