Song and Self in Walt Whitman's Poetry

Walt Whitman poems are full of a lot of detail and passion. The important factor that he employs in his writings is the emphasis on self. One way he uses to define self and illustrate his importance is through song.

I think this idea of song can mean many things. For me this is especially important because I am heavily interested in music and lyrics and everything that goes along with those things. However, I think that Whitman’s point in these poems is that song does not have to just be music or lyrics. Song is the thing that lives inside of you that comes out in whatever way you individually show it. That is why this idea of Song is so important to your true Self. It helps decide your character and who you are.

I think Whitman’s poem “ When Lilacs Last in the Door-Yard Bloom’d” has a few lines that are a perfect example of this. The lines are as follows:

In the swamp, in secluded recesses,
A shy and hidden bird is warbling a song.
Solitary, the thrush, 20
The hermit, withdrawn to himself, avoiding the settlements,
Sings by himself a song.
Song of the bleeding throat!
Death’s outlet song of life—(for well, dear brother, I know
If thou wast not gifted to sing, thou would’st surely die.) (When Lilacs)

I think these lines are beautiful and do a great job of describing just exactly what I mean by the importance of Song to Self and how closely they are related. No matter if you are a hidden bird or a solitary hermit, everybody has a song that they sing. And as stated in the last line, “If thou wast not gifted to sing, thou would’st surely die,” you cannot live without your own song to sing. It is simply necessary to life to have some sort of expression for yourself that comes forth from a song.
Songs are expressions of the soul. I am the type of person that will walk around singing songs all day. I do not have a great singing voice, but that does not stop me because singing forth songs is part of my true Self. My true Self is the kind that believes in spreading joy and happiness by keeping a smile on your face and a song in your heart at all times. I think Walt Whitman must have been exactly that type of man as well.

“The Singer in the Prison” is get another one of Whitman’s works that heavily displays the idea of song. In the poem there is a prisoner stuck in jail who is weeping and wailing about the woes of being stuck. The following is an excerpt:

O sight of shame, and pain, and dole!
O fearful thought—a convict Soul!
RANG the refrain along the hall, the prison,
Rose to the roof, the vaults of heaven above,
Pouring in floods of melody, in tones so pensive, sweet and strong, the like whereof
was never heard,
Reaching the far-off sentry, and the armed guards, who ceas’d their pacing,
Making the hearer’s pulses stop for extasy and awe (The Singer).

This excerpt shows exactly how moving a song that comes from a person’s soul can be. It reflects their true Self. Although the person is feeling sorry for themselves through their song, they nevertheless chose a beautiful way to express themselves. While they could be screaming or shouting or crying, instead they have chosen to sing what it is in their heart, and I happen to believe that this shows their true Self to be a lot more beautiful than one might assume based upon the place that they found themselves stuck in.

As proven above, Song is an incredible factor that plays into a person’s true Self. It is the song in their heart’s and one might say it is the music of their soul. Hearing a person’s Song is like hearing who they really are.


Selected Bibliography
Whitman, Walt. “The Singer in the Prison.” Leaves of Grass: 1900.
Whitman, Walt. “When Lilacs Last in the Door-Yard Bloom’d.” Leaves of Grass: 1900.