Reading God directly!
Image via WikipediaWHITMAN AND THE DIVINE SOUL OF MAN
SEARCHING FOR WHOLENESS, OR DIVINITY
The passage “Do I contradict myself? / Very well, then, I contradict myself. / I am large, I contain multitudes.”, from section 51 of “Song of Myself”, is a true picture of Whitman and the Leaves. For the author as well as the book contain multitudes. “Multitudes” means a great number of things or people, the masses, the populace, hosts, legions, armies, or even multiple points of view, as in the expression “a multitude of reasons”. A reader may be even puzzled by the Leaves for many years, feeling confused by not comprehending its messages, and considering himself unintelligent for not being able to capture the totality of the work or to grasp its open or hidden meanings.
WHAT WHITMAN THOUGHT OF DEATH AND LIFE
A NOTE ON DEATH AND LIFE IN LEAVES OF GRASS
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Gregory Nagy, in chapter 4 of Pindar’s Homer, tells about death and rebirth in Greek myths and rituals. He says that death and life are always linked, one leads to the other, successfully. Death of the past and rebirth of the present. This is in tune with what Whitman does in his poetry, he parallels death and life. He is never afraid of death, as he sings in the “Death Carol”, section 16 of “When Lilacs…”. He repeats this over and over, as if to make his readers understand that one can only lead a true life, or live a life to its fullest if one overcomes his fear of dying, for the fear of death indicates a corresponding fear of life.
