Whitman's "Song of Myself" is his grand poem and it is in its way, an American epic. Beginning in medias res--in the middle of the poet's life--it loosely follows a quest pattern. "Missing me one place search another," he tells his reader, "I stop somewhere waiting for you." In its catalogues of American life and its constant search for the boundaries of the self "Song of Myself" has much in common with classical epic. This epic sense of purpose, though, is coupled with an almost Keatsian valorization of repose and passive perception. Since for Whitman the birthplace of poetry is in the self, the best way to learn about poetry is to relax and watch the workings of one's own mind.
While "Song of Myself" is crammed with significant detail, there are three key episodes that must be examined. The first of these is found in the sixth section of the poem. A child asks the narrator "What is the grass?" and the narrator is forced to explore his own use of symbolism and his inability to......

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Title: Walt Whitman Song Of Myself
Approximate Word Count: 310
Approximate Pages: 2 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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1. Walt Whitman Song Of Myself
   

   walt whitman Song of Myself. Whitman's "Song of Myself" is his grand poem
   and it is in its way, an American epic. Beginning in medias ... ...

2. Walt Whitman - Song Of Myself
   

   Walt Whitman - Song Of Myself. Walt Whitman has neither related his biography
   nor glorified himself in the poem as the title suggests. ... ...

3. Walt Whitman
   

   ... that were just as inconclusive as "Song of Myself ... They were all written to express
   Whitman's belief of ... Walt Whitman produced moral elevation in the people who ... ...

4. Whitman: 'Song Of Myself'
   

   ... When taken into consideration with his later declaration, "Walt Whitman, a kosmos ...
   the cycle of the theme of union that Whitman imbues "Song of Myself ... ...

5. Song To Myself
   

   ... Included in the 1855 publication of Leaves of Grass, "Song of Myself", was among ...
   bulk, but also by the brilliant display of Walt Whitman's original thought ... ...