Divinity, Sexuality and the Self

Through his poetry, Whitman's "Song of Myself" makes the soul sensual and
makes divine the flesh. In Whitman's time, the dichotomy between the soul
and the body had been clearly defined by centuries of Western philosophy and
theology. Today, the goodness of the soul and the badness of the flesh
still remain a significant notion in contemporary thought. Even Whitman's
literary predecessor, Emerson, chose to distinctly differentiate the soul
from all nature. Whitman, however, chooses to reevaluate that relationship.
His exploration of human sensuality, particularly human sexuality, is the
tool with which he integrates the spirit with the flesh.

Key to this integration is Whitman's notion of the ability of the sexual
self to define itself. This self-definition is derived from the strongly
independent autonomy with which his sexuality speaks in the poem. Much of
the "Song of Myself" consists of a cacophony of Whitman's different......

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Title: Whitman: 'Song Of Myself'
Approximate Word Count: 1159
Approximate Pages: 5 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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