Death Final Draft Essay Example
Death Final Draft Essay Example

Death Final Draft Essay Example

Available Only on StudyHippo
  • Pages: 3 (721 words)
  • Published: May 29, 2018
  • Type: Article
View Entire Sample
Text preview

In this very egotistical poem Walt Whitman literally celebrates himself through fifty-two Loris lines and shares his thoughts on numerous subjects; one Of which is death. Whitman was an intellectual man, very much in love with nature and had strong thoughts about it as he did with death and immortality. In section one of "Song to Myself" Whitman says, me as good belongs to you For every atom belonging to My tongue, every atom of my blood, formed from this soil, this air, Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same. (1. 3-8).

In these lines from section one Whitman is portraying a scene of immortality arising his view from the physical elements.

He has atoms that also belong to us as we do

...

to him, but even more it is transferred from our parents and theirs, so on and so forth, leading to a sense of immortality. Whitman believed that one was always living even after death; he don't not fear death nor deny it. As Whitman moves into section three he states, "I have heard what the talkers are talking, the talk of the beginning and the end, /But do not talk of the beginning or the end. " (1-3).

I found this opening very critical because Whitman discusses how most people occupy their minds with living and dying and how they fit all else in between. Its really time consuming to do so and I believe Whitman is saying not to think that way; that he rather live in the moment of things. As this section goes on Whitman explains why he does not

View entire sample
Join StudyHippo to see entire essay

talk of the beginning or end. He says, There was never any more inception than there is now, Nor any more youth or age than there is now, And will never be any more perfection than there is now, Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now. 4-8).

Basically these four lines sums it up and puts the cherry on the top. Whitman believes that everything in his life is the way it needs to be and there is truly nothing more to it. He just needs to simply enjoy it and not worry about anything else. The past doesn't matter and the future is unknown, but what he has is now and what he'll do in that now. Jumping to the end of the poem in section forty-nine Whitman mentions death one last time before closing.

And as to you Death, and you bitter hug of mortality, it/is idle to try to alarm me And as to you Life reckon you are the leavings of many 'deaths. (1-3-12). Whitman approaches death as a figure or person if one will, giving it life which is very ironic. He goes on to insult death and to stand up to it.

He says death is a titer hug of mortality, which is like a death squeeze literally. Then Whitman goes on to say it IS idle to try to alarm him; that Whitman is not afraid of death. In other words, he accepts death and the fact that we all die one day.

When approaching the last line, it gets a little confusing, but Whitman is saying his life is what is to show for

all his deaths; as if he has died several times throughout life. This also might be Whitman view on new life. He believes that people return to the ground and from there it sparks new life and Whitman sees no fear in that.

Lastly, Whitman is comparing death to that of a kind of birth. Death is a scary thing, but is it really. Maybe death is not something to fear and maybe it's even something to feel comfortable about.

Throughout Walt Whitman poem "Song to Myself' one is encountered with this topic several times and possibly persuaded that death is natural and we should accept it as Whitman does. Whitman view on death is accepting and he certainly does not fear it. He doesn't think about beginning or ending his life, he just enjoys the day by day living.

He embraces nature and accepts death and believes he lives on through it all. Not only that, but Whitman views death as continuing life and moving forward.

Get an explanation on any task
Get unstuck with the help of our AI assistant in seconds
New