![]() ![]() Whitman ponders death and immortality all throughout “Song of Myself” with lines such as: At the beginning of “Song of Myself”, Whitman asks what becomes of dead men, women, and children and answers his own question with, “They are alive and well somewhere, The smallest sprout shows there is really no death, And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it…” (194). From what I can gather, Whitman seems to cherish his own spirituality instead of a certain religion and acknowledges the afterlife in terms of being reborn. More than once, Whitman considers and lists different religions and entwines them as one in lines such as, “Buying drafts of Osiris, Isis, Belus, Brahma, Buddha, In my portfolio placing Manito loose, Allah on a leaf, the crucifix engraved…Taking them all for what they are worth and not a cent more” (233). Though Whitman seems to knock the concept of organized religion in “Song of Myself”, I noticed an apparent theme of afterlife, most notably the idea of being born again, or reincarnation. ![]() “And as to you Life I reckon you are the leavings of many deaths, (No doubt I have died myself ten thousand times before)” (245) ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |