10/19- Blog #5

"I celebrate myself, and sing myself,

And what I assume you shall assume,

For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you"

1) I believe the poem reflects a lot about Whitman, but I think it gives off two distinct views. First, it seems like he is saying he makes his own identity, and whatever he thinks of himself, others will think the same. On the contrary, he then states that he does not belong to himself. He belongs to you and everyone else, because we are all each other.

2)Later in the poem, Whitman writes about being born on this soil. I think he is trying to say that everything he is is from America. Therefore, every man is only made up of what soil they were born from, and that is why we are all the same if we grew up on the same soil.

3) This poem teaches us that we are all equal. There is no difference between two men, other than where they grew up. Our identities are the same.

4) Man is the environment. That is the direct relationship shown in this poem, and it is easy to see that. It is what Whitman believes, and very well could be true, but it is hard to prove.