Nedeloiu Vlad Ștefan 1

Nedeloiu Vlad Ștefan Group 12 Swedish Major

Professor: Lect. Dr. Dragoș Manea

19th Century American Literature

6 June 2023

Human Being As The Centre of The Universe. Individuality as Unity in Whitman’s “Song of

Myself” (1892-version)

The purpose of this essay is to highlight the connections between people and everything in the

universe: nature, objects and also other people. By this, I want to demonstrate that human being

becomes the center of the universe and no matter how individual he or she wants to seem, he or

she is in fact united with the whole universe, even with other people. In the first part of my essay

I will refer to the connection between all human beings, namely that there is the same path of life

with ups and downs and death in the end. In the second part of my essay I will refer to the

connection between the human being and the other elements of the universe, namely objects and

nature. In conversation with Roxana Elena Oltean and Abdullah Hussein Kurraz I will highlight

some concepts, namely the universalized self through failure and other features which refers to

the connection between all human beings and the concept of the union of people with objects and

with nature.

First of all, Whitman draws attention to the similarity and connection between all people on

Earth. This is observed from the first verses of the poem, these being relevant for what I want to

demonstrate by the fact that it highlights the connection of the human being with an element of
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the universe, namely other human beings, this being a first step to become the center of the

universe,:

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself/And what I assume you shall assume/For every atom

belonging to me as good belongs to you” (Whitman 64). These verses demonstrate that all

human beings are the same no matter how individual they may seem because they were created

the same, have the same blood, the same substances in the body and the same ability to think,

highlighted by the verse: “And what I assume you shall assume” (Whitman 64). In other words,

individuality is unity, a person is connected with other people or as Roxana Elena Oltean says:

“There is a connection between “I” and “you”. “Self- celebration is representative for an

imagined collective” (Oltean 232). As I said before, this is the first step by which man can

become the center of the universe, highlighting the concept of the universalized self.

However, the fact that they were created in the same way is not the only reason for the

connection between human beings, but also the fact that they have the same life cycle, with

approximately the same experiences, with ups and downs. That is why the concept of experience

and that of failure, being part of the concept of universalized self which are expressed in the

following quotes are relevant to the connection of the human being with other human beings that

opens a way to become the center of the universe: ”Hands I have taken, face I have kissed,

mortal I have ever touched, it shall be you” (Whitman 95); “The pleasures of heaven are with me

and the pains of hell are with me” (Whitman 89). Here it is shown that all people go through the

same life experiences sooner or later, either good or bad, proving once again that individuality is

unity and that the universe has a center. This is said also by Roxana Elena Oltean, who said that

“the concept of experience is interpreted as being collective, all human beings having a sensory
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relationship” (Oltean, 234), referring to the fact that all human beings feel the same things sooner

or later.

But, as I said before, failure is also a part of the experience, and this is experienced by all people,

as Whitman says in the following line which is relevant for what I want to demonstrate because

it proves once again that the human being is about to become the center of the universe through

connection with other human beings, that is, an important element in the universe: "Vivas to

those who have fail’d" (Whitman 85). This line highlights the fact that all people have a failure

in life and then have the desire to succeed. Even if the poet uses the pronoun “those”, he is

actually trying to show again that individuality is unity by referring to all people. In addition to

this, the word “vivas” “can be an urge of the poet to other people to keep trying new things”

(Oltean 249), in other words to get out of their comfort zone, because a failure is a thing for all

people. This is also a proof of the connection of the human being with other human beings and

the concept of failure is used in a positive sense here.

However, not only the connection with other human beings is important for the human being to

become the center of the universe, but also the connection with other elements in the universe

such as objects, even if with them it cannot have a connection as deep as the one you have with

living organisms, such as humans or living things in nature. The following lines are relevant to

what I want to demonstrate because they highlight the poet's deep connection with objects, a

connection that every human being should have in order to be the center of the universe: “Houses

and rooms are full of perfumes, the shelves are crowded with perfumes/ I breathe the fragrance

myself and know it and like it” (Whitman 64;65). Here is shown the poet's “sensory connection

with objects” (Oltean 232) such as the house, the shelves through their scents, which he

compares with perfumes. Through this connection, the human being becomes the center of the
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universe, a connection that must be deep, but not very deep because it can create problems in

connection with the other elements of the universe, something highlighted by the following

verse, which is relevant to what I want to I demonstrate because it refers to a possible obstacle

that is in the way of transforming the human being into the center of the universe: “The

distillation would intoxicate me also, but I shall not let it” (Whitman 65). In addition to this, in

an abstract sense the word “perfume” in the line: “Houses and rooms are full of perfumes, the

shelves are crowded with perfumes” (Whitman 64) “could represent other human individual

selves” (Kurraz 6), proving once again that the human being is united with the universe no

matter how individual he or she may seem.

But it must not be forgotten an important element with which human being must create a

connection to be the center of the universe, namely nature. The following lines are relevant to

what I want to demonstrate because it shows us this, bringing the human being closer to

becoming the center of the universe:

“I loafe and invite my soul,

I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.

My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this air,

Hoping to cease not till death” (Whitman 64). Here is shown the deep connection of the human

being with nature, or as Abdullah Hussein Kurraz says: ”the connection between the inner self

and the outer world”(Kurraz 16). Nature is the last element in the universe with which it must

form a connection to be the centre of the universe, a connection that should be eternal, as it is

highlighted by the verse:” Hoping to cease not till death” (Whitman 64). Even if the poet uses the

pronoun I, he is in fact referring to all human beings, proving once again that individuality is

unity, that human beings are united with the universe no matter how individual they may seem.
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To sum up, through the evidence that has been mentioned we have shown the connections of the

human being with all the elements in the universe: other human beings, objects, nature and we

have shown that the human being no matter how individual he wants to look is actually united

with all the elements of the universe, in other words the center of the universe.

Works Cited:

Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself”.Leaves of Grass. 2015. edited by Neil Azevedo, A Reader’s

Library Edition ed., vol. 9, Omaha, William Ralph Press, pp. 64–65; 85;89;95,

www.self.gutenberg.org/wplbn0003468562-leaves-of-grass--1892-deathbed-edition-volume-9-

the-reader-s-library-by-.

Oltean, Roxana Elena. ''Chapter 6. Listener Up There! Walt Whitman's Art of Mentoring in

Leaves of Grass C (1891-1892) ''. Thou Born America. Manifestations of Leadership and Protest

in Nineteenth-Century American Literature. Editura Universității din București, 2015, pp. 232,

234, 249.

Kurraz, Abdullah Hussein. “Revisiting Walt Whitman’s "Song of Myself ": The Poetics of

Human Self and Identity.” Journal of An-Najah National University, vol. 29, 2015, p.

6;16. ResearchGate,

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283346747_Revisiting_Walt_Whitman's_Song_of_My

self_The_Poetics_of_Human_Self_and_Identity
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