Walt Whitman

Reading selection:

 “Preface to the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass” (complete)

 “Song of Myself” (you must give the whole poem a general reading and pay special
attention to the selection below, which are the lines that will be specifically referred to in
class)

1: complete
2: complete
3: complete
4: complete
5: complete
6: lines 99-110 and 125-130
7: lines 131-138 and 147
8: lines 154-166
11: complete
14: line 252
15: lines 327-329
16: lines 330-332 and 349-351
17: complete
20: lines 389-391, 401, 403, 406, 409, 413
21: lines 422-427
22: lines 448-453, 459-460, 463
24: lines 497-526
30: line 648
31: complete
33: 863
38: 974-975
44: 1134-1139, 1148
48: lines 1281-1288
51: complete
52: complete

Apart from the basic approach (check general information about author, book and the context
of production, work out the meaning of what is said, look up new words, make connections
between lines, stanzas and sections, set who is speaking and to whom, etc), the analysis will be
focused on:
-the lyrical I (the construction of the I/Myself in the poem) and the addressee
-Whitman as a democratic poet
-the concept of Man
-the connection between Emerson’s and Whitman’s ideas
-the collocation in the title (leaf/grass)
-formal aspects: blank verse, poetic devices, innovations (what makes Whitman sound modern),
the epic poem
-the connection between the construction of the “I” and the construction of the poem
-any other aspect or question that you consider pertinent

Bibliography

 Whitman, Walt (*1855+ 1985). “Preface to the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass” and “Song
of Myself”. In: McMichael, George (ed) (1985). Concise Anthology of American Literature.
New York: MacMillan, pp. 900-913 y 914-959.

 Larson, Kerry (2006). “Song of Myself” In: Kummings, Donald (ed.) (2006). A Companion to
Walt Whitman. USA, UK and Australia: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 471-483.

 You can also visit the Whitman archive, where you can find information about the author
and the different editions of Leaves of Grass: http://www.whitmanarchive.org