The Thrust of Nature: An Examination of Walt Whitman's Poetic Realm

Walt Whitman's "Spontaneous Me" (Norton 2151-2152) crystallizes his attempt to create poems that appear natural, impulsive and untamed. The natural effect is a carefully crafted technique that appears throughout his writing, hinting at a philosophy of life while seeming to simply offer observation. As in "Song of Myself," Whitman weaves together carefully chosen images to create the illusion of untamed totality. What is important about his complete vision is that it seems somehow essential, as …

…his cultural world. We are reminded in the final lines that the poem is left behind, extracted from him in a procreative manner. Unlike the secretive and frustrated masturbation practiced behind closed doors, the poem is a public outpouring of interiority. It is an injection of Whitman into the world at large, the world of human thought. In its subtle complexity and natural flow, it is entirely successful in both satisfying and fertilizing our minds.