GyanpithIn this free-verse extract from "Song of Myself", Walt Whitman says he could live with animals, who are calm, contented and free from the guilt, greed and false pride of humans. This page gives complete answers to every question on the poem.
Key points
- The poet admires animals because they are "placid and self-contain'd".
- Animals do not complain, feel guilt, argue about duty to God or crave possessions.
- Humans are shown as dissatisfied, greedy and bound by false respectability.
- The "tokens" are the simple, natural qualities humans once had and have since lost.
- The poem is written in free verse, with no fixed rhyme or metre, and uses repetition of "They do not" and "Not one".
Thinking about the Poem
1. Notice the use of the word 'turn' in the first line, "I think I could turn and live with animals…". What is the poet turning from?
The poet is turning away from human beings and their way of life. He finds human society complicated, false and unhappy, full of complaints, guilt, greed and empty show. Tired of this, he would like to turn his back on civilised human company and live instead with animals, who are "so placid and self-contain'd", calm and at peace with themselves.
2. Mention three things that humans do and animals don't.
(a) Humans "sweat and whine" about their condition, that is, they keep complaining about their lot in life.
(b) Humans "lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins", troubled by guilt.
(c) Humans are "demented with the mania of owning things"; they are greedy for possessions and never satisfied.
Other things humans do: they argue about their duty to God, kneel before other people or ancestors, and try to appear respectable.
3. Do humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago? Discuss this in groups.
Yes, in many ways humans do kneel to people who lived thousands of years ago. They worship ancestors, saints and ancient kings, and they follow old customs and beliefs blindly, simply because they have been handed down. Many people also bow before the powerful and rich of their own time. Whitman means that humans have lost their independence of mind and live by rules made by others. Animals, by contrast, bow to no one; "Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago."
In a group discussion, some may point out that respecting elders and our heritage is good. The difference is between respect, which is healthy, and blind submission, which Whitman criticises.
4. What are the 'tokens' that the poet says he may have dropped long ago, and which the animals have kept for him? Discuss this in class. (Hint: Whitman belongs to the Romantic tradition that includes Rousseau and Wordsworth, which holds that civilisation has made humans false to their own true nature. What could be the basic aspects of our nature as living beings that humans choose to ignore or deny?)
The "tokens" are the good, natural qualities that human beings once shared with animals: innocence, simplicity, contentment, honesty, calmness, freedom from greed and guilt, and a sense of being at home in nature. Whitman asks, "Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?" He wonders whether humans, at an early stage of their history, carelessly dropped these qualities as they became civilised. Animals have kept them "plainly in their possession", and so they remind the poet of his own true self.
As a Romantic poet, like Rousseau and Wordsworth, Whitman believes that civilisation has made humans false to their true nature. The basic aspects of our nature that humans ignore or deny include our need for a simple life close to nature, our natural feelings and instincts, our kinship with other living beings, and the ability to be happy with what we have instead of always wanting more.