I Sing the Body Electric Term Papers

Walt Whitman’s I Sing the Body Electric from Leaves of Grass is a very long poem, divided into nine sections. Each section of this poem is centred on various observations and aspects of the human body and their importance as perceived through the devoted vision of the poet. In each line of the poem, Whitman manifests his commitment to the sanctity of our bodily homes, making a declaration in the very beginning that he is going to charge them full with the charge of the soul. It is obvious that the poet cannot see the distinction between body and soul – it seems obscured to Whitman. In the following eight sections of the poem Whitman “sing’s about the aspects of both male and female bodies. It is done with so many loving details that the discourse can be perceived as erotic. There is one section (section five), in which Whitman does, actually, describe in detail the bridegroom night of love. Still, it has nothing in common with pornographic poems because it is certainly not solely intended to arouse sexual desire in the readers. In fact, it is a part of a greater issue, meaningful to the poet, of the divinity of the body and an imploration not to debase it!