Section+17

Walt Whitman expresses the interconnectedness of all men in Song of Myself Section 17. The speaker calls everything he has said thus far as “really the thoughts of all men in all ages and lands, they are not original with me,” (355), displaying how he believes that all men are connected; that we are part of something much greater and that the over soul connects us all.

Referring to his ideas, Whitman uses parallelism when repeating three times “if they are not,” valued by the public, then “they are nothing” (356-58). Again, he stresses how if one individual’s ideas are not valued or adhered to by the greater collection, then they are worthless. Strangely, the individual’s beliefs and ideas play a role in the greater interconnectedness all beings share, asserting that equality is the same for all people.

Whitman expresses that thoughts must be “just as close as they are distant,” (358), which is a paradox. A thought cannot be nearby and yet far away at the same time. He stresses how thoughts are both important and meant to be valued, yet acknowledges the nature of thoughts as fleeting and elusive. Using the word “riddle”, the speaker illustrates that understanding thoughts are not only hearing them, but taking them apart and looking deeply into them like a riddle (349).

The repetition of the word “This” in the beginning of the each line in the last stanza illustrates the closeness and availability of nature. The last line is set apart from the rest of the stanza to add emphasis. This is the only line in the section that refers to nature. By referencing grass, the author is stressing the importance of being a part of nature and by stating that it can be found “wherever the land is and the water is” shows that nature and its goodness can be found everywhere. By concluding that nature is “the common air that bathes the globe”, the speaker stresses nature's availability and necessity to all people through the words "common air". The word "common" represents equality and the reference to air addresses necessity because all people need air to survive.

In the end, the speaker says the thoughts are “the common air that bathes the globe,” (360). The air can be analogized to the over soul, which acts as a force of goodness in the world and everywhere. The air can never be absent, it is always existing but invisible, exactly like the over soul. Air sustains life, which all beings breathe in order to survive, alluding to the goodness of nature. Just as air sustains life and connects all beings, the over soul behaves as a thread of goodness connecting each individual. Also, the word-choice of “common” (360) suggests that all beings are equal because air is shared by all beings, without special preference for the ailing or the wealthy.

Whitman, Walt. Song of Myself. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. Shorter 6th ed. New York: Norton, 2003. 1003-47.