Section+31

In Section 31 of //Song of Myself// the speaker uses lists to strengthen his argument and draw the reader's attention in. The first stanza focuses on the theme that even the smallest things, particularly from nature, can make a huge impact on the world, which relates to another common theme of //Song of Myself//: the importance of the individual. In the first stanza, the speaker starts lines 661-68 with the word "And". This use of listing helps emphasize his point and also draws the reader into the argument. When the speaker says, "And the tree-toad is a chef-d'oeuvre for the highest" (663), he is comparing something small from nature to something in human society. By saying that a seemingly insignificant and tiny creature of nature can be considered a delicasy to even the highest of people, he is hinting that even tiny things of nature can be equally or more important than something of mankind. This idea is also supported when the speaker says, "And the running blackberry would adorn the parlors of heaven" (664). Again, he is comparing an apparently insignificant peice of nature to the most sacred place of religion. He thinks that even a tiny berry could decorate heaven, showing the magor significance of nature to humanity, as well as the insignificance of religion. The idea that nature is so important, even more so than anything man-made,is not only a major transcendental belief, but also one of the key themes //of// //Song of Myself//.

Also, in the third stanza of Section 31, another list is used. This list begins with the words, "In vain," on every line of the stanza. This particular list is used to emphasize that nature's attempts at warding off the corruption of society are generally unsuccessful. The line where this is most evident is 672 where the speaker states, "In vain the plutonic rocks send their old heat against my approach." The word "my" in this instance does not refer to the speaker himself but to society as a whole, as one.

At one point in this section, the speaker's closeness with nature is evident and is a result of the distance between himself and society. The speaker says that he has "distanced what is behind" him "for good reasons" and can "call anything close again, when I desire it" (669-670). The good reasons for distancing himself from society have to do with the influence of society and how it corrupts the people within the community. By straying from society, the speaker allows his bond with nature to strengthen.

The speaker's theme is his deep connection with nature. Even though in Section 20, the speaker says he "must get what the writings mean", meaning that he wants to understand nature, he says to his audience that he is connected to nature (405). In section 31, the speaker says that he "incorporates gneiss, coal, long-threaded moss, fruits, grains, esculent roots..."(670). When saying that he is connected to these different objects in nature, like stone, the speaker understands himself and his connection to nature. When the speaker uses the list that begins with "In vain...", the speaker describes nature hiding from him. (674-83). However, in the end, the speaker says, "I follow quickly, I ascend to the nest in the fissure of the cliff" (683). The speaker is curious to be "more" connected to nature, which is why he follows it quickly.