Read “Song of Myself” in Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. What deeper meaning, or symbolism, does the grass have in this section?

In this section, the grass has a deeper meaning of a life cycle; the symbolism proposed by the author under the guise of grass covers the path from birth to death.

In lines 1-3, the author repeats the personal pronouns “Myself” and “I”, which establish him as an individual. He positions himself as a particle of something bigger that establishes him as a representative for all others.

Whitman’s line length and word arrangement in lines 6 and 7 help readers interpret their meaning by increasing the size. Longer lines with word arrangement in the form of an enumeration allow for catching a strong connection between the transition to a new branch of thought.

The last line suggests that Whitman’s poetic creed, or system of belief, is setting aside prior learning to express what is natural.

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