Favorite lines from "Song of Myself"

“This minute that comes to me over the past decillions,

There is no better than it or now.”

-(Song of Myself, section 22, line 38-39)

It is difficult to choose two favorite lines from “Song of Myself” but these two lines speak to me because it is something that I strive to recognize in life as well. The runner up was, “I exist as I am, that is enough” (Song of Myself, section 20, line 36) which also echoes the idea of presentness. Living in the present moment is too achieve freedom. After all, this is all we have, the past is gone, the future is uncertain. This is a very Buddhist belief and it strikes me that Whitman entwines these beliefs with a very biblical and Jesus-like tone throughout “Song of Myself.” One might think that the two are opposing.

He begins with, “And what I assume you shall assume,” (Song of Myself, section 1, line 2). The structure, repetition and instructional quality make this line seem like it came straight out of the Bible. The same could be said for section 21, beginning, “I am the poet of the Body.” The rhythm, word choice and repetition in this section really mirrors biblical quotations from Jesus. There are a lot of vocative verbs beginning lines in the poem. For example, “Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the/ origin of all poems, (Song of Myself, section 2, line 33-34). Also, the whole 1^st stanza of section 19 seems to espouse Christian like goodwill or Jesus-like humbleness and humility toward those who are typically shunned or looked at in a negative light.

The the poet as a spiritual teacher straddling the lines of Christianity and Buddhism could be looked at as enlightened or as hypocrisy. It certainly strikes an interesting balance. Whitman asks “Why should I pray” (Song of Myself, section 20, line 12). That would be blasphemy at the time. Here he is again stirring things up, because he questions something that most people would say should just be accepted. I believe he is more spiritual by grappling with these ideas.

The intertwining of Judeo-Christian and Buddhist ideals in this poem is fascinating to me and I'd like to explore it further. Ruminating on this subject only raises further questions for me:

-Is the tone intentional or a by-product of being raised in a Judeo-Christian society?

-Does the Jesus-like sentiment point to a grandiose sense of himself? Or is it unifying because it is a manner of speaking that people would be very familiar with at the time; that might actually be comforting?