Walt Whitman, "One's Self I Sing" (1867)

Text

One's-self I sing, a simple separate person,
Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse.

Of physiology from top to toe I sing,
Not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I

say the Form complete is worthier far,

The Female equally with the Male I sing.

Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power,
Cheerful, for freest action form'd under the laws divine,
The Modern Man I sing.

Critical Edition

Walt Whitman. "One’s Self I Sing [1867]." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Vol. B. Fifth Edition. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006. 2990.

Further Reading

• Wilson, Rob. "Linguistic Scapegoating: The Pure and Impure of American Poetry," pp. 169-184. Jernudd, Björn H. (ed.) and Shapiro, Michael J. (ed.). The Politics of Language Purism. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1989.

External Links

• Representative Poetry Online at University of Toronto