Symbolism of Grass in Walt Whitman's Song of Myself
This paper analyzes the symbolism of grass in Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself," the landmark poem from his lifelong collection Leaves of Grass. The paper argues that grass functions as a multivalent symbol — simultaneously representing the democratic commonality of the American spirit, the mystery of life and nature, friendship, the soul, and God. Drawing on key passages, including the child's query "What is the grass?" and Whitman's famous declaration that "a leaf of grass is no less than the journey work of the stars," the analysis shows how Whitman's grass is both tangible and elusive, rooting his transcendentalist vision in a distinctly American poetic idiom.
- Introduction: Whitman's Democratic Vision: Whitman's poem as answer to Emerson's challenge
- The Grass as Symbol of the Common Man: Grass representing America's common democratic spirit
- The Child's Question and the Elusiveness of Meaning: Child's query exposes grass symbol's ambiguity
- Grass as Universal Symbol: Life, Soul, and God: Grass accumulates meanings: life, soul, God
- Conclusion: Individuality and Universality: Whitman bridges American originality and classical universalism
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What makes this paper effective
- It anchors its argument in close textual analysis, citing line and section numbers directly from the poem to support each interpretive claim.
- It situates Whitman within a broader intellectual context — connecting him to Emerson's challenge to American poetry, Wordsworth's Romantic philosophy, Eastern philosophy (samsara), and Aristotelian universals — without losing focus on the primary text.
- It embraces the poem's own ambiguity as a feature rather than a flaw, arguing that the grass symbol's elusiveness is itself the point.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective use of symbolic interpretation as an analytical method. Rather than cataloguing every reference to grass, the writer traces how a single recurring image accumulates layered meanings across the poem — a technique well-suited to Romantic and Transcendentalist texts that deliberately resist singular readings.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens by contextualizing Whitman within the tradition of American poetry and introduces the grass motif. It then moves through specific passages in roughly sequential order — from the opening stanzas to Section 6's child query to Section 31's cosmic declaration — before concluding with a synthesis that places Whitman between American originality and classical universalism. The structure mirrors the poem's own movement from the particular to the universal.
Introduction: Whitman's Democratic Vision
Walt Whitman's Song of Myself is the answer to Ralph Waldo Emerson's challenge that American poetry define itself according to its own terms. "Song of Myself" — as the title implies — does exactly that: it is both revolutionary in design and evocative in its use of imagery. Appearing in Whitman's lifelong work of revision Leaves of Grass, "Song of Myself" uses the image of grass to define Whitman's democratically American soul — and at the same time struggles to identify the exact significance of each blade of grass. This paper analyzes the symbolism of grass in "Song of Myself" and shows why it takes on a significance that is at once tangible and elusive.
The very first stanza tells us exactly what kind of poem "Song of Myself" is — it is an exultation of Self: "I celebrate myself, and sing myself" (1.1). It is also a poem of community — and the bonds of community — as dictated by Whitman's Self: "What I assume you shall assume, / For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you" (1.2–3). The reflections that Whitman presents are his own — free from "creeds and schools" (1.10) and "without check with original energy" (1.13). It is on Whitman's watch, then, that the soul of America will be sung: "I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass" (1.5). And it is the spear of summer grass that becomes the object of his ruminations.
The Grass as Symbol of the Common Man
The grass is a symbol of all that is common in the common man of America — it is the new man who has grown up out of the soil of a disparate ancestry, now rooted in the New World. Whitman's Leaves of Grass consistently returns to this democratizing impulse, and "Song of Myself" is its fullest expression. Whitman invites us to join him as he reflects: "Loafe with me on the grass" (5.3). His reflections are then put into perspective by the query of a child who asks, "What is the grass?" (6.1). Whitman becomes the spokesman of the American soul when he states, "How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he" (6.2). The American soul is, in this moment, newborn — without, so it seems, definition.
The Child's Question and the Elusiveness of Meaning
Whitman guesses that grass might be the symbol of his own disposition — green and growing, youthful and alive. Or it might be "the handkerchief of the Lord, / A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt, / … that we may see and remark, and say Whose?" (6.4–6). Or it may be that the grass is a symbol of the child — just as the child, according to Wordsworth, is father of the man, so too is the grass father of us all. In this reading, we are all part of the same life cycle — samsara, as Eastern philosophy would call it. Whitman refuses to settle on a single answer, and in doing so makes the grass's symbolic richness central to the poem's meaning.
Conclusion: Individuality and Universality
Whitman's "Song of Myself" is a song not just of individuality — but of universality. In its own way, Whitman defines the American spirit according to new terms and new poetic modes; but in another way, Whitman reaches back to antiquity — to the universals and transcendentals of Aristotelian philosophy — of ancient man, who defined himself by applying his reason to the world around him, and taking the time to observe the workings of nature and the voice of his soul.
Works Cited
Whitman, Walt. "Song of Myself." Leaves of Grass. Web. 14 Aug. 2011.
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