An Analysis Of Walt Whitman's Poem Do I Contradict Myself
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The poem itself was not difficult to remember, there were a couple words that would trip me up, but spots where specific words needed to be stressed were acquired from reading it aloud. This poem was more understandable after read aloud, when read to myself, there were spots where importance went easily undetected because it was hard to feel the poem when reading silently. For example, “Listener up there! What have you to confide to me?” When performing in class, I naturally let that sentence ride slowly, and inflected to distinguish a question and an exclamation. Though this assignment I learned no matter the situation, it is more effective to read a poem out loud than to yourself. When I started reading “51”, I felt like I resonated…show more content… Hypothetically, if a tricky subject appears during a conversation, one will go out their way to clarify and make sure the right message was communicated. As Whitman notices his contradiction, he questions “Do I contradict myself?” and assures himself “Very well then I contradict myself”. As he solidifies his position, there is a side note of “(I am large, I contain multitudes.), the last thing a standpoint should do is want to contradict itself. However, Whitman accepts and embraces that he contains contradictions, but under the pretense that he is large enough to contain contradictory things. Additionally being known as the “common man’s poet” is justified, because containing multitudes is a both figuratively and literally, a large disposition, as he does represent a large group by accepting the title “common man’s…show more content… I looked up “sidle” and “snuff” to make sure I fully understood the poem and could read it aloud like I was reading something I wrote. As Whitman states “I concentrate toward them that are nigh, I wait on the door-slab”, I noticed a shift from his realization of his contradiction to basically him saying never mind. I found that strange, especially after he mentions “containing multitudes”, he changes the topic so quickly, that speaks bipolar or uncertainty to me, but then I remember, Whitman accepts his contradictive nature. That power to govern his poetic decisions is beautiful, it is an establishment of dominance, and on the other hand, the noticing of a flaw. As a reader, I respect this power to use his words to make “51” transform from a poem to a representation