In this section Whitman takes a break from his extensive catalogue which provides the opportunity for a deep dive into his philosophy.
In this section Whitman takes a break from his extensive catalogue which provides the opportunity for a deep dive into his philosophy.
17
These are really the thoughts of all men in all ages and lands,
they are not original with me,
If they are not yours as much as mine they are nothing, or
next to nothing,
If they are not the riddle and the untying of the riddle they are
nothing,
If they are not just as close as they are distant they are
nothing.
This is the grass that grows wherever the land is and the
water is,
This the common air that bathes the globe.
Section 17 comes off like a break from the extensive catalogue style of poetry in the sections prior. Whitman summarises “These are really the thoughts of all men in all ages and lands,
they are not original with me,”
Which is true in the context of the themes in Song of myself; particularly the theme of immortality and rebirth. This line reminds me of verses in the first chapter of the Ecclesiastical scriptures specifically verses 4 and 9 which read:
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
And so the thoughts in Song of Myself in past sections and the ones to come, are of all men in all ages and lands they are not original to Whitman.
I’d like to veer off and have a look at who and what inspired Whitman’s philosophy. At the forefront we have transcendentalism whose asserted founder is Ralph Waldo Emerson who I said previously appreciated Whitman's poetry but wasn’t particularly fond of his catalogue style. Emerson was an essayist, philosopher, slavery abolitionist, poet and pastor for a time and I’d like to discuss his poem Brahma. Brahma was written in 1856 and published in 1857. It is named after Brahman which describes the highest universal principle in Hindu philosophy. Here’s a little backstory on Emerson's philosophical transition from a Christian minister to transcendentalist; having suffered much loss through the successive deaths of his brothers, his wife's death had a significant effect on his beliefs. After her passing in 1831, Emerson, heavily bereaved, would visit her grave daily. A year later in 1832 he wrote in his journal that on one of his visits to her tomb he opened the coffin. In another journal entry in June 1832 Emerson wrote about his disagreements with the church’s practices writing "I have sometimes thought that, in order to be a good minister, it was necessary to leave the ministry. The profession is antiquated. In an altered age, we worship in the dead forms of our forefathers". His qualms with church officials included the administration of communion services and his apprehension with public prayer which led to his resignation that year. In accordance with his resignation he journalled "This mode of commemorating Christ is not suitable to me. That is reason enough why I should abandon it". Alfred Ferguson, a scholar on Emerson, wrote of his “revolt” as "Doffing the decent black of the pastor, he was free to choose the gown of the lecturer and teacher, of the thinker not confined within the limits of an institution or a tradition". And therein lies that self-wisdom, that pining for self-realization that marks transcendentalism.
I’m reading to you
Brahma
BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON
If the red slayer think he slays,
Or if the slain think he is slain,
They know not well the subtle ways
I keep, and pass, and turn again.
Far or forgot to me is near;
Shadow and sunlight are the same;
The vanished gods to me appear;
And one to me are shame and fame.
They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
I am the hymn the Brahmin sings.
The strong gods pine for my abode,
And pine in vain the sacred Seven;
But thou, meek lover of the good!
Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.
Paul Deussen was a German Indiologist of the early 20th century who gave an intricate explanation on the concept of Brahman in the Upanishads (which are vedic texts) for each of Deussen’s descriptions I will refer to a line or lines in Brahma that fulfills it. Deussen writes in his book Sixty Upanishads of the Veda that Brahman:
So I think from these descriptions we can get the “ultimateness” of Brahman and its “meta” state. Now to relate that to the poem; I think the fact that Brahma is the speaker in the poem reinforces its position or place as the cosmic principle, the principle of the world, the absolute and the primordial reality. Because as it is the narrator in the poem it is also conceptualized as the grand narrator or narrative in hindu philosophy. A remarkable aspect about this poem is the cultural collaboration Emerson makes with the western ballad form and eastern poetical material. The ballad form comprises quatrains and is characterised by simple language and storytelling wherein the focus is on a single episode. I argue that In Brahma we are presented with the skeleton that is the quatrains but the simple language and storytelling just aren't that perceivable and furthermore they’re probably incompatible with the concept of Brahman. The narration that takes form in the quatrains regards the omniscience and omnipresence of Brahma which is another twist on the ballad style because it differs from the single episode focus found in traditional ballads.
Continuing with Deussen’s description he writes that Brahman is:
We see this description exemplified in the following lines
So indeed Brahma is the "ultimate that is the cause of everything including all gods". Continuing Deussen writes Brahman is:
I’d like to concentrate on the description of Brahman being the "Self, sense of self of each human being” Because one can find a lot of mind reading in the poem which coincides with Brahman’s omniscience.
In these ways Brahma possesses the sense of self of each human being; as a slayer in one instance and as the slain in the other. Sensing shame and being a doubter in one instance and sensing fame and being the doubt in the other.
The concluding description of Brahman reads that it is:
In the last two lines of the poem Brahma says;
But thou, meek lover of the good!
Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.
This takes me back to the journal entry Emerson wrote when he resigned as pastor "This mode of commemorating Christ is not suitable to me. That is reason enough why I should abandon it"
Emerson never rejected a belief in the supernatural, it was an institution that he rejected, hence the mode of commemorating Christ was the problem and so he abandoned it and seemed to find solace in the grand concept of Brahma. He is perhaps the meek lover of the good striving for a connection with this high power and in doing so he turns his back on heaven,on the institution, on the tradition of his forefathers. It's no wonder he related so much with Whitman.
As stated on the Walt Whitman archive, Whitman had been exposed to Emerson's thinking as early as 1842, when Emerson lectured in New York, and it appears that Whitman heard at least his lecture on poetry. Whitman continued to show an interest in Emerson's thinking up to and after Emerson's famous and rather brave letter complimenting Whitman on the first edition of Leaves (1855). It's been speculated that as a result of Emerson's increasing reservations about Whitman's verse, Whitman began in his later years to downplay both his early knowledge of Emerson's thought and the degree of his influence.
Perhaps that’s why transcendentalists don’t really congregate; they’re too busy doing their own thing- but that’s just my guess.
Now let us finish the rest of section 17:
If they are not the riddle and the untying of the riddle they are
nothing,
If they are not just as close as they are distant they are
nothing.
Remember that “they” is all the thoughts, philosophies and observances. If these thoughts, philosophies and observances are not the riddle or the mystery of life as well as the untying of or resolution to the riddle they are nothing, If they are not just as close as they are distant they are nothing. I take that to refer to humankind’s search or strife for meaning and purpose through the thoughts and philosophies; If they are not just as close as they are distant the search, the strife is nothing.
The concluding lines read;
This is the grass that grows wherever the land is and the
water is,
This is the common air that bathes the globe.
I read in an analysis that these lines are an answer to a question in section 6 which reads
A child said What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;
How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than
He.
Then he gives some guesses as to what it might be, however in section 17 it seems as though he has an answer saying that
This is the grass that grows wherever the land is and the
water is,
The grass is the thoughts, philosophies and observances that grow wherever the land is and the water is, they are the common air that bathes the globe.