Song of Myself Walt Whitman was an American poet from Long Island. All through his life this prolific writer was considered an example of spiritual value and moderation. His most famous collection, "Leaves of Grass", has been regarded as one of the world's major literary works and stands as a revolutionary development in poetry. The once so essential patterns of poetic expression such as rhyme and metric are totally neglected in Walt Whitman's poetry. His …showed first 75 words of 686 total…

…showed last 75 words of 686 total…the political ground on which Whitman tests the theory of democracy. Within the democratic economy of his poem the turbulence of the body, like the turbulence of the masses, is part of a natural regenerative order. Masturbation is a vice, but it is also a relief valve, an escape door to stress and disorder. In Whitman's poem, as well as in real America, chaos and turmoil usually bring with them times of greatness and power.