Inscription
Inscription - meaning Summary
Celebration of the Self
Whitman’s "Inscription" offers a compact proclamation of his central themes: the sanctity of the individual self, the body as part of poetic worth, and gender equality. He frames the poem as a chant for the New World, celebrating both solitary identity and the collective modern spirit. Addressing a reader-fellow traveler, Whitman invites shared companionship and mutual recognition as they embark together through his work in Leaves of Grass.
Read Complete AnalysesSMALL is the theme of the following Chant, yet the greatest—namely, One’s-Self—that wondrous thing a simple, separate person. That, for the use of the New World, I sing. Man’s physiology complete, 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 equal with the male, I sing, Nor cease at the theme of One’s-Self. I speak the word of the modern, the word En-Masse: My Days I sing, and the Lands—with interstice I knew of hapless War. O friend whoe’er you are, at last arriving hither to commence, I feel through every leaf the pressure of your hand, which I return. And thus upon our journey link’d together let us go.
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