In Walt
Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, the
narrator explores, among many things, the concepts of the soul and of
spirituality and what these things may reflect in ourselves and in our
perceptions of God. The belief that all that there is – nature, animals, and
God – are one in the same, that they exist within each other and therefore are
of one another. The natural, physical world is irrevocably tethered to the
spiritual world of the soul, and in being a part of God becomes God.
The passage from the reading on page
2187, line 1260 reads: “I have said myself that the soul is not more than the
body, / I have said that the body is not more than the soul, / And nothing, not
God, is greater to one than one’s own self is.” This excerpt from Leaves of Grass suggests that the body,
being connected to the soul, and the soul being connected with divinity and
spirituality, comprise the most valuable things in this world and are what in
turn compose life. Later, on page 2187, line 1269, Whitman writes: “And I call
to mankind, be not curious about God, / For I who am curious about each am not
curious about God…” This passage continues on to suggest the narrator’s view
that everything in this world is that of God and therefore is God. God is not
any one thing or being in particular but all things and all beings making all
things in this world and of nature divine and vital to life.
How might these ideals connect to
the theme of a return to the natural world in later writings of Whitman or even
to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay Nature?
I agree! It is evident that Whitman and Emerson hold similar views when it comes to God and nature. In fact, Emerson is considered to be one of the founders of Transcendentalism; his radical belief that God could exist anywhere--not just inside the confines of a church--both defines this movement, and coincides with Whitman’s personal position on the matter. Both authors strongly support the idea that God is not a singular being, but one that exists within each person, thing, and especially in nature. This can be seen through Whitman’s declaration that “I hear and behold God in every object” (Leaves of Grass), and when Emerson states, “[T]he currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part and parcel of God” (Nature).
ReplyDeleteThese two also encourage people to trust and rely more on themselves (individualism), rather than being sheep who mindlessly wander through life. This ties into Emerson and Whitman's conviction that being out in nature allows man to connect with God in the most pure and basic sense. As Emerson writes, "In the woods, we return to reason and faith" (Nature).