Water and the Sea in Song of Myself

References to water and the sea abound in Song of Myself and contain a multitude of meanings ultimately giving the poem a feeling similar to that of the sea itself: infinitely large, all encompassing, constantly flowing, and, in many ways, impossible to fully comprehend. Like the sea, the poem is a navigational challenge and Whitman eventually encourages his reader to push off from the shore, letting go of those “planks” and anchors which we hold on to for safety and comfort, and to become a “bold swimmer” submerged in the vast and expansive realm of the sea. There is an ebb and flow to the sea just as there is an ebb and flow to Whitman’s personal journey in the poem itself and while it almost seems anti-Whitman (not to mention daunting!) to attempt to “explicate” the various meanings of water and the sea in the poem, I shall do my best to caress a few of the most interesting references and give you my take. Given the lengthy list of references, I have listed them in their entirety in a separate document -- click here for full list of water and sea references in Song of Myself. With respect to a few specific references, let the caressing begin.

Water and the sea, first and foremost, function as one of nature’s purifiers and the act of bathing is an important one for Whitman. He begins the poem by going to “bathe and admire” himself, setting the stage for the importance of water as a pure and natural substance but also for the corresponding nakedness and focus on the critical nature of the body and flesh. I feel this most palpably in the sequence of the 29^th bather whereby the woman in the house hides behind the blinds of her window admiring the group of men bathing in the water below:

The beards of the young men glistened with wet, it ran from their long hair,
Little streams passed all over their bodies.

The men frolic in what feels like an aquatic utopia, free from the confines and restrictions of the indoors, work or even their clothes. Their bodies sounding like microcosms of the earth with streams flowing on their bodies. Whitman frequently speaks to the liquid-like characteristics and flowing nature of the universe in the poem and you feel this theme here as the woman ultimately descends the hill to join the other bathers, effectively pouring herself into the water and combining or merging with the other bathers with complete equanimity.

Whitman shifts to a more metaphysical contemplation of the sea later in the poem. Similar to the blade of grass, Whitman looks to the sea as representative of life itself:

You sea! I resign myself to you also . . . . I guess what you mean,
I behold from the beach your crooked inviting fingers,
I believe you refuse to go back without feeling of me; We must have a turn together . . . . I undress . . . . hurry me out of sight of the land,
Cushion me soft . . . . rock me in billowy drowse,
Dash me with amorous wet . . . . I can repay you.

Sea of stretched ground-swells!
Sea breathing broad and convulsive breaths!
Sea of the brine of life! Sea of unshovelled and always-ready graves!
Howler and scooper of storms! Capricious and dainty sea!
I am integral with you . . . . I too am of one phase and of all phases.

Partaker of influx and efflux . . . . extoler of hate and conciliation,
Extoler of amies and those that sleep in each others' arms.

While Whitman guesses at the sea’s meaning, he quickly forgoes any attempt at Platonic understanding and chooses to jump in instead, immersing himself in the water while acknowledging the sea’s powerful nature and endless similarities to life itself. You feel the purity with which he views the sea and the seriousness of what it represents. Later in the poem, when contemplating where the savage comes from, he speculates that he may come from the sea again echoing his thoughts of the sea as an unaffected representation of life itself.

The sea and water also function as a means of transport, both physical and spiritual, throughout the poem. There are many references to boats in the poem and when traveling on his spiritual journey, Whitman often speaks of sailing as his means of transportation. Most interesting to me though is the parallel in Whitman’s personal journey in the poem as compared to the “life cycle” of water. Whitman alternates in the poem between a more “grounded” point of view and one where he floats above the world personally experiencing all that occurs. This reminded me of the “life cycle” of water in many ways: water evaporates from lakes and seas on the ground, travels upward condensing in the sky in the form of clouds, returning to the ground in the form of rain, and ultimately merging again into the lakes and seas. Interestingly, Whitman ends the poem by melting into the water himself (“I effuse my flesh in eddies and drift it in lacy jags”). The circular and infinite nature to this process is consistent with Whitman’s views regarding the infinite nature of life and serves to reinforce his proposal that Song of Myself function as a beginning and not an ending to the reader’s experience.