Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading…
Transcript

Song of Myself Section 2

Josh Tipsword, Jordan Mccurdy, Courtney Bartkowiak

Section 2.

Connections to Transcendentalism

Have you reckoned a thousand acres much? Have you reckoned the earth much?

Have you practiced so long to learn to read?

Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems?

Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems,

You shall posses the good of the earth and sun.... there are millions of suns left,

You shall no longer take things at second or third hand.... nor look through the eyes of the dead... nor feed on specters in books,

You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me, You shall listen to all sides and filter them from yourself.

Much like Emerson and Thoreau, Whitman stressed many Transcendentalist principles. In this section of the poem he hammered home the concept of thinking for yourself, to not let the opinions of others ever sway your decisions. He also stressed the importance of looking at the bigger picture at all times, to not let the little things distract you from the main issue. Lastly, he stressed the idea of discovering things for yourself and to "no longer take things at second or third hand" urging his readers to come up with their own thoughts on the issue.

Significance and meaning

"Have you reckoned a thousand acres much? Have you reckoned the earth much"? When Whitman was writing this section of the poem his goal was to get his readers to look at the bigger picture. "Have you practiced so long to learn to read? Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems"? He urged them to compare their comparatively little problems to the ones of the world at large. "You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me, You shall listen to all sides and filter them from yourself". He then changed his tune to urging his readers to discover things for themselves. "You shall no longer take things at second or third hand". He also said not to take things from second or third hand, to instead come to your own conclusions about the issue.

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi