“I celebrate myself, and sing myself,And what I assume you shall assume,For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”– Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”, Verse I
Walt Whitman was an American poet from the 1800s who wrote about nature, transcendentalism, and love of all kinds. His famous free verse poem “Song of Myself” from his 1855 work Leaves of Grass promotes an overarching idea of the sort of humanity and connection that the idea of agapē love creates. In fact, the very idea of transcendentalism, one of Walt Whitman’s primary beliefs, deeply agrees with the feeling of agapē love.
Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement that began to develop in the United States in the mid 1800s. It was largely inspired by romanticism and the ideas of the famous Greek philosopher Plato, whose Platonic definitions of love can be linked back to the idea of agapē as a whole as well. Transcendentalism at its core stems from the idea that every living thing in the universe is interconnected – that the “Oversoul” is a string of sorts, connecting each and every one of us to one another. This idea is almost identical to that of agapē love, just explained in a different form – agapē love also implies that we are all a part of each other, and that as humans, we inherently feel that sort of love for the other members of our human race.
Whitman’s whole “Song of Myself” poem aligns with the concept and ideas of agapē love, but the particular block quote stated above is one of the clearest, most primary examples. The idea that “every atom belonging to me… belongs to you” is instrumental in understanding and relating to the thought of agapē love. Knowing that we all come from the same parts of the universe allows us to respect, care for, and love each other just that much more, and thus improve humanity as a whole.
Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself (1892 Version) by Walt Whitman.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45477/song-of-myself-1892-version.