The Full Text of “One's-Self I Sing”
1One’s-Self I sing, a simple separate person,
2Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse.
3Of physiology from top to toe I sing,
4Not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I say the Form complete is worthier far,
5The Female equally with the Male I sing.
6Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power,
7Cheerful, for freest action form’d under the laws divine,
8The Modern Man I sing.
The Full Text of “One's-Self I Sing”
1One’s-Self I sing, a simple separate person,
2Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse.
3Of physiology from top to toe I sing,
4Not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I say the Form complete is worthier far,
5The Female equally with the Male I sing.
6Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power,
7Cheerful, for freest action form’d under the laws divine,
8The Modern Man I sing.
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“One's-Self I Sing” Introduction
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“One's-Self I Sing” Summary
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“One's-Self I Sing” Themes
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Individuality, Democracy, and Equality
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “One's-Self I Sing”
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Lines 1-2
One’s-Self I sing, a simple separate person,
Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse. -
Lines 3-5
Of physiology 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 equally with the Male I sing. -
Lines 6-8
Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power,
Cheerful, for freest action form’d under the laws divine,
The Modern Man I sing.
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“One's-Self I Sing” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Antithesis
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Alliteration
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Repetition
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End-Stopped Line
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Parataxis
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Caesura
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“One's-Self I Sing” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Democratic
- En-Masse
- Physiology
- Physiognomy
- Worthy/Worthier
- The Form complete
- Immense
- The laws divine
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “One's-Self I Sing”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“One's-Self I Sing” Speaker
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“One's-Self I Sing” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “One's-Self I Sing”
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More “One's-Self I Sing” Resources
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External Resources
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The Poet's Life and Work — Read a biography of Walt Whitman at the Poetry Foundation.
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A Whitman Documentary — Watch a PBS documentary about the poet.
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The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of "One's-Self I Sing."
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A Poetic Revolutionary — Watch a biographical clip about how "Walt Whitman Revolutionised American Poetry."
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Leaves of Grass — Browse an 1871 edition of Whitman's masterpiece, Leaves of Grass, in which "One's-Self I Sing" appears as the first poem in the collection.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Walt Whitman
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