{"id":252,"date":"2021-02-18T00:31:26","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T05:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/?p=252"},"modified":"2021-02-18T00:31:26","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T05:31:26","slug":"the-journey-through-queerness-in-song-of-myself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/2021\/02\/18\/the-journey-through-queerness-in-song-of-myself\/","title":{"rendered":"The Journey Through Queerness in Song of Myself"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walt Whitman\u2019s Song of Myself<\/em> examines themes of identity and nature. I was compelled to analyze section 46, where Whitman details a \u201cperpetual journey\u201d (p 48), because the meaning of his travels are deeper than physical movement through space. In the lines from this section that I focused on, Whitman writes,
\n\u201cNot I, not any one else can travel that road for you,
\nYou must travel it for yourself.\/
\nIt is not far\u2026.it is within reach,
\nPerhaps you have been on it since you were born, and did not know,
\nPerhaps it is every where on water and on land.\u201d
\nThe \u201croad\u201d that must be traveled on one\u2019s own could be interpreted as an emotional voyage to find happiness or self-fulfillment. However, I read these lines to be about coming out and the queer experience. Walt Whitman was known for being gay or bisexual due to the implications of his writing and his close friendships with men. With his sexuality in mind, it is fair to read the poem with special attention to sexuality.
\nThe word \u201cyou\u201d is repeated five times throughout these five lines, which leads me to believe it is significant to the truth of the poem. Identity is expressed through \u201cyou\u201d. The author is telling the readers that they must look inside themselves in order to reach the end of the road. It is something that only they can complete because sexuality is a personal matter. No one can tell you how you feel or who you love. That finish line could anywhere or \u201cevery where\u201d, according to Whitman. If the end goal is so broad, what could it be? I interpreted it to be coming out to both yourself and the world, but it could also be seen as the journey of living your life as a queer person.
\nAnother line I found interesting was the fourth line, \u201cPerhaps you have been on it since you were born, and did not know,\u201d. Realizing that you are a part of the LGBTQ+ community takes a great deal of time and introspection. Being queer is not a choice, it is who you are, therefore, it is only natural that the journey of queerness has been going on from the time one was born.
\nWhitman\u2019s depiction of the experience many in the LGBTQ+ community go through as a private journey makes me question if the journey he described could be relatable to every person, or if it is too simple to encompass the experiences of an entire group. On the contrary, his poem could also be broad enough to fit in the lives of any queer person and their journey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walt Whitman\u2019s Song of Myself examines themes of identity and nature. I was compelled to analyze section 46, where Whitman details a \u201cperpetual journey\u201d (p 48), because the meaning of his travels are deeper than physical movement through space. In the lines from this section that I focused on, Whitman writes, \u201cNot I, not any … Continue reading The Journey Through Queerness in Song of Myself<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4642,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[169398],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2021-blog-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4642"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}