Song of Myself (Part 3) - Walt Whitman
A Continual Embrace of Self, Others, and the Ever-Present Now
Song of Myself, Part 3
(Public Domain text, from the 1892 “Deathbed” edition of Leaves of Grass)
3
I have heard what the talkers were talking, the talk of the beginning and the end,
But I do not talk of the beginning or the end.
There was never any more inception than there is now,
Nor any more youth or age than there is now,
And will never be any more perfection than there is now,
Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.
Urge and urge and urge,
Always the procreant urge of the world.
Out of the dimness opposite equals advance… always substance and increase, always sex,
Always a knit of identity… always distinction… always a breed of life.
To elaborate is no avail… learned and unlearned feel that it is so.
Sure as the most certain sure… plumb in the uprights, well entretied, braced in the beams,
Stout as a horse, affectionate, haughty, electrical,
I and this mystery here we stand.
Clear and sweet is my soul… and clear and sweet is all that is not my soul.
Lack one lacks both… and the unseen is proved by the seen,
Till that becomes unseen and receives proof in its turn.
Showing the best and dividing it from the worst age vexes age,
Knowing the perfect fitness and equanimity of things, while they discuss I am silent,
And go bathe and admire myself.
In Part 3 of “Song of Myself,” Walt Whitman expands on his idea that life, existence, and the universe are perpetually in the present—eternally “now.” He dismisses beginnings and endings, arguing that all of reality, and all its potential, is already here. Where many might view life in terms of a linear path (“the talk of the beginning and the end”), Whitman focuses instead on a boundless continuum.
He sings of the “urge” that drives all being, identifying an elemental creative force—both physical (in the sense of procreation) and spiritual (in the sense of expansion). For Whitman, everything is intimately connected through this constant process of becoming, suggesting that apparent distinctions like youth versus age or learned versus unlearned only reflect different facets of a larger, unified reality.
Throughout these lines, Whitman’s voice celebrates the body, soul, and all that lies between. By proclaiming, “I and this mystery here we stand,” he highlights the mystery at the core of life—one that cannot be fully explained by words or theories but is felt tangibly through physical experience and personal awareness. This emphasis on felt knowledge over mere “talk” aligns with his broader message: that existence is fundamentally joyous, dynamic, and continually ready to reveal itself to those willing to embrace and observe.
Taken together, Part 3 furthers the epic’s optimism. By rejecting tidy narratives of beginning and end, Whitman points readers toward the infinity threaded through every moment. His encouragement to “go bathe and admire myself” is not simple vanity but an invitation to fully inhabit one’s own presence, body, and surrounding wonder—knowing that every inch of nature and self participates in the same ceaseless flow.
Key points
1. Whitman rejects linear conceptions of time, insisting on the eternal, all-encompassing present.
2. A universal creative urge unites all forms of life, whether physical or spiritual.
3. Distinctions like “beginning and end” or “youth and age” collapse into a continuous, ever-unfolding reality.
4. Whitman invites readers to inhabit their bodies, senses, and soul with clear confidence and awe.
