Walt Whitman's life and literary contributions

Whitman

In the Preface to his compendium of poems, Whitman celebrates the role of the poet as a seer, a visionary, and as a "president of regulation." The latter phrase retains the same joyous tone of "Song of Myself," and the same seeming self-indulgence. A few lines earlier Whitman claims that the if poet "breathes into any thing that was before thought small it dilates with the grandeur and life of the universe."

As the president of regulation, the poet has the right and the privilege to censor subjects or withhold commentary on a desired topic. The "president of regulation" comment likely reflects Whitman's response to critiques of his work and attempts to censor it. Whitman also reserves the right to ramble in his characteristic style because he is the president of regulation and needs no editor.

The line also follows Whitman's assertion that poets are "not one of the chorus." The poet is a self-regulator. Moreover, Whitman notes that poets do not need to defend themselves. As "presidents of regulation," poets possess enough power to triumph through adversity through their art alone. "The presence of the great poet conquers -- not parleying, or struggling, or any prepared attempts."

2. The first portion of "Song of Myself" describes the narrator's encounter with a runaway slave. Here, Whitman places the narration in historical context while making overt social commentary and declaring his political views. When he states, "he staid with me a week" the narrator emphasizes his role in helping the runaway reach safety. He not only "brought water and filled a tub for his sweated body and bruised feet," but he "gave him a room that entered from my own." The latter is a significant line, showing the narrator's empathy, his willingness to help a perfect stranger and let him sleep so near to his own bed for a week or however long the man needed to rest before reaching the North.