Interconnectedness of the Soul and Body in the Poem 'I Sing the Body Electric' by Whitman

Name:
Course Name:
Course Instructor:
Date of Submission:
Literary Analysis
In the poem ‘I sing the body electric’, Whitman explores the physical body so much. The poet establishes the interconnectedness of the soul and the body. As such, Whitman celebrates the primacy of the body and its importance in forging connection. This poem allows him to argue against valorization of the body into slavery. The same way the body works together as one so does the poem come into a whole.
Whitman prizes the body for its generative qualities; this is from the fifth and sixth sections of it. In particular, the author first examines the female body, then male, and praising their sacredness. Whitman praises the woman for her role in reproduction. He describes “the gates of the body and the gates of the soul”. Man is regarded as an action oriented and powerful figure associated with propagation.
In the eighth stanza the author starts with the image of a woman or her body at the auction, and this depicts slave auction. However, in the previous stanza he seems to help the auctioneer to sell a male slave. Whitman helps him discover the wonders of a man’s body. The author further describes both male and female slaves as parents of multitudes, thus they become attractive property. They might be breeding stock for their masters, and as such prove valuable to them. This valuation seems extreme as Whitman advocates.
Nonetheless, the body has its primacy in its ability to generate experience that he compares to the experience of reproducing children. The body is able to connect physically and emotionally with other bodies. Therefore, the role of the body is to bridge between the soul and the world. In addition, auctioning of slaves shows a misguided, debased worship of the outside physical nature.
The last stanza catalogues body parts of the poet and others’. Whitman goes on to list body parts which have functions as well as serve various functions in the poetry, as raw materials. They are not only parts of the body but also parts of the soul. The soul makes the body sacred through its linkage whereas it is just an accomplice of the soul. However, Whitman does not rate it second because it enables both the spirituality and poetry.
In the first part, Whitman likens the body to the soul and points out that it does much of what the body does. It does not corrupt the soul much to the belief of most Christians. The second part the lists various body parts, with the poet describing various body parts as being perfect. Whitman poses a question for readers to consider the perfection of the body in which he looks at it in sensual desire; “the embrace of love and desire”. He goes on to give the characteristics of a perfect man an...