Commentary on “I Sing the Body Electric” by Walt Whitman

‘I Sing the Body Electric’ is a poem about Walt Whitman’s admiration of the human body and soul. It is a celebration of the beauty of the human body, both male and female, in relation to its physicality, its shapes, its sexuality, and its divinity. He urges us to look toward the "divinity" of both the human individual and human society. He celebrates the body and its importance in forging connections between people. The author transmits to readers the idea that our body can connect us both erotically and spiritually with the bodies of others. In all this, the role of the body as the connection between the soul and the world remains crucial.
As regarding form and structure, this is a well constructed poem. It is long and complex but it can be divided in 8 sections. This is a poem of lists. The lists alternate with anecdotal sections and literary sections.
The first section of ‘I Sing the Body Electric’ announces itself as a poem about the human body. The poem's first line is an evidence of this ("The bodies of men and women engirth me, and I engirth them").
In the second section, Whitman engages with the different people in his surroundings: "Swim with the swimmers, wrestle with wrestlers, and march in line with the firemen”. He describes the society which he is part of with an implicit democratizing force. When reading the poem readers can perceive that he considers himself as incorporated into that society.
The third and fourth sections are about Whitman's view of the divinity of the body and soul. The small anecdote of the farmer whom Whitman wishes to be near to is very interesting. Whitman's description of the farmer includes words such as "vigor, calmness, beauty of person," and "wisdom". Clearly Whitman had great admiration for that man. This is evident when he says "you would wish to sit by him in the boat that you and he might touch each other". Despite the interpretations of these lines, in my opinion Whitman's message is bigger than an issue of sexuality. Even though his love and passion for the farmer was different than it would be for a younger man or a woman, it was strong and true.
In the fifth and sixth sections, Whitman depictes the unique beauty of both genders, male and female, arguing that "each has his or her place in the procession".With these lines he highlights the idea that everyone has a place and role in society which each person is responsible for.
Though he describes men and women in two very different ways, he sees them as essentially the same and he describes both with passion, and he loves both as he loves everyone. He writes, "There is something in staying close to men and women and looking on them, and in the contact and odor of them, that pleases the soul well”. But this is where his description of men and women as similar ends. He describes first the body and the soul of the woman as having a "fierce undeniable attraction," "moving with perfect balance," and having "inexpressible completeness, and beauty". He then gives man a different place in society, describing him as "action and power, defiant, blissful, sorrowful, prideful" and full of "knowledge". He describes men and women as having two unique places in society, the man as the one who must act, and the woman as the one who must be a mother and who has a sensual influence over men. Besides the different descriptions of them, Whitman still finds both women and men beautiful as they fulfill their role in society.
He also challenges readers' notions of race, class, and gender directly: "Do you suppose you have a right to a good sight, and he or she has no right to a sight?" He later describes the similarity of all humans when he says "Do you think matter has cohered together from its diffuse float, and the soil is on the surface, and water runs and vegetation sprouts for you, and not for him and her?"
In the next sections Whitman describes slaves who are being sold in slave auctions. He compares the "red, black, or white limbs as cunning in tendon and nerve", and explains that "Within there runs blood, the same old blood, the same red-running blood! There swells and jets his heart, there all passions and desires, reachings, aspirations". The message can be interpreted as referring to a similarity between slaves and white people. He states than the blood that fill their hearts is the same. Whitman clearly feels passion for these people, no matter if they are slaves.
In these sections abolition of slavery arises as a main theme. These lines invite us to think about how dehumanizing slavery is. Whitman's egalitarianism is a important aspect of this poem, for he argues against the devalorization of the body implicit in slavery.
In the end of this section Whitman asks us to consider our interconnectivity with each other: "Who might you find you have come from yourself, if you could trace back through the centuries?" The poem ends by calling us to action through a celebration of our common humanity. The connection with the common man and woman reveals Whitman closeness to society and common problems of it, such as slavery.
Whitman's "I Sing the Body Electric" is a very passionated description of the human body and the human soul. His appreciation for people for their simple humanity is very interesting. His passion does not make difference between gender, race, age, or even physical attractiveness. Whitman shows in this poem a broad sense of passion and respect for everyone. He loves the human soul and the human body, as well as he loves each person as an individual and the mass of individuals as a society.