Chanting the Square Deific Reflection Blog

From the very beginning of "Chanting the Square Deific," strong views about superior beings are present. The title says it all. The Square Deific refers to the points of a square representing each deity and how they're connected (Oliver, Charles M.). Whitman uses self perception, the worlds perception, and the soul to represent the different aspects that make up the idea of "self."

The first stanza is representing God (Whitman, Walt). In those lines, God has many different personalities and is very accommodating to many people with other religions; Jehovah being the first described. Jehovah is another name for Jesus(Johnson, Phillip). Then Walt Whitman goes more in depth by including "Old Brahm," which is the word used to represent the God of Hindu mythology, and "Saturnius," which is the word used to represent the God of Roman mythology(Oliver, Charles M.). So, God is only one section of this quaternity, but is powerful and unchanging, at the up most importance to religion. The fact that Kronos, the God of time, is mentioned is important because God is represented as timeless and the ultimate chooser of fate, who can change people's paths, overall affecting one's self perception. Since the stanzas explain these superior beings from the speaker's point of view, there are very different connotations that can be taken away from it. In this case, the speaker is using his self image to describe how he sees God. For instance, he mentions how God is relentless, merciless, and remorseless giving a more negative connotation on God (Oliver, Charles M.). These feelings expressed by the speaker are probably from life experiences, or the times that God was "unfair" in life.

The second stanza Christ being the second side of the square, directly connected to God. There is a different tone with this stanza because the speaker has a more positive connotation of Jesus, rather than God (Whitman, Walt). Jesus in this stanza is represented as a survivor when the speaker says, "Many times have I been rejected, taunted, put in prison, and crucified, and many times shall be again." The speakers words are powerful here because God has such negatives words to represent him, but Jesus, who is second in the quaternity is loving, and gentle, a survivor, and full of wisdom (Oliver, Charles M.).

The third stanza is about Satan, or commonly known as the devil, and makes up the third side of the square deific. Satan is described as the being who still utters his words and his being to people trying to revolt them from the ways of God and Jesus and those who have a different, more positive power (Whitman, Walt). The speaker gives Satan common perceptions, but also understands that there is a different side, one that is a little condescending of people who have struggled, in this case slaves (Oliver, Charles M.).

The fourth stanza is about Santa Spiritia, which is also know as the soul, and it makes up the fourth and final side of the square (Whitman, Walt). The soul may be the most powerful part because without this soul, one would not be able to distinguish between God, Jesus, and Satan, or give opinions and perceptions of these beings. The most powerful quote is the very end, where this general soul lives through these other three beings(Oliver, Charles M.). This soul affects "self" because it is most solid and represents life. This soul determines decisions, opinions, personality, each belonging to one's self image and how other people perceive that image. So overall, the quaternity can be represented through the soul, which represents life and affects everything that happens in life.

Johnson, Phillip. "Who Is Jehovah? Who Is Jesus?" The Spurgeon Archive. 1996. Web. 05 Apr. 2012. <http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/articles/deity.htm>.


Oliver, Charles M. "'Chanting the Square Deific'." Critical Companion to Walt Whitman: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCWW082&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 4, 2012).


Whitman, Walt. "The Walt Whitman Archive." CHANTING THE SQUARE DEIFIC. (Leaves of Grass [1891-1892]) -. The Walt Whitman Achieve. Web. 05 Apr. 2012. <http://whitmanarchive.org/published/LG/1891/poems/247>.