This is my favorite Walt Whitman poem because it describes me and I can personally relate to it. Basically, I like it because it talks about escaping from the world and from the people and just finding yourself. It says, "Escaped from the life that exhibits itself, from all the standards hitherto publish'd, from the pleasures, profits, conformities, which too long I was offering to feed my soul." That quote represents all of Whitman's works because he was always trying to define self. In order to do so, he had to escape the world and not give in to society to feed or define his soul. He had to go elsewhere in order to find his soul or self instead of looking through the eyes of other people. I like this poem a lot because I can take a lot of advice from it. I think that it is a good thing to get away from the world for awhile and clear all your thoughts. The world puts a lot of information into your head without you even realizing it and in a way it shapes who we are. I just find the poem very inspiring. Also the part that says, "for in this secluded spot I can respond as I would not dare elsewhere" is a very powerful quote. In this sacred place where he escapes he can finally be himself and for me that is very hard to find and even harder to do because people always seem to know something. The fact that the poem talks about just escaping and it how the poem makes it sound so easy is a little misleading, but it gives a sense of hope that it is possible. Also the quote "Strong upon me the life that does not exhibit itself, yet contains all the rest," seems to be a contradictory quote because it talks about how he escaped from the world and society, but society and the world contains things that he needs. I think Whitman is confused on who he is and we cannot really define self or really find ourselves completely because we are always growing and changing in some way, shape, or form.
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