Motif: The Sea...

 What dogs do after reading Song of Myself.

I am enamored of growing outdoors,
Of men that live among cattle or taste of the ocean or woods
pg. 9
-Walt clearly has a romantic view of those who work in the outdoors in the direct presence of nature, and even seems to be a little jealous. Here, he uses the word ‘ocean’ and not ‘sea,’ but I thought it was close enough, and that this line was important to show since it’s an early romanticism of nature, which is something he does throughout the poem.
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Vivas to those who have failed, and to those war-vessels sank in the sea, and those themselves who sank in the sea
pg. 13
-I believe that Whitman’s romantic view of nature is rooted equally in the beauty of nature as well as the danger of nature, or at least the vulnerability a human encounters while in nature. The word ‘sea’ seems to have a more exotic danger attached to it than the word ‘ocean,’ and Whitman likes to remind us of both the danger and beauty of the sea.
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You sea! I resign myself to you also....I guess what you mean,
I behold from the beach your crooked inviting fingers,
I believe you refuse to go back without feeling me;
We must have a turn together….I undress…. Hurry me out of sight of the land,
Cushion me soft….rock me in billowy drowse,
Dash me with amorous wet…I can repay you.


Sea of stretched ground-swells!
Sea breathing broad and convulsive breaths!
Sea of brine of life! Sea of unshielded and always-ready graves!
Howler and scooper of storms! Capricious and dainty sea!
I am integral with you… I too am of one phase and of all phases.
pg. 15
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I included this whole section since the sea is the focus, and because Whitman gets a little sexy with the sea too. As Whitman gives descriptions of the many different souls in the United States throughout Song of Myself, here he explains his love for the sea and writes about its many phases and states; the beauty and danger it represents. He ends this section saying that just as the sea has many different states of being, so too does Whitman, and everyone else.
One of my favorite lines in the whole poem is “I believe you refuse to go back without feeling me,”… It’s just a beautiful line to me that paints a great picture.
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Seas of bright juice suffuse heaven.
pg. 18
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We sail through the arctic sea….it is plenty light enough
pg. 26
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Delicate sniffs of the sea breeze….smells of sedgy grass and fields by the shore….
pg. 30
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Inland and by the seacoast and boundary lines…and we pass the boundary lines.
pg. 31
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Is he from the Mississippi country? Or from Iowa, Oregon or California? Or from the mountains? Or prairie life or bush-life? Or from the sea?
pg. 32
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The panorama of the sea….but the sea itself?
pg. 35
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-An image of the sea? Or experience of the sea itself? It seems Whitman here is saying that it is not only important to write, paint, photograph, or talk about events and nature, but that it’s also important that we go out and put ourselves in the position to be a part of the events of our own history and to experience nature directly.
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To jump off in the midst of the sea, and rise again and nod to me and shout, and laughingly dash with your hair.
pg. 40
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          Whitman romanticizes the sea while also giving the sea its props for being a badass because the power and danger it brings. Still, Whitman gives even more credit to those who face the dangerous beauty head on. The sea presents humans with a completely different environment than any other setting because humans are naturally land-dwellers. We are, for the most part, born on land, raised on land, and it is where we spend most of our lives. Not only is the sea a beautiful part of nature, but it is also a territory in which one could say we do not naturally belong in. Regardless of our not belonging, Whitman encourages us to touch the sea and experience it, beyond simply writing about it or looking at it.

        It is through experience that we really learn what something or someone is, and to an outsider, anything foreign will always create an attraction as well as present some danger. Whitman shows us the beauty we can find when we go outside our typical boundaries. In the literal sense, he is writing about living on land, and diving into the water. In a metaphorical way though, he may be telling us to explore the lives of others... People of other genders, other colors, other species, other occupations, etc.

        Also, Whitman shows that the sea has many forms, like humans and humanity ('I too am of one phase and of all phases'). At times it will rage and destroy, and at times it will dazzle you with its beauty. Sometimes it will sooth and caress, and sometimes, it will just be. Just as it has many shapes and phases, it is one entity. This is the same way Whitman sees humanity. The sea, through its many forms, it is just one large ocean body, connecting all the greater lands to one another, while connecting us as well.

Ay yo, WTF you got in yo mouth??