Alliteration In Song Of Myself

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“Song of Myself” is an extraordinary piece of literature constructed and written by Walt Whitman. This poem is one of his most famous and influential works and consists of 52 sections. When the poem was first written, it did not have sections. Whitman later went and revised the poem, taking out and adding in different items and the poem was then divided into sections. “Song of Myself” is a poem that has a variety of personas and settings. It also has a great deal of themes, time periods, and \the viewpoints come from a range of characters. With ideas that fluctuate between nature, identity, freedom, spirituality, self-awareness, and shifting narrators that fit any human being, this poem shares a common ground of understanding for many. Walt …show more content…
Using these two devices can help the reader make certain associations between different words. Because alliteration can tie dissimilar words together, it can often be used to craft compelling, memorable images that elicit an emotional response. For example, Whitman uses alliteration in passage 33. One passage of alliteration says, “I am the mash’d fireman with breastbone broken.” This line can be used to emphasize the brave fireman’s discomfort and afflictions. The pronunciation of the breastbone and broken is a little difficult, this causes the reader to have to slow down. The slowing down then causes the reader to think about the statement at hand. Another type of figurative language in section 33 is the use of metaphors. When Whitman states, “I am the hounded slave, I wince at the bite of the dogs,” this is a clearly stated metaphor. The reader knows Whitman is not really the hounded slave but he does share some of the same traits as the slave did. Even in the lines:
The disdain and the calmness of martyrs,
The mother of old, condemn’d for a witch, burnt with dry wood, her children gazing on,
The hounded slave that flags in the race, leans by the fence, blowing, cover’d with sweat
The twinges that sting like needles his legs and neck, the murderous buckshot and the
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