Song of Myself by Walt Whitmas Essay - 1045 Words

Most people awake to a daily routine, in which they keep eyes dazed staring at the pavement they walk on yet so easily ignore. Usually, these same people go about their business with no more than a passing glance towards their fellow man. However, there is an enigmatic few that are more than mere pawns in the game of existence. They are passionate spectators who take in their surroundings with every sense. They rejoice in the vastness of the electric crowd and become one with it. By all means, these few can be called ‘idle city men’ or, according to Charles Baudelaire’s 1863 essay â€Å"The Painter of Modern Life†, they are flà ¢neurs. I believe a worthy example of a man such as this, is the persona in Walt Whitman’s â€Å"Song of Myself†. He is a†¦show more content†¦He begins the section with â€Å"I think I will do nothing for a long time but listen.† (24) Here the persona is invisible to the outside world, simply watching and waiting, responding to every single sound the city produces and relishes in its essence. This corresponds to Baudelaire’s flà ¢neur not only as a passionate spectator but also as one who sees the world, who is at the center of the world, and yet remains hidden from it, rejoicing in his incognito. Another very important aspect of the flà ¢neur is his ability to comprehend and understand not only his surroundings but himself as well. He must be aware of his being or in Baudelaire’s words be like â€Å"a kaleidoscope gifted with consciousness†. In section forty-two he writes: â€Å"I know perfectly well my own egotism, And know my omnivorous words, and cannot say any less. And would fetch you whoever you are flush with myself.† (44) Here he is making it known that he is mindful of who he is and what he is saying. This is an aspect that most ordinary people lack, but flà ¢neurs do not. Flà ¢neurs, like Whitman, know how to conduct themselves in society and are present in all they do and say. There is no loss for identity, no confusion in what is going on; there is only this awareness of all that indefinitely surrounds them in a certain place and moment in time, within themselves and the outside world. Truth be told, there