Shambhala Pocket Library

1 primary work

Song of Myself

by Walt Whitman

Published 23 November 1993

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself.
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

Abundant, ecstatic, generous, courageous - this is the first American epic poem, a celebration of selfhood and a catalogue of nineteenth-century American life of all ages and races. Revolutionary in style and controversial in content when it was first published in 1855, Whitman's masterwork has since inspired generations with its intoxicating rhythms and images, and its inclusive, praiseful joy.

THE ORIGINAL 1855 TEXT