"One's-Self I Sing" is a tribute both to the individual self and to humanity as a collective whole. Its speaker affirms the "worth[iness]" of the human body, the equal dignity of men and women, and the "passion" and "power" of life in a democratic society. In the process, the speaker suggests that the recognition of individual worth is fundamental to democracy itself. The poem was collected in the fifth (1871) edition of Whitman's masterpiece, Leaves of Grass, as a revised version of an "Inscription" in the fourth (1867) edition.
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The Full Text of “One's-Self I Sing”
1One’s-Self I sing, a simple separate person,
2Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse.
3Of physiology from top to toe I sing,
4Not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I say the Form complete is worthier far,
5The Female equally with the Male I sing.
6Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power,
7Cheerful, for freest action form’d under the laws divine,
8The Modern Man I sing.
The Full Text of “One's-Self I Sing”
1One’s-Self I sing, a simple separate person,
2Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse.
3Of physiology from top to toe I sing,
4Not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I say the Form complete is worthier far,
5The Female equally with the Male I sing.
6Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power,
7Cheerful, for freest action form’d under the laws divine,
8The Modern Man I sing.
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“One's-Self I Sing” Summary
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“One's-Self I Sing” Themes
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Individuality, Democracy, and Equality
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “One's-Self I Sing”
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Lines 1-2
One’s-Self I sing, a simple separate person,
Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse. -
Lines 3-5
Of physiology from top to toe I sing,
Not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I say the Form complete is worthier far,
The Female equally with the Male I sing. -
Lines 6-8
Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power,
Cheerful, for freest action form’d under the laws divine,
The Modern Man I sing.
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“One's-Self I Sing” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Antithesis
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Alliteration
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Repetition
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End-Stopped Line
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Parataxis
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Caesura
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“One's-Self I Sing” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Democratic
- En-Masse
- Physiology
- Physiognomy
- Worthy/Worthier
- The Form complete
- Immense
- The laws divine
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “One's-Self I Sing”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“One's-Self I Sing” Speaker
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“One's-Self I Sing” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “One's-Self I Sing”
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More “One's-Self I Sing” Resources
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External Resources
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The Poet's Life and Work — Read a biography of Walt Whitman at the Poetry Foundation.
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A Whitman Documentary — Watch a PBS documentary about the poet.
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The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of "One's-Self I Sing."
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A Poetic Revolutionary — Watch a biographical clip about how "Walt Whitman Revolutionised American Poetry."
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Leaves of Grass — Browse an 1871 edition of Whitman's masterpiece, Leaves of Grass, in which "One's-Self I Sing" appears as the first poem in the collection.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Walt Whitman
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