I love Whitman's "Song of Myself," but I have the hardest
time explaining it to anyone.
Section 4 seems like much of
the poem, focusing on a wide range of things recollected or perceived by the speaker,
who is somehow able to transcend all limits and offers glimpses of the past, present,
and future.
This section, like the poem as a whole, is full
of suggestive references. The phrase "horrors of fratricidal war" is almost certainly a
reference to the American Cvil War, which was raging while Whitman was continuing to
expand and revise Leaves of Grass.
You
asked specifically about the "bending arm." Here are a few lines from that part of the
poem:
Apart
from the pulling and hauling stands what I am,
Stands amused, complacent,
compassionating, idle, unitary,
Looks down, is erect, or bends an arm on an
impalpable certain rest,
Looking with side-curved head curious what will come
next,
Both in and out of the game and watching and wondering at
it.
The speaker here is not
part of the bustling world of America. He is "amused, complacent... idle..." One of the
reasons I like Whitman, I suppose, is that he writes against the Puritan doctrines that
have so strongly shaped American culture; for example, he celebrates the body and the
value of not working and not feeling guilty
about failing to be productive all the time. The "bending arm" is part of this pose
struck by the poem's speaker. You can picture him lying on the ground, with one arm bent
and his head resting in his hand. The arm is not engaged in any sort of gainful work at
the moment. The speaker is more than happy to observe and reflect on what he
observes.
The bent arm is also used in one of Whitman's
most famous likenesses, which appears in many editions of Leaves of
Grass. Do a Google image search of "Leaves of Grass" and you'll see the poet
standing, head tilted and hat cocked at an angle, one hand in his pant pocket and the
other (with bent arm) resting on his hip.
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