I Am He That Walks With The Tender And Growing Night

I Am He That Walks With The Tender And Growing Night

by Walt Whitman

I am he that walks with the tender and growing night,

I call to the earth and sea half-held by the night.

Press close bare-bosom'd night - press close magnetic nourishing night!

Night of south winds - night of the large few stars!

Still nodding night - mad naked summer night.

Smile O voluptuous cool breath'd earth!

Earth of the slumbering and liquid trees!

Earth of departed sunset - earth of the mountains misty-topt!

Earth of the vitreous pour of the full moon just tinged with blue!

Earth of shine and dark mottling the tide of the river!

Earth of the limpid gray of clouds brighter and clearer for my sake!

Far-swooping elbow'd earth - rich apple-blossom'd earth!

Smile, for your lover comes.

-from Song of Myself

Rather than providing an analysis, I thought that I'd do things a bit differently today. So here I will leave you just a bit of prompting in an effort to try and get your minds going and teasing out the meaning behind this poem for yourself.

I'll first note that this poem appeals to quite a few senses. Is there one in particular that it appeals more to? Why do you think that is? Is there a sense it does not appeal to?

What colors appear in this poem? What can you interpret from those colors: is the usage for literal description, do they contain a certain implied connotation, etc?

Apostrophe is a technique used in writing in which the speaker breaks off and directly addresses something decidedly abstract (an idea, a quality, a thing, an imaginary person). Due to this treatment of a concept as if it were a human & capable of response, many people tend to mistake it for personification. The two literary devices can often go hand in hand, but they are not limited as such. Personification is defined as the attribution of a nature or the characteristics of a human to something that is otherwise not, though it may also be taken as the representation of an abstract quality in fully human form. 

Whitman uses both techniques in this poem. To whom is Whitman speaking in lines 3-5? In lines 6-12?

To what end does he personify the night? The earth? Why do you think he chose those traits to lend them? What do you think he means by "elbow'd earth"?

And, just for my sake, what is your favorite line? Why?

((If you have any further questions, would like to make a suggestion for a future poem/topic of discussion, or would like a deeper analysis of this poem, please inform me by leaving a comment below. I will address any and all comments in the order they are received, as quickly as I can.))