O Me! O Life! By Walt Whitman
O Me! O Life!
BY WALT WHITMAN
Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.
Poetry Response:
“I exist as I am, that is enough.”
— Walt Whitman
I chose this poem because the title pulled me in. O Me! O Life! Appealed to me because it gave me the sense of being dramatic and comparing as in, “oh dear me, oh my poor life.” Upon reading it, Whitman offered an answer to life and what the base purpose of life is. The short blurb of what he offers as an answer stuck with me the most, especially the very last bit, “…you may contribute a verse.” (Whitman, line 9) Life is continuously moving and Whitman sees life as something to add to. Living means that you, yourself, can add to the play of the world. The poem examines what life has to offer and why bother to try.
Whitman does not attempt to use flowery or fancy words to get his message through. It is laid right out for everyone to understand right away. He chose to make it clear and simple so that anyone reading it would get the universal lesson to the poem; life offers the unknown but you choose to answer that call. Everyone, at some point, goes through a rough point of questioning what the point of life is. Whitman’s second stanza is his own personal answer to the great question of life. However, there will never be one true answer, and that is the paradox that life offers. There will forever be an eternal question that will never have a proper answer.
I did not really see literary theory as it is not based off anything really besides finding the meaning to life. Whitman sticks to the universal theme as questioning life and struggling to find the answer. It is a very generalized poem and is able to apply to most, if not all, people. He clearly states, “The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life? (Whitman, line 7). Whitman makes a clear poem that is easy for all to understand and interpret and also apply to personal lives. The poem was created to help people discover life and the beauty if offers and that prompt them to find themselves. There is no right or wrong answer to what life is and what life has to offer, but it is up to the person as themselves. That the true beauty of this poem.
Whitman, Walt. “O Me! O Life! by Walt Whitman.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation,
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/51568/o-me-o-life.
“Walt Whitman (Poet and Nurse).” OnThisDay.com, 4 July 1855,
https://www.onthisday.com/people/walt-whitman.
“Walt Whitman.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation,
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/walt-whitman.
Poetry Journal Gabriela 
This analysis on the poem “O Me! O Life!” by Walt Whitman, was very well done. I enjoyed the way the responder formatted their analysis, breaking down the plot, theme, and deeper meaning of this poem. I found the perspective in this blog post that life is continuously moving and always has more to add to, to be fascinating. I agree with the analysis that the theme of questioning life and its purpose, is central to everyone. This post claims that Whitman’s purpose for writing this was to show the paradox that life offers, which is there is never one true answer or clear path. I agree with this analysis, and appreciate that this poem is for a wide audience. However, I partially disagree with the analysis claim that there is no literary theory evident in this poem. While it may be slight, I do believe this poem resembles the Psychological Theory, through its focus on one’s inner thoughts.
Some questions I would ask to clarify or analyze this poem further would be: What specific literary techniques did the poet use to express his underlying message? What perspective did the poet have, which allowed him to make these claims in his poem? What is the main, brief plot or summary of this poem?
All in all, this was very well done!
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Thank you! The Psychological Theory does seem like a stretch but is very much just as plausible as the poem does matter about thoughts. The poem is, all in all, about some unknown person, supposedly Whitman himself, asking the question about what life is, what is the point of living? It takes a seemingly darker turn in calling the years useless and empty. It then answers the question with Whitman’s personal perspective of just existing because that in and of itself is a blessing that cannot be comprehended. It offers a carpe diem theme to it in living life to the fullest as it is given.
Whitman uses a couple literary techniques throughout the poem. He uses alliteration in the line, ““Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined”.(Whitman, Line 6). The repeat of the “s” sound helps emphasize and repeat the pattern while reading the line. The useless years of rest, with rest, it hammers in the idea of how truly empty everything may seem. Whitman also uses imagery with, “Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d” (Whitman, Line 4). He promotes the reader to really try to envision that struggle to find the light. It may not be a literal light but rather a theoretical light, the light of the way to live, but it still is appealing to that sense of sight.
Whitman used “Oh Me! Oh Life!” as a way to present his own perspective on life. Like most, he has questioned the futility of life and compares himself, in the poem, to just the blindly foolish people. However, he uses the poem as a way to teach that life does have a meaning and a purpose, one just must discover it. He acknowledges the hopelessness of the world that most have experienced at some point, himself not excluded, but answers it with how life can be changed for the better. He answers his own struggle in hope that others will discover the same.
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