VINTAGE CLASSICS : THE SONG OF MYSELF PB – WALT WHITMAN

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