A+song+for+the+rolling+earth

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A SONG of the rolling earth, and of words according, Were you thinking that those were the words, those upright lines? those curves, angles, dots? No, those are not the words, the substantial words are in the ground and sea, They are in the air, they are in you.

Were you thinking that those were the words, those delicious sounds out of your friends' mouths? No, the real words are more delicious than they.

Human bodies are words, myriads of words, (In the best poems re-appears the body, man's or woman's, well-shaped, natural, gay, Every part able, active, receptive, without shame or the need of shame.)

Air, soil, water, fire-those are words, I myself am a word with them-my qualities interpenetrate with theirs-my name is nothing to them, Though it were told in the three thousand languages, what would air, soil, water, fire, know of my name?

A healthy presence, a friendly or commanding gesture, are words, sayings, meanings, The charms that go with the mere looks of some men and women, are sayings and meanings also.

The workmanship of souls is by those inaudible words of the earth, The masters know the earth's words and use them more than audible words.

This section is the very first part of the poem. We chose this part because it portrays the core meaning of the poem and some of the best descriptions. In the first stanza, Whitman says that one cannot describe earth with words but the things that make up the earth itself. Then as he goes on in the poem, he lists different 'words' in this earth and how each one of them contribute to the song for the rolling earth. 1200538232

I have to agree with npa, we chose this portion of the poem because it embodies all of the elements that make up the central meaning of the poem. These elements include comparisons of the earth to humans and description of words that come out of the mouths of humans that barely describe the enormity and complexity of the earth. This is the first part of the poem, as npa said, so it introduces the main point that Whitman is trying to make at the time he wrote this poem, right beofre the Civil War began. 1200664305