Walt Whitman's long, free-verse poem, "Song of Myself" is
probably his most important, and most quoted work. It consists of an astounding 52
sections in which Whitman celebrates humanity and
individuality.
I am guessing you are referring to the 2nd
section, the one which begins "Houses and rooms are full of perfumes" and ends with "You
shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self." It is interesting that you
have to answer questions about what this section means, because it's message is, in
essence, that we make our own meaning based on our observations of, and interactions
with, the world. The speaker of the poem begins this section by talking about the
"perfume" of houses, rooms, and other man-made places. He then compares that
"distillation" to the odors of nature, which include his own
odor:
The
smoke of my own breath,
Echoes, ripples, buzz'd whispers, love-root,
silk-thread, crotch and vine,
My respiration and inspiration, the beating of
my heart, the passing
of blood and air through my lungs,
The sniff
of green leaves and dry leaves, and of the shore and
dark-color'd sea-rocks,
and of hay in the
barn
Speaking about this
essence of life, he says, "I am mad for it to be in contact with me," meaning, he wants
to be up close and personal, experiencing these sights and smells
first-hand.
The speaker then switches gears, addressing
another person. He says:
Have you reckon'd a thousand acres much? have you
reckon'd the earth much?
Have you practis'd so long to learn to
read?
Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of
poems?
He implies by these
lines that long study from books is not enough to know the world. He urges this person
(or you, the reader, if you like) to get out and experience things for him- or herself,
to "listen to all sides and filter them from your self" in order to get to his or her
own individualized truth. Only then will that person know "the origin of all
poems."
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