A Dream of Nature

I initially chose the entry “Thoughts Under an Oak --A Dream” because in “Song of Myself” Whitman expresses his infatuation with nature and its purities.  But upon reading it I found that it connects to Whitman on a multitude of other levels as well.  Whitman speaks of nature in an eloquent manner, as if he only feels whole when he is completely emerged in it’s elements.  He speaks of the wind as being “Nature’s mighty whisper” that flows over everything and takes on the quality of being a connective element.  This concept in a sense parallels that of his own thoughts and contemplations, seeing as under the oak tree he “muses” over his life “connecting events, dates, as links of a chain” etc.  Whitman’s thoughts are like that of the wind, yet while he reflects upon his life and himself, he still finds time to stop and take note of the beauty in the nature around him.

There is an intimate quality to this journal entry that only further deepens my understanding of Leaves of Grass as a whole.  In the book Whitman yearns for that sensual and connected feeling between the reader and the poem, and in this entry it is as if he is the reader, and the nature around him is the poem that he must unite with.  The entry demonstrates his sensual connection with nature, and through that connection we learn that he is able to adequately analyze his own life, without forgetting the importance of the life that surrounds him.