Holistic Walt Whitman Response

I have definitely been formerly acquainted with Whitman, though I haven't really ever read his poetry in-depth before.  The only one we read for class that I was already familiar with was "The Dalliance of Eagles", which I had read several times in high school and remembered liking very much.  In the reading for this class, though, I discovered that it wasn't my favorite Whitman poem, as several of the others jumped out at me as well.  Whitman is certainly a...poetic fellow, for lack of a better way of putting it, and it certainly makes an impression in his writing.  I'll now touch on a few of my favorite parts from these selected works..."One's Self I Sing" is definitely the poem that perplexed me the most. Whitman's opening phrase "one's-self" really puzzled me, as the two terms seemed kind of contradicting, and that same effect was soon employed again in the phrase "simple separate person."  What is it to be "separate," and thus different/unique, and yet still be "simple?"  (I also had a similar headache a little further down the road with "Facing West" and Whitman's calling himself "a child, very old).  The end of One's Self also really struck me...first things first, I always love it when writers refer to their muse, so Whitman definitely got a chuckle out of me there, and then I also thought it comically interesting that he writes so politically correctly with the line "The Female equally with the Male I sing."  So there's no discrimination going on in Walt's mind...good to know, Whitman.  In the end, I think Whitman has me straightened out, because I definitely think I share the image with him of his "Modern Man" living "Cheerful, for freest action form'd under the laws divine."  Definitely evidence of solid morals and ideals, and always a good goal to aspire towards, however impractical it may be.  Moving on to "Shut Not Your Doors"...I immediately thought it was hilarious that Whitman's disposition shift from one of utmost humility in "One's Self" to a hugely inflated ego, as he commands libraries to open their doors and shelves to his writing, "for that which was lacking on ll your well-fill'd shelves, yet needed most, I bring."  You definitely can't argue with that confidence...and it's also ironic that he would refer to libraries as "proud," yet embody this cocky disposition.  I found my favorite line from Whitman's hand in "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer," when he writes "Rising and gliding out I wonder'd off by myself, In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars."  This particular bit of Whitman's genius really resonated with me, because I very strongly identify with the importance of enjoying the little things in life, because despite how complex the world can be, especially when people are introduced, it really is the simplest things that makes all the difference in a life worth living.  "The Dalliance of the Eagles" is a poem I feel like I really don't need to give credit to; clearly it's a common favorite, considering how many times I've been assigned to read it while remaining ignorant of these other poems.  Still, I will say that I enjoyed revisiting it, and I loved the poem's articulate ending of "...their separate diverse flight, She hers, he his, pursuing" as much as ever.  "When Lilacs" was the only one not to make much of an impression on me.  I say that not because it is long...Milton's "Paradise Lost" is my favorite poem I've ever read...but simply because I found it so sombre and depressing.  Of course it had its moments, like any Whitman poem, but I for one am more partial to the open-ended, thoughtful optimism you find in "Astronomer," "One's Self," and "Dalliance."