Song of Myself: Section 50 - Summary & Analysis

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There is that in me—I do not know what it is—but I know it is in me.
Wrench’d and sweaty—calm and cool then my body becomes,
I sleep—I sleep long.
I do not know it—it is without name—it is a word unsaid,
It is not in any dictionary, utterance, symbol.
Something it swings on more than the earth I swing on,
To it the creation is the friend whose embracing awakes me.
Perhaps I might tell more. Outlines! I plead for my brothers and sisters.
Do you see O my brothers and sisters?
It is not chaos or death—it is form, union, plan—it is eternal life—it is Happiness.

EXPLANATION WITH CRITICAL ANALYSIS

There is that in me - I do not know what it is but, I know it is in me.

      In this poem, especially in these lines, the poet after experiencing the mystic trance, finds a different self within him. He sees a big change within himself. He has found ultimate happiness.

SUMMARY AND CRITICAL APPRECIATION

      The poet after experiencing the mystic trance after the journey of his soul, finds an inexplicable feeling surging throughout him. This section is an expression of that inexplicable feeling which is called, happiness. He has felt tired after the mystical journey. He cannot find words to depict his beholding the Divine in his mystic trance. But he has undergone a certain change within himself.

      He explains that he has realized his self, and with this self-realization his mystical journey is over. His soul accepts that there is no “chaos or death” in this Universe. Everything in this Universe has a certain order maintained under the able guidance of the Divine who plans everything. Death is not the final say of life. It is a beginning into another life. The poet hails all the people as brothers and sisters and insists that life is full of happiness. It is up to mankind to make the best use of this happiness. What the poet has realized of the self, soul, and the Divine, of Life, death, and the Universe, he places before the readers. He is an optimist. He asks the readers also to dwell on this optimistic attitude which ensures happiness. ‘Happiness’ is not something confined to a dictionary, nor is it to be bought anywhere. It is within the mind. It is up to mankind to tap it and spread it everywhere. That is the message of the poet to mankind.

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