In cantos 21-24, Walt Whitman continues with his idea of worshiping nature and singing to all of humanity. Especially, he continues to mention that he does not judge with the line "My gait is no fault-finder's or rejecter's gait" (Whitman, Canto 22). He constantly emphasizes that he is the non judgmental observer that acknowledges everything, appreciates everything, but does not make blunt judgements. This was idea was also present during the very controversial lines of "The crowd laugh at her background oaths, the men jeer and wink at each other, (Miserable! I do not laugh at your oaths or jeer you ;)," where he discuses the miserable scene of men judging a prostitute (Whitman, Canto 15). Cantos 21-24 work as an extension to many of the previous ideas that Whitman echoes throughout the poem. The poem describes the intimacy between Whitman and nature, but in Cantos 21-22, he takes the relationship to a new level. The language he uses seems as if he were discriminating a sexual encounter with Mother Earth and the sea. In general, cantos 21-24 is a deeper continuation of the previous cantos of the poem.
Yuhan Wang
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