Leaves of Grass

Song of Myself (1892 version) by Walt Whitman

Explain what this part of the poem means: 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.

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Whitman seems to be addressing his own death here. His body feels colder and he is weary. He sleeps more and his zest for life is waning. The world "swings" on a mystery that the speaker finds solace in. The speaker notes that his life is part of the greater universe: all is connected.