Cantos 21-24

Cantos 21-24 of Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” together have their own identity, similar yet distinguishable from the rest of the poem.  In these verses, Whitman begins discussion of evil.  Specifically, Whitman has the narrator claim that that character has an evil side.  Gone are self-glorifying statements such as this one from canto 5: “I have no mockings or arguments, I witness and wait.”  Instead, the narrator now makes self-accusatory statements as this from canto 22: “I am not the poet of goodness only, I do not decline to be the poet of wickedness also.”  Clearly, the tone has changed.  In cantos 1-20, the narrator said nothing bad about himself and spoke positively and happily about most everything.  Yet in cantos 21-24, the narrator’s voice becomes more negative as he lets the readers know about his potential for cruelty.  The narrator even goes on to deepen his connection to evil, saying later in canto 22, “Evil propels me and reform of evil propels me, I stand indifferent.”  Whether this narrator actually does perform evil acts is unproven at this point, but his discussion of them alone demonstrates a change from the opening twenty cantos.