Praise for this book

"This is a nearly perfect introduction to Song of Myself, with a great Whitman scholar and a terrific poet who love this breathtaking, funny, heartbreaking visionary poem at the center of American literature, talking to each other and to you as they read it. There couldn't be a better guide except perhaps Whitman himself."

—Robert Hass, author, Time and Materials, Poems 1997–2005, National Book Award winner

"In this book, Ed Folsom and Christopher Merrill are the first to undertake an attentive and detailed reading of every section of Walt Whitman's Song of Myself. Their readings offer a gift of wit, wisdom, and delight that will shape conversations about Whitman's democratic epic for years to come."

—Betsy Erkkilä, Northwestern University

About the Authors

Ed Folsom, the Roy J. Carver Professor of English at the University of Iowa, is the editor of the Walt Whitman Quarterly Review, codirector of the online Whitman Archive, and editor of the Whitman Series at the University of Iowa Press. He lives in Iowa City, Iowa.

Christopher Merrill has published numerous collections of poetry, edited volumes, books of translations, and nonfiction, including Things of the Hidden God, and The Tree of the Doves. He is the director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. He lives in Iowa City, Iowa.

News

[05/06/2021] Read these two latest reviews of Flares. The Millions lists it as a must-read for May 2021 while poet Nina Murray raves that the words "induce an electric trance" on Compulsive Reader.

[04/30/2021] To celebrate the end of National Poetry Month, Chris joins A Mighty Blaze for their final installment of Poet's Cafe. He talks about Flares, poet-diplomacy, Myanmar, and more.

[04/23/2021] "Dividing Lines": On Poetry and Diplomacy, a new article by Chris on the potent connection between the two.

[03/21/2021] In Burma, 'they have come for the poets': read Chris's op-ed for The Dallas Morning News about the fate of Burmese poets in the aftermath of the military junta.

Christopher Merrill

Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” with a Complete Commentary (2016)

This book offers the most comprehensive and detailed reading to date of Song of Myself. One of the most distinguished critics in Whitman studies, Ed Folsom, and one of the nation's most prominent writers and literary figures, Christopher Merrill, carry on a dialog with Whitman, and with each other, section by section, as they invite readers to enter into the conversation about how the poem develops, moves, improvises, and surprises. Instead of picking and choosing particular passages to support a reading of the poem, Folsom and Merrill take Whitman at his word and interact with "every atom" of his work. The book presents Whitman's final version of the poem, arranged in fifty-two sections; each section is followed by Folsom's detailed critical examination of the passage, and then Merrill offers a poet's perspective, suggesting broader contexts for thinking about both the passage in question and the entire poem.

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