Literature is convoluted and ambiguous. Determining whether a piece of writing is literature is a journey of analyzing, questioning, and theorizing. “I Sing Body Electric” is one of many of Walt Whitman’s infamous poems that can be classified as literature. The organization and the themes provide a deep and thought-provoking meaning, making it literature.

      This poem is like a quaternion, but as opposed to four divided sections, there are nine (a nanonion?). Each section has its own central idea. The first section is about the narrator’s love and admiration for the human body, expressing how it should not be judged or harmed. However, in the second section, he begins listing random people and their routines or whereabouts. In the third section, he honed down on one specific individual: a farmer who fathers five sons and an unknown amount of daughters, who all love and adore him dearly. He finishes the section wishing how he could meet this man, how anyone would be enamoured by his presence. The fourth section continues this theme of joy and contentment when surrounded by people and their touch, expressing how that is all he truly wants. The fifth section is about the narrator’s very graphic adoration of the female body, whereas the sixth section discusses his respect for male-kind. Both the seventh and eight section where about a slave-auction he attended, despite his hatred for this repulsive and dehumanizing market. He speaks about how all people are people, and should be treated with love and respect. The ninth section holds the conclusion of his panegyrics of human soul and body love. The division of these nine sections are very intentional and well-thought through. The narrator begins by stating what can be interpreted as the topic of the poem: human soul and body should be loved and strike people with awe. He continues by giving examples of the lives of others, and then “zooms in” to one particular common farmer. The joy and love in his family touches his heart, furthering his love for mankind. He specifies the qualities he loved about women and men, which then led to the conversation of the enslaved men and women at the auction. All sections when read at face value seem unrelated to each other, but with thorough analysis, it can be seen that Whitman’s purpose of this poem is to show how humans are all related to each other, and should all be respected.