Song of Myself by Whitman begins as a praise of himself. He wants the world to know how great of a writer he his and he feels that everyone is blessed by his presence. Whitman states that he “celebrates” and “sings” his self which shows just how arrogant he really is. Song of Myself 1 shows us Whitman’s selfish side, but as the writings progress and he becomes older and wiser, his writings are no longer only about him. Throughout the entire work, Whitman use symbolism to get many key issues across to the reader. In the sixth section of the poem the use of symbolism is displayed as Whitman tries to explain to the child what the grass was. This section of the poem was written during the Civil War and the grass represented democracy and death. Democracy, like grass, is everywhere and grass feeds on the graves of the dead, which in turn allows for more growth. In the final section of the poem, Whitman talks about his yawp and how he would be remembered. His yawp can be a symbol for everything or a symbol for absolutely nothing, depending on how one viewed him. He states that if one wants to find him he will be under their boot-sole. Whitman grew throughout the entire poem. In the beginning he was really self-centered, but as time progressed he became more realistic and realized that time on earth was short and everyone must die.