Self love, soul, and pride are themes often weaved into all forms of media such as movies, songs, paintings, or in this case, poetry; both Ambroggio and Whitman’s poems enunciate the many intricacies that make up their love of self in their respective poems, “We Are All Whitman: #2: Song of/to/My/Your/Self” and “I Sing the Body Electric.”
Though Ambroggio’s poem speaks more about the love of himself in terms of ethnicity/nationality and embracing the history, he does translate a similar rhythmic enumeration. As established in class, there is a movement to Whitman’s poem as it rolls up and down and fluctuates tones when read aloud, achieved by utilizing euphonic word combinations. Ambroggio also uses the same euphony as the structure of his poem also moves with a rhythm to it in spite of both poems lacking any formal meter or rhythmic pattern.
Much of the similarities between the two also comes from their long length and lack of breathing space when read aloud. Both poems drive themselves forward through momentum built by constant listing of nouns/ideas and anaphora such as Ambroggio’s “from El Salvador and Nicaragua. It comes from Mexico, Central America, from Costa Rica, Tikal, Guatemala” (46-48) and the entire body of Whitman’s poem as he goes through the many body parts while almost always leading with “the” as the anaphora. Though both poems do have the rhythm flow akin to the pumping of a heart, Abroggio takes a slower pace with his poem as there is more space between his listings whereas Whitman’s are majority single-word listings.
Not only does Ambroggio carry on Whitman’s sense of beating, electric rhythm, but his poem carries on the same sense of self love and pride, even if seen as a larger picture than just the physical body itself. It expands upon Whitman’s original idea of self love, soul, and pride, continuing a poetic lineage and paving a path for future forms of art so that they may further beyond the love of one’s people to something even greater.
Introduction to Poetry 