‘That Music Always Round Me’ makes use of a common motif within Walt Whitman’s poetry: the unifying beauty of music. What makes this poem stand out is both its brevity and its devotion to exploring music not just as a symbol but as a sublime aural phenomenon.
One that is comprised of a plurality of sounds and voices — as well as meanings and emotions. As always, Whitman’s imagery is possessed by a vibrant intensity, each line adding a new layer of music to the grandiose symphony and chorus.
That Music Always Round Me Walt WhitmanThat music always round me, unceasing, unbeginning, yet long untaught I did not hear,But now the chorus I hear and am elated,A tenor, strong, ascending with power and health, with glad notes of daybreak I hear,A soprano at intervals sailing buoyantly over the tops of immense waves,A transparent base shuddering lusciously under and through the universe,The triumphant tutti, the funeral wailings with sweet flutes and violins, all these I fill myself with,I hear not the volumes of sound merely, I am moved by the exquisite meanings,I listen to the different voices winding in and out, striving, contending with fiery vehemence to excel each other in emotion;I do not think the performers know themselves—but now I think I begin to know them.
Summary
‘That Music Always Round Me’ by Walt Whitman celebrates the harmony and beauty inherent to music.
‘That Music Always Round Me’ begins with the speaker describing the music they hear as “unceasing, unbeginning.” But despite its eternal nature, they only recently were taught how to hear it. Now that they can, the speaker says they are overjoyed because of it. They then describe the music they hear: there is the sound of a tenor, soprano, and bass. There is also the sound of “funeral wailings with sweet flites and violins.”
The speaker then reveals that they aren’t simply concerned with the volume of such music. Instead, they are also touched by the different meanings behind it. As the speaker listens, they’re able to pick out the different voices that come “winding in and out” of the music. This leads to conflict as they strive against one another, “contending with fiery vehemence to excel each other in emotion.”
The speaker muses that these different voices vying for dominance must not know one another — yet in listening to them, the speaker feels they are beginning to become acquainted with them.
Structure and Form
‘That Music Always Round Me’ is written in Whitman’s signature free verse style. It is comprised of nine lines that lack any formal meter or rhyme scheme. The poem does possess a distinct cadence through both his use of caesura and diction.
Literary Devices
‘That Music Always Round Me’ uses some of the following literary devices:
- Alliteration: the repetition of the same sound within successive words, as in the line, “unceasing, unbeginning, yet long untaught” (1).
- Auditory Imagery: imagery that centers on a description of sound; “A tenor, strong, ascending with power” (3) or “the funeral wailings with sweet flutes and violins” (6).
- Kinesthetic Imagery: imagery that focuses on movement, as when the speaker refers to a “soprano at intervals sailing buoyantly over the tops of immense waves” (4) or when they visualize the voices as clamoring over one another, “the different voices winding in and out, striving, contending with fiery vehemence to excel each other in emotion” (8).
- Metaphor: throughout the poem, the speaker describes the music in spiritual and cosmic terms; “A transparent base shuddering lusciously under and through the universe” (5).
Detailed Analysis
Lines 1-6
That music always round me, unceasing, unbeginning, yet long untaught I did not hear,
But now the chorus I hear and am elated,
A tenor, strong, ascending with power and health, with glad notes of daybreak I hear,
A soprano at intervals sailing buoyantly over the tops of immense waves,
A transparent base shuddering lusciously under and through the universe,
The triumphant tutti, the funeral wailings with sweet flutes and violins, all these I fill myself with,
The first six lines of ‘That Music Always Round Me’ finds the speaker enamored by the pleasing sounds they hear and preoccupied with a desire to describe them fully for the reader. Right away, they characterize it as both “unceasing, unbeginning” (1) as Whitman’s diction taps into this spiritual perception of the music. Like a religious revelation, an ability to hear the “chorus” is granted to the speaker, leaving them in an “elated” (2) rapture.
The speaker then goes to great lengths to describe the sounds they can now hear. Whitman uses a breathtaking array of images and figurative language to illustrate the tones that comprise the melodies heard. From a “tenor, strong, ascending…with glad notes of daybreak” (3) to the swell of a “soprano…sailing buoyantly over the tops of immense waves” (4).
Even when the music starts to echo the mournful wails heard at funerals, it continues to invigorate the speaker, as it’s made euphonious through the sound of “sweet flutes and violins” (6). Yet the reason the music holds such power over the speaker isn’t solely because of its aural beauty but has more to do with the previously alluded-to eternal and thus universal nature of the music. It’s a motif the poet hints at numerous times, as when they refer to it sounding “under and through the universe” (5).
Lines 7-9
I hear not the volumes of sound merely, I am moved by the exquisite meanings,
I listen to the different voices winding in and out, striving, contending with fiery vehemence to excel each other in emotion;
I do not think the performers know themselves—but now I think I begin to know them.
In the last three lines of ‘That Music Always Round Me,‘ the speaker clarifies what they find most inspiring or captivating about the music. Comprised of different sounds and voices, Whitman underscores the presence of a glorious and desirable plurality within the tangle of noise. As the speaker declares: “I hear not the volumes of sound merely, I am moved by the exquisite meanings” (7). In other words, it is not just the aesthetic splendor of music that they fancy but its substance as well.
With a democratic spirit, the speaker endeavors to “listen to the different voices winding in and out, striving, contending with fiery vehemence to excel each other in emotion” (8). Here the imagery visualizes a vociferous auditory confrontation between the different voices, contrasting the speaker’s previously harmonious description of the music.
This conflict echoes many of the anxieties Whitman had concerning the splintering of the U.S. that started to occur in the years before the outbreak of the American Civil War. But it also reveals a sliver of truth that is as unfortunately persistent and eternal as the music itself: dissimilarities amongst people inspire just as much celebration as it does turmoil.
The poem ends with the speaker expressing the belief that these various performers are not truly acquainted with one another — unlike the speaker, they are concerned only with the rancor of their song and not the meaning of each other’s words. Yet some hope is kindled in the speaker expressing the belief that because they possess such a perspective, there is room for some kind of reconciliation.
FAQs
One of the poem’s central themes is unity — which is expressed in the aesthetic beauty of the music and the words being sung by its many voices. The music becomes an extended metaphor for the ways in which harmony isn’t a result of the eradication of differences but rather an embrace of them.
This poem was first published in Whitman’s famous collection ‘Leaves of Grass’ in 1855. Like many of the poet’s works during this time, they echoed an urgent need for unity and camaraderie amongst U.S. citizenry in the tense build-up to the American Civil War.
Whitman often uses music as a symbol and metaphor in his poems. Here, the music represents the very fabric of the U.S. as a society and nation. Like his famous ‘I Hear America Singing,’ it is a poem that uses music to illustrate the resounding variety of life.
The speaker borrows a word from the world of music to invoke the rest of the voices he has not yet called upon or described. “Tutti” is used to indicate the remainder of a group should begin playing, usually after a solo.
Similar Poems
If you enjoyed this poem by Walt Whitman, be sure to check out a few more of his works below:
- ‘I Sing the Body Electric’ – this poem also uses the motif of singing to articulate the poet’s evocative celebration of the body.
- ‘I Hear America Singing’ – this poem is one of the poet’s most famous and similarly uses the auditory imagery of song to illustrate patriotic pride.
- ‘When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer’ – this poem reveals the beauty of nature found in studying (or listening to those who study) it.
