"it is Happiness...."See in text(Text of Whitman's Poem)
Whitman possibly alludes to a famous passage from the United States Declaration of Independence, which was signed on July 4th, 1776. In it, Americans are granted the inalienable right to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” The question of what happiness is and how it is achieved is of the utmost importance throughout “Song of Myself.” At the end of the poem, the speaker seems to guide the reader to identify “Happiness” as the greater context of the universe and all creations; for, even in the midst of “chaos and death,” there is a “form,” “union,” and “plan” to justify everything that happens. It seems, then, that examining this plan and one’s position within it in the present moment will bring true happiness.
"Kronos, Zeus his son, and Hercules his grandson..."See in text(Text of Whitman's Poem)
Whitman alludes to the Greek gods Kronos and Zeus, as well as the demigod Hercules. According to Greek mythology, Kronos was the first-generation leader of the Titans, who were pre-Olympian gods. Kronos was overthrown by his son, Zeus, the sky and thunder god who came to rule over the gods at Mount Olympus. Hercules, however, is not a god; rather, he is Kronos’s grandson and Zeus’s son by a mortal woman, Alcmene.
"an old-time sea-fight..."See in text(Text of Whitman's Poem)
Whitman likely alludes to the Battle of Flamborough Head, a “sea-fight” that took place off of the coast of England during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). This particular battle took place on September 23, 1779, between American Captain John Paul Jones’s Bonhomme Richard and British Captain Richard Pearson’s Serapis ships. The battle lasted for three-and-a-half hours and, though it was won by the Americans, roughly one hundred and fifty people lost their lives on both sides.
"The second First-day morning they were brought out in squads and
massacred, it was beautiful early summer,
The work commenced about five o'clock and was over by eight...."See in text(Text of Whitman's Poem)
Whitman alludes to the Goliad Massacre, an event that took place on March 27, 1836, during the Texas Revolution (1835-1836), in which American colonists and Texas Mexicans revolted against Mexico for independence. After the Battle of Coleto on March 19 and 20, from which the Mexican army emerged victorious, Mexican General and President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna ordered the execution of the prisoners taken from the Texian Army. The massacre took place in the town of Goliad, Texas, and was carried out by Mexican Lt. Colonel José Nicolás de la Portilla.
"The President..."See in text(Text of Whitman's Poem)
Whitman likely alludes to either President James K. Polk, who was the president of the United States when Whitman began writing “Song of Myself” in 1847, or President Franklin Pierce, who was president from 1853 to 1857. That Whitman did not specify the President’s identity reinforces the abstract language that pervades the poem’s fifteenth section—even the leader of the United States is portrayed as a repeating, renewable figure.
