Read the quotation from "song of myself."

it is not far, it is within reach,
perhaps you have been on it since you were born and did not know,
perhaps it is everywhere on water and on land.
shoulder your duds dear son, and i will mine, and let us hasten forth,
wonderful cities and free nations we shall fetch as we go.
in this quotation, the first stanza has a different style from the second section.

what does this suggest about whitman’s overall style in the poem?

that whitman does not have a distinctive style as a poet
that whitman’s style allows for various kinds of language
that whitman is comfortable using traditional styles of poetry
that whitman’s style conforms to age-old rules of poetry

that Whitman’s style allows for various kinds of language

Whitman does have a distinct style with his long lines and free verse. He abandoned the more formal structures of rhyme and meter. This made his poetry very recognizable. Since he was not restricted by the more traditional poetic structures, he had more freedom for various kinds of language. The other options are simply not true. We don't see evidence of traditional styles or age-old rules of poetry in this quotation.

wordsworth tends to see nature as 'out there'; a presence which surrounds humans, and contributes to human life, but is different from humans. if you look at a typical wordsworth poem (there was a boy, ye knew him well ye rocks) - wordsworth talks about nature as something that needs to be learned about and understood, nature is different from us.  

if you look at a byron poem (the isles of greece is a good one) - byron looks at nature mainly for what it already means to man. wordsworth will look at a landscape and see the mountains, trees, valleys, and rivers as almost spiritual presences - wordsworth wants to get to know nature.  

byron will look at the same landscape and he will want to know who lives there, what are the villages? are there any farms or mines, is there some history?  

wordsworth looks at nature for what it is; byron is forever asking what it means.  

wordsworth thinks that humans are part of nature; byron thinks that nature is part of being human