How does the audio version affect the experience of reading the poem?
The pauses between lines of the poem clarify the
speaker is distancing himself from the audience.
The patterns and beats in the lines of the poem
mirror and celebrate rhythms found in nature.
The unsteady rhythm of the poem emphasizes the
detachment humans feel from one another.
The lack of rhyme and meter in the poem highlights
Whitman's disdain for conformity and tradition.