“As​ ​Adam,​ ​early​ ​in​ ​the​ ​morning,
Walking​ ​forth​ ​from​ ​the​ ​bower,​ ​refresh’d​ ​with​ ​sleep;
Behold​ ​me​ ​where​ ​I​ ​pass—hear​ ​my​ ​voice—approach,
Touch​ ​me—touch​ ​the​ ​palm​ ​of​ ​your​ ​hand​ ​to​ ​my​ ​Body​ ​as​ ​I​ ​pass; Be​ ​not​ ​afraid​ ​of​ ​my​ ​Body.”

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This incredibly expressive poem moved me deeply, like much of Walt Whitman’s other poems which are deeply saturated in humanist thought and ideals. In alluding to the Garden of Eden and Adam, the first man, Whitman directly addresses the listener/reader with an exposed expression of comradery and intimacy. As a man who lived to give a voice to American brotherhood throughout the American Civil War, Whitman volunteered as a nurse in Army hospitals, and witnessed the ripping apart of American families and of the American nation. Whitman’s spiritually pure portrayal of intimacy reaches beyond just mere physical sexuality, to a pure and healing force of love and brotherhood​ ​which​ ​he​ ​believed​ ​would​ ​renew​ ​and​ ​heal​ ​a​ ​broken​ ​society.