Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?

Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

Abstract Meaning

In his poem “O Me, O Life,” Walt Whitman questions the futility of life. Whitman ponders on the rapid advancement of our world through economy’s eyes. Though he admits to the disappointment that can be felt through human achievement, he also conducts an argument through a powerful metaphor at the end of his poem recognizing the importance of human purpose, “Answer… That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” Whitman argues that every person is contributing to human existence because they are living and breathing. He connects this idea to the rest of his poem by using a question and answer format. At the beginning of his poem he introduces his final argument, “Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,/ Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the/ foolish”. Whitman conducts his question to the uselessness of life (the question) and hints his audience to his argument by comparing faithless and foolish. This conveys the idea that being faithless about life is “foolish.” This comparison also relates to industrialization (advancement of economy) through the reference to trains and cities, which also