“…Every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this air…”

This shows his belief that human life is connected to everything in nature. When we die, we simply return to this natural world. He does not separate life and death. He treats them as two steps of the same journey.

When he watches the grass, the trees, the air, and the sunlight, he feels they all hold a message. They remind him that nothing stops in nature. Everything continues in another form. So death, for Whitman, is not darkness or fear. It is just a continuation of living.

The Grass as a Symbol of Immortality: One of the most beautiful and important ideas about immortality appears in Section 6. A child asks Whitman,

“What is the grass?”

Whitman tries many answers. Each answer shows his belief in life after death. He guesses that grass might be the “uncut hair of graves.” It means the grass grows from the soil where people are buried. So, for Whitman, grass is a sign of new life. He says,

“The smallest sprout shows there is really no death.”

This means even the tiniest plant proves that life continues. Something always grows from what dies. For him, death is not an end. It is a change, a beginning of something else. This is Whitman’s idea of immortality.

The Soul and Its Endless Life: Whitman also believes strongly in the immortality of the soul. In Section 5, he talks to his own soul and feels a deep peace. He says that everyone—men, women, young, old—is part of one large spiritual family. This united soul can never die. So immortality, for him, is both personal and universal.

Death as Transformation: At the end of the poem, especially in Sections 51 and 52, Whitman prepares to leave the physical world. He is not afraid. He becomes even more confident about immortality. He says,

“I depart as air.”

This means he will become part of the wind, the sky, and the natural world. His body will return to the earth. His spirit will remain with the people who read his words.

He even tells the reader to look for him under their boot-soles. This shows that he believes he will live again in the soil, the grass, and the life of nature. He promises that even if people do not understand him at first, he will still give them “good health.” This means his spirit, ideas, and energy will continue to help others. Death cannot remove him. He becomes part of everything.

In conclusion, Whitman’s idea of death and immortality in “Song of Myself” is full of hope, comfort, and unity. He sees death as a return to nature, not as an ending. He believes the soul is eternal, and nature shows this truth through the growing grass and the endless cycle of life. In this poem, immortality means becoming one with the universe and living on in every part of the natural world.