Question

read the quotation from \song of myself\
i loafe and invite my soul,
i lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.
how do these lines reflect the poet’s general style?
○ they show the poet’s love of highly ornate language.
○ they reveal a formal, historical interpretation.
○ they show the poem’s relaxed, candid tone.
○ they reveal natural processes in painstaking detail

Explanation:

In "Song of Myself", Walt Whitman's style is known for being free - flowing, relaxed, and candid. The lines “I loafe and invite my soul, I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass” use simple, casual language (“loafe”, “at my ease”) that conveys a relaxed and open tone. The first option is incorrect as the language here is not highly ornate. The second option is wrong because the lines have no formal or historical interpretation. The fourth option is incorrect as the lines do not give painstaking details of natural processes, just a simple observation.

Answer:

C. They show the poem’s relaxed, candid tone.