Problem: Whitman expresses his major poetic principles in the Preface to Leaves of Grass. How does Whitman put one of those principles into practice in "Song of Myself"? Whitman lays out what an American poet should do. Where does Whitman practice what he preaches in 1-20? Whitman talks about many different ideas. Pick one and then apply that "theme" to a passage in one section from 1-20.