Whitman's Democracy "I speak the pass-word primeval, I give the sign of democracy, By God! I will Accept nothing which all cannot have their counterpart of on the same terms." This is Whitman's expression of the idea of democracy taken from "Song of Myself." In this all encompassing interpretation Whitman says that the freedom offered by democracy is for all not a chosen few. It included all people, not renouncing those of other races, creeds, or social standings. Examples of this acceptance are scattered through many of the poems Whitman wrote. In his poem "To a Common Prostitute" Whitman wrote: "Not till The