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What does the line “I am large, I contain multitudes” mean in Song of Myself?

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“Walt Whitman, an American, one of the roughs, a kosmos” — Walt Whitman American poet Walt Whitman, photograph by Mathew Brady.

In his landmark poem "Song of Myself," Walt Whitman uses the line "I am large, I contain multitudes" to express his capacity to encompass contradictory beliefs, facets, and opinions within his own identity.12

The phrase follows his rhetorical question, "Do I contradict myself? / Very well then I contradict myself," suggesting that the poet’s self-conception is not limited to a single, static perspective. Instead, it reflects his expansive, "multitudinous" nature—a sense of self that is vast enough to hold innumerable elements, aspects, and experiences simultaneously. By asserting this, Whitman embraces the complexity of the human experience, rejecting the need for rigid consistency in favor of a more fluid, inclusive, and vital identity.123