Comparative Analysis of Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” and Leo Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Ilych” Death remains a frightening prospect for the living. It is a mystery, an unknown. No one can be certain what death feels like or where an individual soul‟s final destination might be until the journey is undertaken. Thoughts and feelings about death are deeply personal, and no two perspectives are identical. Walt Whitman‟s poem – now referred to as “Song of Myself” – was originally untitled when published in the 1855 collection, Leaves of Grass. “Song of Myself” is an autobiographical epic in which a 37-year-old man contemplates life and assesses the impact of death. Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy‟s 1886 novella, “The Death of Ivan Ilych,” also struggles to discover what life means. A 45-yearold judge, who is certain he has always lived an honorable life, is angered to discover he is terminally ill. As the pain of his illness becomes more intense, he speculates what purpose „doing the right thing‟ serves if you must endure such intense pain and suffering not to continue living but to die. Ivan Ilych interprets „living the good life‟ in terms of socioeconomic status and outward appearances. He climbed the social ladder and did whatever was necessary to achieve a high rank, dressed in fashionable attire as befitting a jurist of high community respect, and endured an unpleasant marriage for nearly twenty years without complaint. Should that not account for something? As his pain intensifies, Ivan Ilych begins feeling as if he has been victim