Question

who is the speaker talking to.
51
the past and present wilt—i have fill’d them, emptied them,
and proceed to fill my next fold of the future.
listener up there! what have you to confide to me?
look in my face while i snuff the sidle of evening,
(talk honestly, no one else hears you, and i stay only a minute longer.)
do i contradict myself?
very well then i contradict myself,
(i am large, i contain multitudes.)
i concentrate toward them that are nigh, i wait on the door - slab.
who has done his day’s work? who will soonest be through with his supper?
who wishes to walk with me?
will you speak before i am gone? will you prove already too late?
52
the spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me, he complains of my gab and my loitering.
i too am not a bit tamed, i too am untranslatable,
i sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.
the last scud of day holds back for me,
it flings my likeness after the rest and true as any on the shadow’d wilds,
it coaxes me to the vapor and the dusk.
i depart as air, i shake my white locks at the runaway sun,
i effuse my flesh in eddies, and drift it in lacy jags.
i bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass i love,
if you want me again look for me under your boot soles.
you will hardly know who i am or what i mean,
but i shall be good health to you nevertheless,
and filter and fiber your blood.
failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
missing me one place search another,
i stop somewhere waiting for you.

1. snuff... evening put out the last light of day, which moves sideways across the sky.
2. nigh adj. near.
3. yawp n. hoarse cry or shout.
4. scud n. low, dark, wind - driven clouds.
5. effuse (ih fyooz) v. pour out.
6. bequeath (bih kweeth) v. hand down or pass on.

from song of myself

Explanation:

The speaker uses direct - address terms like "Listener up there" and "Will you speak before I am gone?". The language and tone suggest an open - ended invitation to a general audience. The poem "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman often addresses the universal self and the reader. The speaker seems to be inviting anyone who is present or reading to engage in a moment of self - exploration and connection.

Answer:

The general audience or the universal reader.