It’s interesting that just as Whitman’s body is now recycled into endless other bodies, of plants, of people, and animals, his words are also recycled by an endless stream of readers into continually new ideas and interpretations. Though he couldn’t achieve it himself, it is achieved by others”. I agree with what the speaker in the video says when she states that “Whitman wants us to feel that he is present all around us. In addition to illustrating the idea of the cycle of life, by connecting the last section to an earlier section, Whitman is physically creating a repeating pattern or cycle in his poem. The idea of dead life supporting new life is a crucial theme throughout the poem. The speaker uses a metaphor comparing the grass to “the beautiful uncut hair of graves.” This metaphor is important since it illustrates the idea that earth is a grave because the soil is made up partly of decomposed bodies. The grass is also metaphorically a child of other plants and the “handkerchief” of God, left as a token of God’s presence. In section 52, Whitman gives or “bequeaths” himself to “the grass I love.” This line connects back to the image of section 6 earlier in the poem where the speaker describes grass as a symbol of his “hopeful” disposition. Since it is the last section, I thought about how important it was to the themes presented in the poem and so, I wanted to understand why Whitman chose this to end his poem. I chose this video because it gave me a better understanding of the significance of section 52.
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