Leaves of Grass · Chapter
Chapter 17 explained
The narrator announces a new world order, with new races, politics, literatures, religions, and arts, and feels an inner stirring of unprecedented power and change.
What happens
The narrator announces a new world order, with new races, politics, literatures, religions, and arts, and feels an inner stirring of unprecedented power and change.
Themes in this chapter
America and Its People
The chapter envisions a new dominant race and new politics, literatures, and arts, embodying the American spirit of renewal and expansion.
The Poet as Prophet and Unifier
The narrator speaks as a prophetic voice announcing the coming transformations and awakening the inner forces of change.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
The voice announcing the new world and feeling the stirring of inner oceans.
Key passages
“Expanding and swift, henceforth, Elements, breeds, adjustments, turbulent, quick and audacious, A world primal again, vistas of glory incessant and branching, A new race dominating previous ones and grander far, with new contests, New politics, new literatures and religions, new inventions and arts.”
From now on, everything will be fast and bold—new elements, new peoples, new ways of living. The world will be reborn, with endless glorious possibilities. A new, greater race will rise, bringing new struggles, new governments, new books and beliefs, and new creations.
The narrator proclaims a radical transformation of society and culture.
“These, my voice announcing—I will sleep no more but arise, You oceans that have been calm within me! how I feel you, fathomless, stirring, preparing unprecedented waves and storms.”
I am the one declaring all this—I will no longer be passive but will rise up. I feel the vast, deep forces inside me, once calm, now beginning to move and gather for immense changes.
The narrator awakens to inner power and the coming upheaval.