# Chapter 17 explained — Leaves of Grass

> Chapter companion for Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

The voice announcing the new world and feeling the stirring of inner oceans.

## Key lines

> 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._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/17
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters