# 22 explained — Leaves of Grass

> Chapter companion for Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.

## What happens

The narrator addresses the sea, resigning himself to its power and mystery, embracing both its life-giving and death-dealing aspects. He declares his integral connection to all phases of existence, affirming sympathy for both love and hate, virtue and vice, and rejecting moral absolutism. He celebrates the present moment as the greatest wonder, beyond past or future judgments.

## Themes in this chapter

### Unity of Soul and Body

The narrator declares 'I am integral with you, I too am of one phase and of all phases,' merging his being with the sea and all existence.

### Death and Immortality

The sea is described as holding 'always-ready graves,' yet the narrator embraces it, suggesting a cycle of death and renewal.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

Resigns himself to the sea, embraces all phases of existence, and attests to sympathy for both good and evil.

### Death

Referenced as 'unshovell'd yet always-ready graves,' highlighting the sea's association with death and immortality.

## Key lines

> I am not the poet of goodness only, I do not decline to be the poet of wickedness also.

I celebrate both virtue and vice, refusing to limit my poetry to one moral stance.

_Whitman rejects binary moral categories, embracing the full spectrum of human experience._

> This minute that comes to me over the past decillions, There is no better than it and now.

The present moment, arriving after countless ages, is the most valuable time of all.

_Whitman exalts the immediate present as the pinnacle of existence, surpassing all history._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/22
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters