Leaves of Grass · Chapter
Are You the New Person Drawn Toward Me? explained
The speaker warns a new acquaintance not to mistake his outward appearance for his true self, suggesting that the friendship or love they seek may be based on illusion rather than reality.
What happens
The speaker warns a new acquaintance not to mistake his outward appearance for his true self, suggesting that the friendship or love they seek may be based on illusion rather than reality.
Themes in this chapter
Individuality and Self
The speaker asserts his unique and unknowable nature, challenging the listener's assumptions about his identity.
Comradeship and Love
The poem questions the ease and purity of forming a loving or friendly bond, suggesting it may be fraught with misunderstanding.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
The speaker issues a cautionary warning to a new person drawn toward him, emphasizing the gap between appearance and reality.
Key passages
“Are you the new person drawn toward me? To begin with take warning, I am surely far different from what you suppose;”
If you are someone new approaching me, be warned: I am not at all what you imagine.
The speaker immediately establishes a tone of caution and self-revelation.
“Do you think the friendship of me would be unalloy’d satisfaction?”
Do you believe that being my friend will bring you pure and complete happiness?
The speaker questions the idealized view of friendship.
“Have you no thought O dreamer that it may be all maya, illusion?”
Have you never considered, dreamer, that this might all be an illusion?
The speaker invokes the concept of maya to suggest that the listener's perception is deceptive.