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Leaves of Grass · Chapter
Beautiful Women explained
A brief reflection on the beauty of women of all ages, asserting that the old are more beautiful than the young.
What happens
A brief reflection on the beauty of women of all ages, asserting that the old are more beautiful than the young.
Themes in this chapter
Celebration of Nature and the Universe
The poem celebrates the natural beauty of women across all ages, finding profound beauty in the old as well as the young.
Key passages
“Women sit or move to and fro, some old, some young, The young are beautiful—but the old are more beautiful than the young.”
Women of all ages are observed in motion; while youth has its beauty, the aged possess an even greater beauty.
Whitman challenges conventional notions of beauty by elevating the beauty of older women above that of the young.