# By Blue Ontario’s Shore explained — Leaves of Grass > Chapter companion for Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. ## What happens The poet stands by the shore of Lake Ontario and delivers a prophetic declaration of American democracy, individuality, and the unity of soul and body. He calls for a new literature and a new kind of poet who embodies the spirit of the nation, celebrating the common people and the land itself. ## Themes in this chapter ### Democracy and Equality The poem is a powerful affirmation of democratic ideals, equality of all people, and the collective spirit of the nation. ### The Poet as Prophet and Unifier Whitman casts himself as a prophetic voice who will sing the new world into being and unite the people through poetry. ## Character check-ins ### Narrator The speaker who stands by the shore and proclaims the vision of democracy and the poet's role. ### America The nation itself is addressed and personified as the subject of the poet's song. ### Democracy The central ideal celebrated and proclaimed as the foundation of the new world. ## Key lines > By blue Ontario's shore, / As I mused of these warlike days and of peace return'd, and the dead that return no more, / A Phantom gigantic superb, with stern visage accosted me, / Chant me the poem, it said, that comes from the soul of America, chant me the carol of victory, / And strike up the marches of Libertad, marches of powerful and free. While standing by the shore of Lake Ontario, thinking about the recent war and the peace that followed, a huge, majestic phantom appeared and commanded me to sing the poem that springs from America's soul—a song of victory and freedom. _The opening lines set the scene and introduce the divine command to create a national epic._ > I say the whole earth and all the stars in the sky are for religion's sake. / I say no man has ever yet been half devout enough, / None has ever yet adored or worship'd half enough, / None has begun to think how divine he himself is, and how certain the future is. I declare that the entire universe exists for spiritual purposes. No one has been devout enough, and no one has fully realized their own divinity or the certainty of the future. _Whitman emphasizes the sacredness of the individual and the universe, a core theme of his transcendentalism._ > I swear I begin to see the meaning of these things, / It is not the earth, it is not America who is so great, / It is I who am great or to be great, it is You up there, or any one, / It is to walk rapidly through civilizations, governments, theories, / Through poems, pageants, shows, to form individuals. I now understand that the greatness is not in the land or the nation itself, but in each individual person. The purpose of all human achievements is to shape free individuals. _Whitman shifts the focus from collective greatness to the primacy of the individual soul._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/by-blue-ontario-s-shore - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters