Leaves of Grass · Chapter
Excelsior explained
The speaker declares an insatiable ambition to surpass all others in every virtue and experience—going farther, being more just, more cautious, happier, more lavish, prouder, bolder, truer, more benevolent, more loved, more physically perfe
What happens
The speaker declares an insatiable ambition to surpass all others in every virtue and experience—going farther, being more just, more cautious, happier, more lavish, prouder, bolder, truer, more benevolent, more loved, more physically perfect, and more ecstatic in song—culminating in a mad devotion to creating joyous hymns for the entire earth.
Themes in this chapter
Individuality and Self
The speaker's relentless self-assertion and quest to outdo all others in virtue and experience embodies the celebration of the individual self.
Celebration of Nature and the Universe
The speaker's desire to make 'joyous hymns for the whole earth' reflects a cosmic embrace of all existence.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
The speaker asserts himself as the happiest, proudest, and most ambitious being, driven to exceed all human limits.
Key passages
“Who has gone farthest? for I would go farther, And who has been just? for I would be the most just person of the earth, And who most cautious? for I would be more cautious, And who has been happiest? O I think it is I—I think no one was ever happier than I, And who has lavish’d all? for I lavish constantly the best I have, And who proudest? for I think I have reason to be the proudest son alive—for I am the son of the brawny and tall-topt city, And who has been bold and true? for I would be the boldest and truest being of the universe, And who benevolent? for I would show more benevolence than all the rest, And who has receiv’d the love of the most friends? for I know what it is to receive the passionate love of many friends, And who possesses a perfect and enamour’d body? for I do not believe any one possesses a more perfect or enamour’d body than mine, And who thinks the amplest thoughts? for I would surround those thoughts, And who has made hymns fit for the earth? for I am mad with devouring ecstasy to make joyous hymns for the whole earth.”
The speaker challenges every human achievement, vowing to surpass them all in justice, caution, happiness, generosity, pride, boldness, truth, benevolence, friendship, physical perfection, thought, and song—declaring himself the happiest and most ambitious, driven by ecstasy to create hymns for all the earth.
This passage captures the core of the 'Excelsior' quest: an unending, ecstatic drive to outdo every human ideal and celebrate the entire world.