# Of Many a Smutch’d Deed Reminiscent explained — Leaves of Grass

> Chapter companion for Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.

## What happens

The speaker acknowledges their own wickedness and capacity for worse deeds, yet remains composed in the face of nature and death, sustained by a mutual, boundless love.

## Themes in this chapter

### Comradeship and Love

The speaker's tender and boundless love for another, and the reciprocal love, is the foundation for their equanimity toward death.

### Death and Immortality

The speaker awaits death with perfect equanimity, suggesting a peaceful acceptance of mortality.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

The speaker reflects on their own wickedness and capacity for worse deeds, yet finds peace through love.

### Death

Death is awaited with perfect equanimity, as a natural part of life.

## Key lines

> Full of wickedness, I—of many a smutch’d deed reminiscent—of worse deeds capable, Yet I look composedly upon nature, drink day and night the joys of life, and await death with perfect equanimity, Because of my tender and boundless love for him I love and because of his boundless love for me.

Though I am full of wickedness and remember many stained deeds, and am capable of even worse, I still gaze calmly at nature, enjoy life's pleasures constantly, and face death with complete peace, all because of the deep, endless love I share with another.

_The speaker contrasts their flawed past with their present serenity, attributing it to a mutual, boundless love._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/of-many-a-smutch-d-deed-reminiscent
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters