Leaves of Grass · Chapter
Song of the Redwood-Tree explained
A majestic redwood tree, personified as a dying giant, sings its farewell as it is felled by loggers.
What happens
A majestic redwood tree, personified as a dying giant, sings its farewell as it is felled by loggers. The tree celebrates its life and its sacrifice for the coming of a new, democratic civilization, embodied by the 'race of races' that will build a grand future on the American continent.
Themes in this chapter
Celebration of Nature and the Universe
The redwood is portrayed as a sublime, ancient being whose life and death are part of a cosmic cycle, celebrating its existence even as it falls.
America and Its People
The poem envisions America as a 'race of races' destined to build a grand, democratic civilization, with the redwood's sacrifice enabling this future.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
The poet who listens to the redwood's song and interprets its meaning for humanity.
- America
The land and the emerging nation for which the redwood sacrifices itself, envisioned as a place of democracy and industry.
- Democracy
The ideal of equality and collective progress that the redwood heralds as the future of the continent.
Key passages
“Farewell my brethren, / Farewell O earth and sky, farewell ye neighboring waters, / My time has ended, my term has come.”
The redwood tree bids a final goodbye to its surroundings, accepting that its life cycle is complete.
The tree's dignified acceptance of death as a natural and necessary transition.
“I see the race of races, / The dominant race, the race of the future, / That shall possess the earth, and build upon it cities, farms, and ships.”
The redwood envisions a new, dominant human civilization that will use the land to create a prosperous society.
The tree's prophetic vision of American expansion and progress.