Leaves of Grass · Chapter
Spirit Whose Work Is Done explained
The speaker addresses the spirit of the Civil War, now that the conflict is over, asking it to leave its fierce energy and passion behind so that it may live on in his songs for future generations.
What happens
The speaker addresses the spirit of the Civil War, now that the conflict is over, asking it to leave its fierce energy and passion behind so that it may live on in his songs for future generations.
Themes in this chapter
Death and Immortality
The spirit of the war is described as 'pale as death' and its work is done, yet the speaker seeks to immortalize its energy in song.
The Poet as Prophet and Unifier
The poet acts as a vessel to preserve the spirit of the war and transmit its power to the future through his chants.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
The speaker who invokes the war spirit and asks to be filled with its rage.
- Walt Whitman
Implied as the poet who channels the war's spirit into his chants.
Key passages
“Touch my mouth ere you depart, press my lips close, Leave me your pulses of rage—bequeath them to me—fill me with currents convulsive”
Before you leave, kiss me and give me your furious energy, so that I am filled with trembling passion.
The speaker asks the war spirit to physically impart its intensity to him.
“Let them scorch and blister out of my chants when you are gone, Let them identify you to the future in these songs.”
May these raging feelings burn through my poems after you have left, so that future generations will know you through my words.
The poet intends for the war's spirit to be preserved and recognized in his work.