# Then Last of All explained — Leaves of Grass

> Chapter companion for Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.

## What happens

The chapter reflects on the final, encompassing meaning drawn from the natural world—specifically the tides—and how their rhythmic swell and ebb mirror the poet's own creative and mortal journey, culminating in the song itself.

## Themes in this chapter

### Death and Immortality

The final chapter contemplates the ebb and flow of existence, suggesting a mystic human meaning that transcends the individual.

### Celebration of Nature and the Universe

The tides and shores are central metaphors, celebrating the natural cycles that give shape to life and art.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

The speaker reflects on being enclosed and shaped by the tides, embodying the mystic human meaning.

### Walt Whitman

The poet identifies with the tides, asserting that his brain and voice are formed by their law.

## Key lines

> Then last of all, caught from these shores, this hill, Of you O tides, the mystic human meaning: Only by law of you, your swell and ebb, enclosing me the same, The brain that shapes, the voice that chants this song.

Finally, from this landscape and the tides, I grasp the hidden human significance: I am governed by your rhythm of rise and fall, which also surrounds me, forming the mind and the voice that sings this poem.

_The poet concludes that his creative and mortal self is inseparable from the natural law of the tides._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/then-last-of-all
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters