# These I Singing in Spring explained — Leaves of Grass

> Chapter companion for Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.

## What happens

The narrator wanders through nature in spring, collecting tokens for lovers and comrades. He is joined by spirits of friends, both dead and alive, and distributes gifts, reserving a special calamus-root from the pond as a symbol of deep, mutual love.

## Themes in this chapter

### Comradeship and Love

The chapter is a celebration of comradeship, with the narrator collecting tokens for lovers and being surrounded by spirits of friends.

### Celebration of Nature and the Universe

The narrator moves through a vivid natural landscape, collecting wildflowers, vines, and other natural tokens.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

The poet who traverses the garden and forest, collecting tokens for lovers and comrades.

### Comradeship and Love

The spirits of dear friends, both dead and alive, gather around the narrator.

## Key lines

> These I singing in spring collect for lovers, (For who but I should understand lovers and all their sorrow and joy? And who but I should be the poet of comrades?)

In spring, I gather these tokens for lovers, because I alone truly comprehend their joys and sorrows, and I am destined to be the poet of comrades.

_The narrator asserts his unique role as the poet of love and comradeship._

> They the spirits of dear friends dead or alive, thicker they come, a great crowd, and I in the middle, Collecting, dispensing, singing, there I wander with them

Spirits of beloved friends, both living and deceased, gather around me in a dense crowd as I move among them, gathering and giving out tokens while singing.

_The narrator is surrounded by a multitude of friendly spirits, emphasizing the theme of comradeship._

> And this, O this shall henceforth be the token of comrades, this calamus-root shall, Interchange it youths with each other! let none render it back!

This calamus-root, drawn from the water, will from now on be the symbol of comradeship; let young people exchange it and never return it.

_The calamus-root is established as a sacred token of enduring comradeship._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/these-i-singing-in-spring
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters