# To-day and Thee explained — Leaves of Grass

> Chapter companion for Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.

## What happens

The chapter celebrates the culmination of all human history, culture, and achievement—from ancient civilizations to modern times—as a legacy gathered for the present moment and the individual reader.

## Themes in this chapter

### America and Its People

The chapter positions America and its people as the appointed winners and heirs of all past human achievement.

### Individuality and Self

The direct address to 'thee' emphasizes the individual's role as the recipient of the world's gathered legacy.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

The voice that proclaims the inheritance of all past ages for the present day and the reader.

### America

Implied as the heir to the long-stretched game of nations and time.

## Key lines

> The appointed winners in a long-stretch’d game; The course of Time and nations⁠—Egypt, India, Greece and Rome; The past entire, with all its heroes, histories, arts, experiments, Its store of songs, inventions, voyages, teachers, books, Garner’d for now and thee⁠—To think of it! The heirdom all converged in thee!

You are the destined victor in an extended contest spanning all of history—from Egypt, India, Greece, and Rome to the entire past with all its heroes, art, discoveries, and knowledge—all collected and given to you in the present moment.

_The passage asserts that the entirety of human civilization and culture is a legacy inherited by the contemporary individual._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/to-day-and-thee
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters