Leaves of Grass · Chapter
What Best I See in Thee explained
The poem addresses U.
What happens
The poem addresses U. S. Grant upon his return from a world tour, celebrating not his military victories or his encounters with foreign royalty, but the invisible presence of the common American people—farmers, soldiers, and comrades from the Western states—who walk with him and are justified in his journey.
Themes in this chapter
America and Its People
The poem elevates the ordinary people of the Western states—farmers, soldiers, comrades—as the true justification for Grant's global recognition.
Democracy and Equality
Grant's worth is found not in his association with kings or military glory, but in his invisible companionship with the democratic masses.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
The speaker addresses U. S. Grant directly, offering a personal reflection on what is most admirable in him.
- Washington
Mentioned as a figure whose seat of ruling in peace Grant occupied.
- America
Implied through the reference to the Western states and the common people who represent the nation.
- Venerable Asia
Referenced as part of the feudal Europe and venerable Asia that fêted Grant.
Key passages
“What best I see in thee, Is not that where thou mov’st down history’s great highways, Ever undimm’d by time shoots warlike victory’s dazzle”
The finest thing about you is not your undimmed military triumphs as you travel through history.
The speaker dismisses conventional martial glory as the highest quality.
“But that in foreign lands, in all thy walks with kings, Those prairie sovereigns of the West, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio’s, Indiana’s millions, comrades, farmers, soldiers, all to the front, Invisibly with thee walking with kings with even pace the round world’s promenade, Were all so justified.”
Rather, it is that the millions of common people from the Western states—comrades, farmers, soldiers—walked invisibly beside you among kings, and through you they were all vindicated.
The true significance of Grant's tour is the validation of ordinary Americans on the world stage.