# When the Full-Grown Poet Came explained — Leaves of Grass

> Chapter companion for Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.

## What happens

Nature and the Soul of man each claim the full-grown poet as their own, but the poet stands between them, taking each by the hand and blending them together in a joyful, eternal union.

## Themes in this chapter

### Unity of Soul and Body

The poet blends Nature and the Soul, symbolizing the unity of the physical and spiritual.

### The Poet as Prophet and Unifier

The poet stands as a mediator and unifier, reconciling the divided claims of Nature and the Soul.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

The full-grown poet who stands as blender and uniter between Nature and the Soul.

### Walt Whitman

Implied as the full-grown poet who reconciles Nature and the Soul.

## Key lines

> When the full-grown poet came, Out spake pleased Nature (the round impassive globe, with all its shows of day and night,) saying, He is mine; But out spake too the Soul of man, proud, jealous and unreconciled, Nay, he is mine alone; —Then the full-grown poet stood between the two, and took each by the hand; And to-day and ever so stands, as blender, uniter, tightly holding hands, Which he will never release until he reconciles the two, And wholly and joyously blends them.

When the mature poet arrived, Nature claimed him as her own, but the human Soul also claimed him exclusively. The poet then positioned himself between them, took both by the hand, and forever acts as a unifier, holding them together until they are joyfully blended.

_The poet's role as a reconciler of the physical world and the human spirit._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/when-the-full-grown-poet-came
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters