# Year of Meteors explained — Leaves of Grass

> Chapter companion for Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.

## What happens

The narrator reflects on the year 1859-60, a time of meteors, political contests, and significant events, including the execution of an old man on a scaffold, the arrival of the Great Eastern ship, and the appearance of a comet. The narrator sees himself as a transient meteor among these fleeting phenomena.

## Themes in this chapter

### America and Its People

The poem celebrates American events: the presidential contest, census returns, ships, immigrants, and the diverse populace.

### Death and Immortality

The old man's execution on the scaffold and the narrator's own transient nature as a meteor reflect themes of mortality and fleeting existence.

### The Poet as Prophet and Unifier

The narrator binds the year's deeds in song, welcoming all and singing of events, acting as a prophetic voice unifying the transient and the eternal.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

The narrator observes and sings of the year's events, standing silently at the scaffold and among the crowds, identifying himself as a transient meteor.

### America

America is referenced through its census returns, population tables, ships, and the arrival of immigrants and gold.

### Walt Whitman

The poet speaks in first person, binding the year's deeds in song and identifying himself as a meteor.

## Key lines

> Year of meteors! brooding year! I would bind in words retrospective some of your deeds and signs

The poet addresses the year 1859-60 as a time of meteors and foreboding, intending to capture its significant events in verse.

_Sets the tone of the poem as a retrospective catalog of the year's notable occurrences._

> I would sing how an old man, tall, with white hair, mounted the scaffold in Virginia

The poet recalls witnessing the execution of an old man (John Brown) on a scaffold in Virginia.

_References the historical execution of abolitionist John Brown in 1859._

> Nor forget I to sing of the wonder, the ship as she swam up my bay, Well-shaped and stately the Great Eastern swam up my bay

The poet remembers the arrival of the massive steamship Great Eastern in New York Harbor.

_The Great Eastern was a famous iron steamship that visited New York in 1860._

> What am I myself but one of your meteors?

The poet questions his own nature, seeing himself as a fleeting and transient phenomenon like the meteors of the year.

_Concludes the poem with the poet's identification with the ephemeral and cosmic._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/year-of-meteors
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters