Leaves of Grass · Chapter
For Him I Sing explained
The chapter celebrates the individual who embodies the fusion of past and present, time and space, and the immortal laws, becoming a law unto himself.
What happens
The chapter celebrates the individual who embodies the fusion of past and present, time and space, and the immortal laws, becoming a law unto himself.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
The emotional and psychological peak occurs when the speaker fully internalizes the world’s suffering, feeling…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Individuality and Self
The chapter emphasizes the individual becoming a law unto himself through the fusion of time, space, and immortal laws.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
The narrator sings for the central figure, raising the present on the past.
Key passages
“For him I sing, I raise the present on the past, (As some perennial tree out of its roots, the present on the past,)”
I sing for him, building the present upon the foundation of the past, like a tree growing from its roots.
The singer constructs the present from the past for the subject.
“With time and space I him dilate and fuse the immortal laws, To make himself by them the law unto himself.”
I expand him through time and space and merge the eternal laws, so that he becomes his own authority through them.
The subject is enlarged and unified with immortal laws to achieve self-governance.
