Leaves of Grass · Chapter
Going Somewhere explained
The narrator recalls a conversation with a deceased woman friend, a scientist, who concluded that all knowledge and existence—geology, history, astronomy, evolution, metaphysics—point to a universal, onward progression: life as an endless m
What happens
The narrator recalls a conversation with a deceased woman friend, a scientist, who concluded that all knowledge and existence—geology, history, astronomy, evolution, metaphysics—point to a universal, onward progression: life as an endless march, all things bound and going somewhere.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Falling action.
- 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
- Death and Immortality
The friend is buried, yet her words live on as a 'memory-leaf,' suggesting enduring influence beyond death.
- Individuality and Self
The personal, intimate memory of a specific friend frames a universal truth about onward movement.
- Celebration of Nature and the Universe
The poem encompasses geologies, histories, astronomy, and the universes, all bound in a cosmic journey.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“My science-friend, my noblest woman-friend, (Now buried in an English grave—and this a memory-leaf for her dear sake,)”
My dear friend, a woman of science, now dead and buried in England—I write this leaf in her memory.
Establishes the elegiac tone and the source of the wisdom shared.
“Is, that we all are onward, onward, speeding slowly, surely bettering, Life, life an endless march, an endless army, (no halt, but it is duly over,) The world, the race, the soul—in space and time the universes, All bound as is befitting each—all surely going somewhere.”
That everything is moving forward, slowly but surely improving—life is an endless procession, an unending army, never stopping but eventually ending—the world, humanity, the soul, and all universes are each properly bound and all certainly heading somewhere.
Summarizes the friend's conclusion about universal progress and purpose.
