Leaves of Grass · Chapter
Myself and Mine explained
The speaker asserts a rugged, self-reliant individualism, rejecting ornamentation and conventional laws in favor of raw, inherent life.
What happens
The speaker asserts a rugged, self-reliant individualism, rejecting ornamentation and conventional laws in favor of raw, inherent life. He champions agitation and conflict over peace, refuses to be explained or institutionalized, and declares life immeasurably long, vowing to follow nature's continual lessons.
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 Exposition.
- 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 speaker insists on his own way, rebukes the most worthy, and charges that no theory or school be founded out of him, emphasizing radical self-determination.
- America and Its People
The speaker chisels supreme Gods for the States to realize, and feels at home among common people, linking personal freedom to national identity.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
The speaker asserts his own way, rebukes the worthy, and calls for distrust of friends and rejection of any school founded on him.
- Walt Whitman
The poet persona speaks directly, claiming to chisel free Gods for the States and to start specimens by exhaustless laws like Nature.
Key passages
“I give nothing as duties, What others give as duties I give as living impulses”
I do not present obligations; instead, I offer what others call duties as spontaneous, vital urges.
The speaker transforms conventional duty into organic, heartfelt motivation.
“I charge you forever reject those who would expound me, for I cannot expound myself”
I command you to always refuse anyone who tries to explain me, because I am unable to explain myself.
The speaker insists on his own ineffability and resists any fixed interpretation.
