Leaves of Grass · Chapter
Others May Praise What They Like explained
The speaker declares a personal artistic standard rooted in the American West, insisting that true art must absorb and express the natural atmosphere of the Missouri River and the western prairies.
What happens
The speaker declares a personal artistic standard rooted in the American West, insisting that true art must absorb and express the natural atmosphere of the Missouri River and the western prairies.
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
- Celebration of Nature and the Universe
The poem exalts the natural environment—the river and prairie—as essential to authentic artistic creation.
- America and Its People
Whitman champions a distinctly American aesthetic, rooted in the geography and spirit of the West.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
The speaker who sets his own criteria for art, drawing from the western landscape.
Key passages
“Others may praise what they like; But I, from the banks of the running Missouri, praise nothing in art or aught else, Till it has well inhaled the atmosphere of this river, also the western prairie-scent, And exudes it all again.”
Other people can admire whatever they choose, but I, standing by the flowing Missouri River, will not praise any art or anything at all until it has fully breathed in the air of this river and the scent of the western prairie, and then gives it back out again.
Whitman asserts that true art must be infused with the natural essence of the American landscape.
