# Shakespeare — Leaves of Grass character guide

> Shakespeare in Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.

**Role:** minor

**First appearance:** 0002-inscriptions

## Who they are

William Shakespeare, cited as a literary giant and influence.

## In the story

### [Song of the Exposition](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/3)

Referenced as part of the blazoned page of the old world that has passed.

### [Thus by Blue Ontario's Shore](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/19)

Among the loftiest bards of past ages who stride before the narrator

### [Fancies at Navesink](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/fancies-at-navesink)

Cited alongside Homer and Tennyson as a poet whose woe-entangled characters the speaker would trade for the sea's essence.

### [Had I the Choice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/had-i-the-choice)

Mentioned as a great bard whose works include Hamlet, Lear, and Othello.

### [To Get the Final Lilt of Songs](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/to-get-the-final-lilt-of-songs)

Listed among the mighty poets whose inmost lore the speaker wishes to penetrate.

### [Shakespeare-Bacon’s Cipher](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/shakespeare-bacon-s-cipher)

Referenced in the title and as part of the cipher concept.

### [Old Chants](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/old-chants)

Listed among the great poets whose works are part of the old chants.

### [The Unexpress’d](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/the-unexpress-d)

Mentioned among the great poets whose works are part of the long tradition of expression.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/endnotes)

Mentioned as part of the Elizabethan age that Whitman sees as foundational to the United States.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/characters/shakespeare
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leaves_of_grass_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/characters