Preface to Leaves of Grass
Walt Whitman’s “1855 Preface to Leaves of Grass” and Captain John Smith’s “A Description of New England”: Parallel Visions of the American People and the Shaping of the Nation’s Identity
Walt Whitman’s “1855 Preface to Leaves of Grass,” and Captain John Smith’s “A Description of New England,” articulate the visions each held of the American people, as well as demonstrate the interpersonal and physical facets necessary in fashioning an ideal nation. Composed over two centuries after the publishing of Smith’s treatise, Whitman’s “1855 Preface” reflects the principles Smith outlines in his quest to create the New World, and the importance of considering individual identities in the formulation of this Nation’s identity. Smith’s “A Description of New England” summons’ young English men to aide in the crafting of the New World, provided they are of wholesome virtues, and wish to pass such merits onto their descendants, creating bright futures in the shining New World. In the third paragraph of “1855 Preface,” Whitman describes the successful product of such learned virtues on the nation:
The largeness of nature or the nation were monstrous without a corresponding largeness and generosity of the spirit of the citizen. Not nature nor swarming states nor streets and steamships nor prosperous business nor farms nor capital nor learning may suffice for the ideal of man…A live nation can always cut a deep mark and can have the best authority the cheapest…namely from its own soul. This is the sum of the profitable uses of individuals or states and of present action and grandeur of the subjects of poets. (997)
Whitman emphasizes the idea that a nation is only as grand, or large as the spirit of its citizens, and such grand nations are worthy of grand poets. As a poet, Whitman compliments America and its people, as he finds both worthy enough to become the subject of his writing. Captain Smith envisioned creating an impressive nation while composing his treatise,
Walt Whitman’s “1855 Preface to Leaves of Grass,” and Captain John Smith’s “A Description of New England,” articulate the visions each held of the American people, as well as demonstrate the interpersonal and physical facets necessary in fashioning an ideal nation. Composed over two centuries after the publishing of Smith’s treatise, Whitman’s “1855 Preface” reflects the principles Smith outlines in his quest to create the New World, and the importance of considering individual identities in the formulation of this Nation’s identity. Smith’s “A Description of New England” summons’ young English men to aide in the crafting of the New World, provided they are of wholesome virtues, and wish to pass such merits onto their descendants, creating bright futures in the shining New World. In the third paragraph of “1855 Preface,” Whitman describes the successful product of such learned virtues on the nation:
The largeness of nature or the nation were monstrous without a corresponding largeness and generosity of the spirit of the citizen. Not nature nor swarming states nor streets and steamships nor prosperous business nor farms nor capital nor learning may suffice for the ideal of man…A live nation can always cut a deep mark and can have the best authority the cheapest…namely from its own soul. This is the sum of the profitable uses of individuals or states and of present action and grandeur of the subjects of poets. (997)
Whitman emphasizes the idea that a nation is only as grand, or large as the spirit of its citizens, and such grand nations are worthy of grand poets. As a poet, Whitman compliments America and its people, as he finds both worthy enough to become the subject of his writing. Captain Smith envisioned creating an impressive nation while composing his treatise,
Cited: Smith, Captain John. “From ‘Description of New England.’ ” The Norton Anthology of American Literature: Shorter Seventh Edition. Gen. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: WW. Norton & Company, Inc., 54-57. Whitman, Walt. “Preface to Leaves of Grass (1855).” The Norton Anthology of American Literature: Shorter Seventh Edition. Gen. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: WW. Norton & Company, Inc., 996-1010.