L. Of G.’s Purport
Not to exclude or demarcate, or pick out evils from their formidablemasses (even to expose them,)But add, fuse, complete, extend--and celebrate the immortal and the good.Haughty this song, its words and scope,To span vast realms of space and time,Evolution--the cumulative--growths and generations.
Begun in ripen’d youth and steadily pursued,Wandering, peering, dallying with all--war, peace, day and nightabsorbing,Never even for one brief hour abandoning my task,I end it here in sickness, poverty, and old age.
I sing of life, yet mind me well of death:To-day shadowy Death dogs my steps, my seated shape, and has for years--Draws sometimes close to me, as face to face.
Words in this poem
- demarcate v. t.
- To mark by bounds; to set the limits of; to separate; to discriminate. Wilkinson. [See Demarcation.]
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
L. Of G.’s Purport is in the public domain. This text is taken from Leaves of Grass, Project Gutenberg ebook #1322; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Walt Whitman, L. Of G.’s Purport, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/l-of-g-s-purport.html, id L04143.
Form and metre
L. Of G.’s Purport is 14 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 84% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.2 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Not to exclude or demarcate, or pick out evils from their formidable | 19 | ··˘/·˘/˘···/˘··/˘˘˘ |
| masses (even to expose them,) | 8 | /˘/˘·˘/· |
| But add, fuse, complete, extend--and celebrate the immortal and the good. | 18 | ···˘/˘/·/˘··˘/˘··· |
| Haughty this song, its words and scope, | 8 | /˘······ |
| To span vast realms of space and time, | 8 | ········ |
| Evolution--the cumulative--growths and generations. | 15 | ·˘/˘·/˘˘˘···˘/˘ |
| Begun in ripen’d youth and steadily pursued, | 12 | ˘/·/˘··/˘˘˘/ |
| Wandering, peering, dallying with all--war, peace, day and night | 15 | /˘˘/˘/˘˘······· |
| absorbing, | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Never even for one brief hour abandoning my task, | 15 | /˘/˘···/˘˘/˘˘·· |
| I end it here in sickness, poverty, and old age. | 13 | ·····/˘/˘˘··· |
| I sing of life, yet mind me well of death: | 10 | ·········· |
| To-day shadowy Death dogs my steps, my seated shape, and has for years-- | 17 | ··/˘˘·····/˘····· |
| Draws sometimes close to me, as face to face. | 10 | ·˘/······· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.