Miracles
Why, who makes much of a miracle?As to me I know of nothing else but miracles,Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water,Or stand under trees in the woods,Or talk by day with any one I love, or sleep in the bed at nightwith any one I love,Or sit at table at dinner with the rest,Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon,Or animals feeding in the fields,Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so quietand bright,Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring;These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.
To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,Every foot of the interior swarms with the same.To me the sea is a continual miracle,The fishes that swim--the rocks--the motion of the waves--theships with men in them,What stranger miracles are there?
Words in this poem
- wade n.
- Woad. Mortimer.
- forenoon n.
- The early part of the day, from morning to meridian, or noon.
- sundown n.
- The setting of the sun; sunset.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Miracles 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, Miracles, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/miracles.html, id L04001.
Form and metre
Miracles is 26 lines in 2 stanzas. 73% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.5 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% 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.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A----B------BB-A- miracle · miraclesA · manhattan · sky · water · woods · nightB · love · rest · car · forenoon · fields · air · quietB · brightB · spring · miraclesA · place
- 2 AABBA--- miracleA · miracleA · sameB · sameB · miracleA · the · them · there
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Why, who makes much of a miracle? | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| As to me I know of nothing else but miracles, | 13 | ······/˘··/˘˘ |
| Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan, | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky, | 15 | ·········/˘···· |
| Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water, | 18 | ···/˘·˘/········/˘ |
| Or stand under trees in the woods, | 8 | ········ |
| Or talk by day with any one I love, or sleep in the bed at night | 17 | ·····/˘·········· |
| with any one I love, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Or sit at table at dinner with the rest, | 11 | ···/˘·/˘··· |
| Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car, | 14 | ···/˘/˘˘·/˘··· |
| Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon, | 17 | ··/˘·/˘······/˘/˘ |
| Or animals feeding in the fields, | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘··· |
| Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air, | 14 | ····/˘˘˘·/···· |
| Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so quiet | 18 | ··/˘˘˘··/····/˘·/˘ |
| and bright, | 2 | ·· |
| Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring; | 16 | ··/˘˘/˘˘········ |
| These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles, | 13 | ··········/˘˘ |
| The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place. | 13 | ··˘/˘··˘/···· |
| To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle, | 17 | ··/˘˘/˘·······/˘˘ |
| Every cubic inch of space is a miracle, | 13 | /˘˘/˘·····/˘˘ |
| Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same, | 17 | /˘˘····/˘········ |
| Every foot of the interior swarms with the same. | 14 | /˘˘···˘/˘˘···· |
| To me the sea is a continual miracle, | 13 | ······˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| The fishes that swim--the rocks--the motion of the waves--the | 14 | ·/˘·····/˘···· |
| ships with men in them, | 5 | ····· |
| What stranger miracles are there? | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
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.