To a Pupil
Is reform needed? is it through you?The greater the reform needed, the greater the Personality you needto accomplish it.
O the magnet! the flesh over and over!Go, dear friend, if need be give up all else, and commence to-day toinure yourself to pluck, reality, self-esteem, definiteness,elevatedness,Rest not till you rivet and publish yourself of your own Personality.
Unfolded out of the folds of the woman man comes unfolded, and isalways to come unfolded,Unfolded only out of the superbest woman of the earth is to come thesuperbest man of the earth,Unfolded out of the friendliest woman is to come the friendliest man,Unfolded only out of the perfect body of a woman can a man beform’d of perfect body,Unfolded only out of the inimitable poems of woman can come thepoems of man, (only thence have my poems come;)Unfolded out of the strong and arrogant woman I love, only thencecan appear the strong and arrogant man I love,Unfolded by brawny embraces from the well-muscled womanlove, only thence come the brawny embraces of the man,Unfolded out of the folds of the woman’s brain come all the foldsof the man’s brain, duly obedient,Unfolded out of the justice of the woman all justice is unfolded,Unfolded out of the sympathy of the woman is all sympathy;A man is a great thing upon the earth and through eternity, butevery of the greatness of man is unfolded out of woman;First the man is shaped in the woman, he can then be shaped in himself.
Words in this poem
- inure v. t.
- To apply in use; to train; to discipline; to use or accustom till use gives little or no pain or inconvenience; to harden; to habituate; to practice habitually. [From pref. in- in + ure use, work. See Ure use, practice, Opera, and cf. Manure.]
- elevatedness n.
- The quality of being elevated.
- inimitable a.
- Not capable of being imitated, copied, or counterfeited; beyond imitation; surpassingly excellent; matchless; unrivaled; exceptional; unique; as, an inimitable style; inimitable eloquence. [L. inimitabilis: cf. F. inimitable. See In- not, and Imitable.]
- brawny a.
- Having large, strong muscles; muscular; fleshy; strong.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To a Pupil 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, To a Pupil, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/to-a-pupil.html, id L04003.
Form and metre
To a Pupil is 28 lines in 3 stanzas. 74% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 14.4 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% 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.
- 2 --AA- over · to · definitenessA · elevatednessA · personality
- 3 -AB-CB-B---DC--A--D- is · unfoldedA · theB · earth · manC · beB · body · theB · come · thence · love · womanD · manC · folds · obedient · unfoldedA · sympathy · but · womanD · himself
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Is reform needed? is it through you? | 9 | ·˘//˘···· |
| The greater the reform needed, the greater the Personality you need | 19 | ·/˘·˘//˘·/˘··˘/˘˘·· |
| to accomplish it. | 5 | ·˘/˘· |
| O the magnet! the flesh over and over! | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| Go, dear friend, if need be give up all else, and commence to-day to | 16 | ···········˘/··· |
| inure yourself to pluck, reality, self-esteem, definiteness, | 17 | ˘/˘/··˘/˘˘·˘//˘˘˘ |
| elevatedness, | 3 | /˘˘ |
| Rest not till you rivet and publish yourself of your own Personality. | 19 | ····/˘·/˘˘/····˘/˘˘ |
| Unfolded out of the folds of the woman man comes unfolded, and is | 18 | ˘/˘······/˘··˘/˘·· |
| always to come unfolded, | 7 | /···˘/˘ |
| Unfolded only out of the superbest woman of the earth is to come the | 20 | ˘/˘/˘···˘/˘/˘······· |
| superbest man of the earth, | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| Unfolded out of the friendliest woman is to come the friendliest man, | 19 | ˘/˘···/˘˘/˘····/˘˘· |
| Unfolded only out of the perfect body of a woman can a man be | 20 | ˘/˘/˘···˘//˘··/˘···· |
| form’d of perfect body, | 6 | ··˘//˘ |
| Unfolded only out of the inimitable poems of woman can come the | 21 | ˘/˘/˘···˘/˘˘˘/˘·/˘··· |
| poems of man, (only thence have my poems come;) | 12 | /˘··/˘···/˘· |
| Unfolded out of the strong and arrogant woman I love, only thence | 18 | ˘/˘·····/˘˘/˘··/˘· |
| can appear the strong and arrogant man I love, | 12 | ·˘/···/˘˘··· |
| Unfolded by brawny embraces from the well-muscled woman | 16 | ˘/˘·/˘˘/˘···/˘/˘ |
| love, only thence come the brawny embraces of the man, | 14 | ·/˘···/˘˘/˘··· |
| Unfolded out of the folds of the woman’s brain come all the folds | 16 | ˘/˘······/˘····· |
| of the man’s brain, duly obedient, | 10 | ····/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Unfolded out of the justice of the woman all justice is unfolded, | 19 | ˘/˘···/˘··/˘·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Unfolded out of the sympathy of the woman is all sympathy; | 18 | ˘/˘···/˘˘··/˘··/˘˘ |
| A man is a great thing upon the earth and through eternity, but | 17 | ············˘/˘˘· |
| every of the greatness of man is unfolded out of woman; | 17 | /˘˘··/˘···˘/˘··/˘ |
| First the man is shaped in the woman, he can then be shaped in himself. | 17 | ·······/˘······˘/ |
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.