With Antecedents
With antecedents,With my fathers and mothers and the accumulations of past ages,With all which, had it not been, I would not now be here, as I am,With Egypt, India, Phenicia, Greece and Rome,With the Kelt, the Scandinavian, the Alb and the Saxon,With antique maritime ventures, laws, artisanship, wars and journeys,With the poet, the skald, the saga, the myth, and the oracle,With the sale of slaves, with enthusiasts, with the troubadour, thecrusader, and the monk,With those old continents whence we have come to this new continent,With the fading kingdoms and kings over there,With the fading religions and priests,With the small shores we look back to from our own large and present shores,With countless years drawing themselves onward and arrived at these years,You and me arrived--America arrived and making this year,This year! sending itself ahead countless years to come.
O but it is not the years--it is I, it is You,We touch all laws and tally all antecedents,We are the skald, the oracle, the monk and the knight, we easilyinclude them and more,We stand amid time beginningless and endless, we stand amid evil and good,All swings around us, there is as much darkness as light,The very sun swings itself and its system of planets around us,Its sun, and its again, all swing around us.
As for me, (torn, stormy, amid these vehement days,)I have the idea of all, and am all and believe in all,I believe materialism is true and spiritualism is true, I reject no part.
(Have I forgotten any part? any thing in the past?Come to me whoever and whatever, till I give you recognition.)
I respect Assyria, China, Teutonia, and the Hebrews,I adopt each theory, myth, god, and demigod,I see that the old accounts, bibles, genealogies, are true, withoutexception,I assert that all past days were what they must have been,And that they could no-how have been better than they were,And that to-day is what it must be, and that America is,And that to-day and America could no-how be better than they are.
In the name of these States and in your and my name, the Past,And in the name of these States and in your and my name, the Present time.
I know that the past was great and the future will be great,And I know that both curiously conjoint in the present time,(For the sake of him I typify, for the common average man’s sake,your sake if you are he,)And that where I am or you are this present day, there is the centreof all days, all races,And there is the meaning to us of all that has ever come of racesand days, or ever will come.
Words in this poem 15
- kelt n.
- Cloth with the nap, generally of native black wool. [Cf. Icel. kult quilt.]
- saga n.
- A Scandinavian legend, or heroic or mythic tradition, among the Norsemen and kindred people; a northern European popular historical or religious tale of olden time. [Icel., akin to E. saw a saying. See Say, and cf. Saw.]
- oracle v. i.
- To utter oracles.
- crusader n.
- One engaged in a crusade; as, the crusaders of the Middle Ages.
- continent a.
- Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing. [L. continens, -entis, prop., p. pr. of continere to hold together, to repress: cf. F. continent. See Contain.]
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- countless a.
- Incapable of being counted; not ascertainable; innumerable.
- ahead adv.
- In or to the front; in advance; onward. [Pref. a- + head.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- spiritualism n.
- The quality or state of being spiritual.
- whoever pron.
- Whatever person; any person who; be or she who; any one who; as, he shall be punished, whoever he may be.
- curiously adv.
- In a curious manner.
- conjoint a.
- United; connected; associated. [F. conjoint, p.p. of conjoindre. See Conjoin, and cf. Conjunct.]
- typify v. t.
- To represent by an image, form, model, or resemblance. [Type + -fy.]
- centre v. i.
- To be placed in a center; to be central.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
With Antecedents 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, With Antecedents, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/with-antecedents.html, id L03909.
Form and metre
With Antecedents is 47 lines in 7 stanzas. 78% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.9 syllables. 15 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 11% 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---A- antecedents · ages · am · rome · saxon · journeys · oracle · the · monk · continent · thereA · priests · shores · years · yearA · come
- 2 ------AA you · antecedents · easily · more · good · light · usA · usA
- 5 ---AAB-B hebrews · demigod · without · exceptionA · beenA · wereB · is · areB
- 7 -----AA- great · time · sake · he · centre · racesA · racesA · come
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 |
|---|---|---|
| With antecedents, | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| With my fathers and mothers and the accumulations of past ages, | 18 | ··/˘·/˘··˘·˘/˘··/˘ |
| With all which, had it not been, I would not now be here, as I am, | 16 | ················ |
| With Egypt, India, Phenicia, Greece and Rome, | 12 | ·/˘/˘˘······ |
| With the Kelt, the Scandinavian, the Alb and the Saxon, | 15 | ·····˘/˘˘····/˘ |
| With antique maritime ventures, laws, artisanship, wars and journeys, | 17 | ·˘//˘·/˘·······/˘ |
| With the poet, the skald, the saga, the myth, and the oracle, | 16 | ··/˘···/˘····/˘˘ |
| With the sale of slaves, with enthusiasts, with the troubadour, the | 16 | ······˘/˘···/˘·· |
| crusader, and the monk, | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| With those old continents whence we have come to this new continent, | 16 | ···/˘˘·······/˘˘ |
| With the fading kingdoms and kings over there, | 11 | ··/˘/˘····· |
| With the fading religions and priests, | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘·· |
| With the small shores we look back to from our own large and present shores, | 17 | ·········/˘···/˘· |
| With countless years drawing themselves onward and arrived at these years, | 16 | ·/˘·/˘˘//˘·˘/··· |
| You and me arrived--America arrived and making this year, | 16 | ···˘/˘/˘˘˘/·/˘·· |
| This year! sending itself ahead countless years to come. | 13 | ··/˘˘/˘//˘··· |
| O but it is not the years--it is I, it is You, | 13 | ············· |
| We touch all laws and tally all antecedents, | 12 | ·····/˘··˘/˘ |
| We are the skald, the oracle, the monk and the knight, we easily | 17 | ·····/˘˘······/˘˘ |
| include them and more, | 5 | ˘/··· |
| We stand amid time beginningless and endless, we stand amid evil and good, | 20 | ··˘/······/˘··˘//˘·· |
| All swings around us, there is as much darkness as light, | 13 | ·········/˘·· |
| The very sun swings itself and its system of planets around us, | 17 | ·/˘··˘/··/˘·/˘··· |
| Its sun, and its again, all swing around us. | 11 | ····˘/····· |
| As for me, (torn, stormy, amid these vehement days,) | 13 | ····/˘˘/·/˘˘· |
| I have the idea of all, and am all and believe in all, | 16 | ···˘/˘······˘/·· |
| I believe materialism is true and spiritualism is true, I reject no part. | 24 | ·˘/˘/˘˘·˘···/˘˘˘˘···˘/·· |
| (Have I forgotten any part? any thing in the past? | 14 | ··˘/˘/˘·/˘···· |
| Come to me whoever and whatever, till I give you recognition.) | 18 | ···˘/˘··/˘·····˘/˘ |
| I respect Assyria, China, Teutonia, and the Hebrews, | 16 | ·˘/˘/˘˘/˘·····/˘ |
| I adopt each theory, myth, god, and demigod, | 12 | ·˘/·/˘···/˘˘ |
| I see that the old accounts, bibles, genealogies, are true, without | 18 | ·····˘//˘·˘/˘˘···· |
| exception, | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| I assert that all past days were what they must have been, | 13 | ·˘/·········· |
| And that they could no-how have been better than they were, | 13 | ········/˘··· |
| And that to-day is what it must be, and that America is, | 16 | ···········˘/˘˘· |
| And that to-day and America could no-how be better than they are. | 18 | ·····˘/˘˘····/˘··· |
| In the name of these States and in your and my name, the Past, | 14 | ·············· |
| And in the name of these States and in your and my name, the Present time. | 17 | ··············/˘· |
| I know that the past was great and the future will be great, | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| And I know that both curiously conjoint in the present time, | 16 | ·····/˘˘˘˘/··/˘· |
| (For the sake of him I typify, for the common average man’s sake, | 18 | ······/˘···/˘/˘˘·· |
| your sake if you are he,) | 6 | ······ |
| And that where I am or you are this present day, there is the centre | 17 | ·········/˘····/˘ |
| of all days, all races, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And there is the meaning to us of all that has ever come of races | 18 | ····/˘······/˘··/˘ |
| and days, or ever will come. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
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.