6 A child said What is the grass?

2. Lines 1-11: Analyze how Whitman uses figurative language in this passage. What

figures of speech does he employ and how do they contribute to his theme?

3. Lines 13-20: What evidence of repetition is in these lines? What is the effect of this

device?

4. Lines 25-32: Which statements express Whitman's thoughts directly? How do

these ideas relate to each other?

In this seminal poem from 'Leaves of Grass' Walt Whitman draws the metaphor of Grass as a transcendental symbol.

Explanation:

1. The significance of Grass is that it is not too different from anything and can thus represent life.

2. The figures of speech mimic the innocence of a child and has really long lines with no breaks conveying the theme of the text.

3. The repetition of the text is also coming from the comparison of the child with the grass and how they are mingled into one another in the authors' imagination.

4. The lines between 29 to 32 become didactic and convey his spiritual feeling of unity and oneness.

These ideas relate to each other in a larger pantheon of ideas of Transcendentalism.