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The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem.
Walt Whitman
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Whitman emphasizes the beauty and significance of the United States as a creative and poetic entity.

In this quote, Walt Whitman expresses the idea that the United States embodies a grand and continuous poem, representing the collective experiences, struggles, and aspirations of its people. He likens the nation to a work of art, highlighting its diversity, creativity, and the profound narrative that is formed by the lives and histories of its citizens.

Themes

PoemUnited StatesBeautyArtIdentity

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about national pride, one might say, 'As Walt Whitman put it, the United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem.'

More from Walt Whitman

All music is is what awakes from you when you are reminded by the instruments.
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Did you, too, O friend, suppose democracy was only for elections, for politics, and for a party name? I say democracy is only of use there that it may pass on and come to its flower and fruit in manners, in the highest forms of interaction between people, and their beliefs - in religion, literature, colleges and schools- democracy in all public and private life.
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In the confusion we stay with each other, happy to be together, speaking without uttering a single word.
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A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.
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And whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his own funeral drest in his shroud.
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