Leaves of Grass

In this poem about time and human mortality, the speaker begins by asking his readers whether they have ever contemplated the idea that the future will not contain them. In past ages, the sun rose just as it does now and there were people on the earth, but the people alive now, such as his readers, know nothing of it. 

Death is an ever-present reality. Every minute, someone dies. The speaker describes the bedside of one who has just died, with the attending physician and the bereaved family. In the future, life will go on as it always has, with the passage of the seasons and the vibrant humanity in cities and countries, but “we” will not be around to take it in (Line 24). Everywhere on Earth there are endless “burial lines” (Line 30). 

The speaker focuses on one particular life, that of a stage driver being taken in a hearse to the cemetery in one cold December. As the coffin is lowered, the speaker describes the man’s life and daily work. Then, the speaker thinks again of how life goes on but the dead pay it no mind. They are beyond all the variety and difference, such as vulgarity or refinement, sin or goodness, and pleasure.