leaves of grass part 5

The moth and the fisheggs are in their place,
The suns I see and the suns I cannot see are in their place,
The palpable is in its place and the impalpable is in its
place.

A major theme in Leaves of Grass is the everything in the universe is connected and exists for a reason. This phrase contributes to that theme through its use of parallelism. By beginning each sentence with "The" the author connects all of the ideas in those sentences to one another. The author also ends each phrase with "place" this repetition helps to support the theme. Syntactically choosing to arrange the word place so that it is the only word on the line and the last word of the stanza makes the word "place" stand out and it is the last word the reader reads so it leaves the idea in the head of the reader. This passage also touches on the idea that even the things humans cannot control "the suns I cannot see" are there for a reason. The passage is smooth flowing and has a zen like quality to its sound which also supports its theme.

leaves of grass part 4

"The little one sleeps in it's cradle,
I lift the gauze and look a long time, silently brush
away flies with my hand.

This section portrays the authors feelings about death. The author uses peaceful gentle, and calm diction to describe the death of a child showing the speaker doesn't believe death is something to fear. "sleep" connotes restfulness and calm. Flies are a symbol for death to allow the reader to recognize the "little one" is dead. "Silent" is another word creating a calming tone. The speaker can silently and calmly face death even the death of a "little one," which usually make any death even harder for people to understand or deal with.

Leaves of Grass part 3

Tenderly will I use you curling grass,
It may be you transpire from the breasts of young men,
It may be if I had known them I would have loved them;
It may be you are from old people and from women,and
from offspring taken soon out of their mothers laps,
And here you are the mothers' laps

This passage is about how connected humans nature and the world are. It is about the circle of life. The grass is a symbol of new life. The new life has "transpired from the breasts of young men." Connecting the grass to the men who have died young. The following line about possibly loving the young men connects the young men to the women who perished who would also be mothers. The mothers have there offspring taken soon of their laps. The connections are reinforced by the repetition of the phrase "It may be," this common phrase ties the readers minds between the young men the love of the women and the motherhood that created the children and finally the grass. This passage has a kind nostalgic tone which is created by the soft diction such as "Tenderly" and the phrase "It may be," because the phrase gives the feeling of looking into the past and considering what could have been.