Leaves of Grass, Book 13 summary
Book 13 of 358 · Book 5: Calamus · 11 min to read the book
In Book 13, the speaker summons the Muse to America and imagines an exhibition that honors workers, industry, science, and art instead of ancient warfare and courtly romance. He dedicates the nation’s resources and achievements to the Union, insisting that their meaning reaches beyond profit to shared spiritual life.
What happens
- The speaker links labor with God and argues that America can renew inherited achievements rather than simply reject them.
- He summons the Muse from ancient cultural centers, sees her arrive among machinery and kitchenware, and introduces her to Columbia.
- He envisions exhibition buildings displaying manufacturing, natural history, music, science, and the work of people worldwide.
- Rejecting warfare and elite romance, he proposes daily work, domestic duties, inventions, and transportation as subjects for poetry.
- He presents America’s landscapes, workers, farms, industries, and resources as a procession dedicated to the Union.
- Remembering the flag amid bloody fighting, he joins peaceful labor and national wealth to the Union’s spiritual meaning.
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In this book
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What does the speaker want poetry and art to honor?
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