Leaves of Grass, Part 306 summary
Part 306 of 358 · Book 5: Calamus · 1 min to read the part
In To Get the Final Lilt of Songs, the speaker presents old age and accumulated experience as necessary for fully understanding poetry and the delicate changes of human feeling. The poem moves through admired writers and complex emotions before naming age as the faculty that grants access to them.
What happens
- The speaker seeks complete appreciation of songs and access to the deepest wisdom of great poets.
- The speaker adds precise understanding of the changing shades of love, pride, and doubt.
- The closing lines identify old age and its accumulated experiences as the necessary means of understanding.
Free for 3 months
Get the full summary of Leaves of Grass, free
- 200,000+ classics as eBooks, audiobooks and 15-minute summaries, and print and large print at cost
- Up to 5 readers in your home on one plan
Start freeNothing to pay today. USD 0.14 a day in the first year, then USD 0.27 a day.
In this part
What to notice
The closing line answers the poem’s search for complete understanding. Age matters because it carries accumulated experience.
Quick check
What does the poem identify as necessary for its fullest kind of understanding?
Free for 3 months
Get the full summary of Leaves of Grass, free
- 200,000+ classics as eBooks, audiobooks and 15-minute summaries, and print and large print at cost
- Up to 5 readers in your home on one plan
Start freeNothing to pay today. USD 0.14 a day in the first year, then USD 0.27 a day.
200,000+ classics to read, hear and hold
15-minute summaries today, eBooks and audiobooks as each book opens, and printed books, large print included, at cost.
Try 3 months free
