...life." 9 It is this principle that also underlies Whitman's later assertion in "Song of Myself" that There was never any more inception than there is now, Nor any more youth or age than there is now, And will never be any more perfection than there is now, Nor any more heaven or hell than there...

...a microcosm of all the world, now a microcosm for all of history, present and future. Thus Whitman: "There was never any more inception than there is now, / Nor any more youth or age than there is now, / And will never be any more perfection than there is now, / Nor any more heaven or hell than...

...brothers drivers of horses99 Why should I do much ' The capitol, the president, the laws, I lilleg.} There was never any more inception than there is now Nor any more youth or age And will never be any more perfection Nor any more heaven or hell2 {31} The few who write the books...

...and filter them from yourself. Almost immediately, however, Whitman undermines the life/death binary: I have heard what the talkers were talking .... the...there is now, Nor any more youth or age than there is now; And will never be any more perfection than there is now, Nor any more heaven or hell than there...