For You O Democracy

With the command “Come” (Line 1), the first stanza’s opening line invites an unidentified audience into a realm where democracy isn’t present or has a limited presence. The speaker promises to form an everlasting, stronger nation. The speaker implies that the nation’s entire destiny rests with the speaker. The speaker repeats the phrase “I will” (Line 2, Line 3), manifesting the idea that the nation’s formation and future rests solely with the speaker. The speaker promises to “make the most splendid race the sun ever shone upon” (Line 2), which echoes the eugenics of Whitman’s time, even though Whitman opposed slavery. Because scholars view Whitman’s poetry as an attempt to embody all of America and to be an inclusive voice for the nation, Whitman’s poetry often includes ideals that often contradict Whitman’s own beliefs. This echo of his time’s eugenics is only one example. The speaker promises they “will make divine lands” (Line 3), implying that they will create a heaven, a utopia shaped with “the love of comrades” (Line 4) and “With the life-long love of comrades” (Line 5). The repetition of the words “comrades” reinforces the idea of unity and brotherhood.