Introduction to Every Atom by project curator Brian Clements
As Executive Director of the Whitman Birthplace, this passage about farm life and ecology from “Song of Myself” reminds me of Walt’s poem “There Was A Child Went Forth.” I read both pieces as testaments to the importance of the Birthplace to him. Walt was born here on May 31, 1819, in a home built by his father. In his 1855 First Edition of Leaves of Grass, Walt shares with the reader how he was imprinted with the natural environment of his West Hills home, how the first object he look’d upon became part of him for the day or for stretching cycles of years. Walt writes:
THERE was a child went forth every day,
And the first object he look'd upon, that object he became,
And that object became part of him for the day or a certain part of the day,
Or for many years or stretching cycles of years.
The early lilacs became part of this child,
And grass and white and red morning-glories, and white and red clover, and the song of the phoebe-bird,
And the Third-month lambs and the sow's pink-faint litter, and the mare's foal and the cow's calf,
And the noisy brood of the barnyard or by the mire of the pond-side,
And the fish suspending themselves so curiously below there, and the beautiful curious liquid,
And the water-plants with their graceful flat heads, all became part of him.
The field-sprouts of Fourth-month and Fifth-month became part of him,
Winter-grain sprouts and those of the light-yellow corn, and the esculent roots of the garden,
And the apple-trees cover'd with blossoms and the fruit afterward, and wood-berries, and the commonest weeds by the road,
…
These became part of that child who went forth every day, and who now goes, and will always go forth every day.
In later life, through his poetry, Walt went on to become recognized as the first ecological poet, which may be due to his early childhood experiences on this West Hills farm. All of us associated with the site work to preserve his historic home and to promote his literary legacy. This poem imprints on me the vision of a young four-year-old Walt emerging from his house and embracing the world he look’d upon. He shared that vision with the world, and, 200 years later, we are still looking at the world through his eyes.
Cynthia Shor is Executive Director of the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association, which operates the Walt Whitman Birthplace State Historic Site in conjunction with New York State in Huntington Station, NY on Long Island.
Cover art by Katie Gruel