There Was a Child Went Forth
Walt Whitman
Track 192 on Leaves of Grass
There Was a Child Went Forth Lyrics
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,
And the old drunkard staggering home from the outhouse of the
tavern whence he had lately risen,
And the schoolmistress that pass'd on her way to the school,
And the friendly boys that pass'd, and the quarrelsome boys,
And the tidy and fresh-cheek'd girls, and the barefoot negro boy and girl,
And all the changes of city and country wherever he went.
His own parents, he that had father'd him and she that had
conceiv'd him in her womb and birth'd him,
They gave this child more of themselves than that,
They gave him afterward every day, they became part of him.
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,
And the old drunkard staggering home from the outhouse of the
tavern whence he had lately risen,
And the schoolmistress that pass'd on her way to the school,
And the friendly boys that pass'd, and the quarrelsome boys,
And the tidy and fresh-cheek'd girls, and the barefoot negro boy and girl,
And all the changes of city and country wherever he went.
His own parents, he that had father'd him and she that had
conceiv'd him in her womb and birth'd him,
They gave this child more of themselves than that,
They gave him afterward every day, they became part of him.
The mother at home quietly placing the dishes on the supper-table,
The mother with mild words, clean her cap and gown, a wholesome odor falling off her person and clothes as she walks by,
The father, strong, self-sufficient, manly, mean, anger'd, unjust,
The blow, the quick loud word, the tight bargain, the crafty lure,
The family usages, the language, the company, the furniture, the
yearning and swelling heart,
Affection that will not be gainsay'd, the sense of what is real, the
thought if after all it should prove unreal,
The doubts of day-time and the doubts of night-time, the curious
whether and how,
Whether that which appears so is so, or is it all flashes and specks?
Men and women crowding fast in the streets, if they are not flashes and specks what are they?
The streets themselves and the facades of houses, and goods in the windows,
Vehicles, teams, the heavy-plank'd wharves, the huge crossing at
the ferries,
The village on the highland seen from afar at sunset, the river between,
Shadows, aureola and mist, the light falling on roofs and gables of
white or brown two miles off,
The schooner near by sleepily dropping down the tide, the little
boat slack-tow'd astern,
The hurrying tumbling waves, quick-broken crests, slapping,
The strata of color'd clouds, the long bar of maroon-tint away
solitary by itself, the spread of purity it lies motionless in,
The horizon's edge, the flying sea-crow, the fragrance of salt
marsh and shore mud,
These became part of that child who went forth every day, and
who now goes, and will always go forth every day.
The mother with mild words, clean her cap and gown, a wholesome odor falling off her person and clothes as she walks by,
The father, strong, self-sufficient, manly, mean, anger'd, unjust,
The blow, the quick loud word, the tight bargain, the crafty lure,
The family usages, the language, the company, the furniture, the
yearning and swelling heart,
Affection that will not be gainsay'd, the sense of what is real, the
thought if after all it should prove unreal,
The doubts of day-time and the doubts of night-time, the curious
whether and how,
Whether that which appears so is so, or is it all flashes and specks?
Men and women crowding fast in the streets, if they are not flashes and specks what are they?
The streets themselves and the facades of houses, and goods in the windows,
Vehicles, teams, the heavy-plank'd wharves, the huge crossing at
the ferries,
The village on the highland seen from afar at sunset, the river between,
Shadows, aureola and mist, the light falling on roofs and gables of
white or brown two miles off,
The schooner near by sleepily dropping down the tide, the little
boat slack-tow'd astern,
The hurrying tumbling waves, quick-broken crests, slapping,
The strata of color'd clouds, the long bar of maroon-tint away
solitary by itself, the spread of purity it lies motionless in,
The horizon's edge, the flying sea-crow, the fragrance of salt
marsh and shore mud,
These became part of that child who went forth every day, and
who now goes, and will always go forth every day.
About
Genius Annotation
This poem was among the original twelve included in the very first edition of Leaves of Grass in 1855.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 7.Eidolons
- 11.Beginners
- 12.To the States
- 15.Me Imperturbe
- 16.Savantism
- 22.Poets to Come
- 24.Thou Reader
- 26.Song of Myself
- 38.Native Moments
- 56.Trickle Drops
- 57.City of Orgies
- 60.To a Stranger
- 76.To a Western Boy
- 81.Full of Life Now
- 82.Salut au Monde!
- 87.A Song of Joys
- 96.To You II
- 98.Myself and Mine
- 100.With Antecedents
- 101.A Broadway Pageant
- 104.Tears
- 111.Patroling Barnegat
- 112.After the Sea-Ship
- 116.Gods
- 117.Germs
- 118.Thoughts
- 119.Perfections
- 121.To a President
- 122.I Sit and Look Out
- 123.To Rich Givers
- 128.The Runner
- 129.Beautiful Women
- 130.Mother and Babe
- 131.Thought
- 132.Visor’d
- 133.Thought-II
- 134.Gliding O’er all
- 136.Thought-III
- 137.To Old Age
- 138.Locations and Times
- 139.Offerings
- 142.Eighteen Sixty-One
- 143.Beat! Beat! Drums!
- 147.Virginia—The West
- 148.City of Ships
- 159.Not the Pilot
- 161.The Wound-Dresser
- 170.Race of Veterans
- 174.Reconciliation
- 181.Adieu to a Soldier
- 182.Turn O Libertad
- 189.Reversals
- 190.As Consequent, Etc.
- 192.There Was a Child Went Forth
- 193.Old Ireland
- 194.The City Dead-House
- 195.This Compost
- 197.Unnamed Land
- 198.Song of Prudence
- 203.Vocalism
- 206.Laws for Creations
- 209.Thought2
- 212.To a Pupil
- 214.What Am I After All
- 215.Kosmos
- 218.Tests
- 219.The Torch
- 221.The Ox-Tamer
- 222.Wandering at Morn
- 223.With All Thy Gifts
- 224.My Picture-Gallery
- 225.The Prairie States
- 228.Prayer of Columbus
- 230.Transpositions
- 238.Assurances
- 239.Quicksand Years
- 246.Thought-IV
- 247.The Last Invocation
- 251.A Paumanok Picture
- 253.Faces
- 254.The Mystic Trumpeter
- 256.O Magnet-South
- 258.All Is Truth
- 259.A Riddle Song
- 260.Excelsior
- 262.Thoughts-V
- 263.Mediums
- 265.Spain, 1873-74
- 268.Old War-Dreams
- 273.Years of the Modern
- 274.Ashes of Soldiers
- 275.Thoughts VI
- 276.Song at Sunset
- 278.My Legacy
- 280.Camps of Green
- 283.Joy, Shipmate, Joy!
- 285.Portals
- 286.These Carols
- 289.Mannahatta II
- 290.Paumanok
- 291.From Montauk Point
- 294.The Bravest Soldiers
- 295.A Font of Type
- 297.My Canary Bird
- 300.The First Dandelion
- 302.Memories
- 303.To-Day and Thee
- 307.Halcyon Days
- 314.Broadway
- 316.Old Salt Kossabone
- 317.The Dead Tenor
- 319.Yonnondio
- 320.Life
- 321.“Going Somewhere”
- 323.True Conquerors
- 326.Thanks in Old Age
- 327.Life and Death
- 331.The Dying Veteran
- 332.Stronger Lessons
- 333.A Prairie Sunset
- 334.Twenty Years
- 336.Twilight
- 339.The Dead Emperor
- 341.The Dismantled Ship
- 343.An Evening Lull
- 347.Lingering Last Drops
- 350.MY 71st Year
- 351.Apparitions
- 352.The Pallid Wreath
- 353.An Ended Day
- 355.To the Pending Year
- 357.Long, Long Hence
- 359.Interpolation Sounds
- 361.Old Chants
- 362.A Christmas Greeting
- 363.Sounds of the Winter
- 364.A Twilight Song
- 366.Osceola
- 367.A Voice from Death
- 368.A Persian Lesson
- 369.The Commonplace
- 371.Mirages
- 372.L. of G.’s Purport
- 373.The Unexpress’d
- 374.Grand Is the Seen
- 375.Unseen Buds
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