In this passage, Whitman once more gives us a bird's eye view of nature's minute wonders. He is elaborating again on the natural equality of all things. He compares the importance of a leaf of grass and a mere ant to the celestial bodies. To him, they are merely different objects--it's the relative importance/significance of each of them to one another that he's stressing. He really makes a reader look closely at the realities …
showed first 75 words of 967 total

showed last 75 words of 967 total
…he says it! I appreciate very much that he threw off the shackles of being "poetically correct." It's far more "nature-all" to write until your thought is complete (and with simplicity) than to be bound in with concerns as to whether or not you can make it rhyme at the end or whether or not you've adorned your idea with enough pretty adjectives! I much prefer his simple, candid and sometimes "shocky" approach to life.