Unfolded Out Of The Folds

Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)




   UNFOLDED out of the folds of the woman, man comes unfolded, and is
         always to come unfolded;
   Unfolded only out of the superbest woman of the earth, is to come the
         superbest man of the earth;
   Unfolded out of the friendliest woman, is to come the friendliest
         man;
   Unfolded only out of the perfect body of a woman, can a man be form'd
         of perfect body;
   Unfolded only out of the inimitable poem of the woman, can come the
         poems of man--(only thence have my poems come;)
   Unfolded out of the strong and arrogant woman I love, only thence can
         appear the strong and arrogant man I love;
   Unfolded by brawny embraces from the well-muscled woman I love, only
         thence come the brawny embraces of the man;
   Unfolded out of the folds of the woman's brain, come all the folds of
         the man's brain, duly obedient;
   Unfolded out of the justice of the woman, all justice is unfolded;
   Unfolded out of the sympathy of the woman is all sympathy:         10
   A man is a great thing upon the earth, and through eternity--but
         every jot of the greatness of man is unfolded out of woman,
   First the man is shaped in the woman, he can then be shaped in
         himself.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 21, 2023

1:04 min read
99

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEFGHCIFJHFJKBHLMNO
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 1,238
Words 212
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 22

Walt Whitman

Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. more…

All Walt Whitman poems | Walt Whitman Books

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