Germs
Germs - meaning Summary
Vastness Within a Handful
The poem compresses cosmic diversity into a tiny space. Whitman lists stars, lands, cities, lives and claims that a small handful can contain their origin and potential. He presents the microscopic as holding the seeds or virtues of the entire universe, linking everyday touch to vast possibility. The image emphasizes unity, the continuity between small and immense, and the idea that beginnings or "germs" of all things are present in miniature.
Read Complete AnalysesFORMS, qualities, lives, humanity, language, thoughts, The ones known, and the ones unknown—the ones on the stars, The stars themselves, some shaped, others unshaped, Wonders as of those countries—the soil, trees, cities, inhabitants, whatever they may be, Splendid suns, the moons and rings, the countless combinations and effects; Such-like, and as good as such-like, visible here or anywhere, stand provided for in a handful of space, which I extend my arm and half enclose with my hand; That contains the start of each and all—the virtue, the germs of all.
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