Gliding Over All

Gliding Over All - context Summary

Leaves of Grass, 1867

Published in the 1867 edition of Leaves of Grass, Whitman’s short lyric presents an expansive, roaming vision rather than a narrative. It casts the self as a voyager gliding through nature, time, and space and anticipates both life and ‘‘many deaths’’ as subjects worthy of celebration. The poem reflects Whitman’s transcendentalist sense of unity and the soul’s continuous passage, fitting the broader themes of his later work.