To a President
To a President - meaning Summary
Mirages Dangled Before America
Whitman admonishes a president for offering empty visions to the nation. He argues the leader fails to grasp the "politics of Nature" — principles of breadth, justice, and impartiality that should govern public life. Only leaders and policies embodying those qualities suit the republic, while anything less will eventually be cast aside. The poem calls for authentic moral and civic stature rather than rhetorical illusion.
Read Complete AnalysesALL you are doing and saying is to America dangled mirages, You have not learn’d of Nature—of the politics of Nature, you have not learn’d the great amplitude, rectitude, impartiality; You have not seen that only such as they are for These States, And that what is less than they, must sooner or later lift off from These States.
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