There Was a Child Went Forth - 148 / 365 of reading one short story every day - Walt Whitman

There Was a Child Went Forth

The continual process of becoming is at the heart of the poem. In this abstract poem, Whitman narrates a story about a child who becomes, everyday, the first object he sees outside his home. Not just another person but even objects like a lilac flower, street, ocean and clouds even.


This poem expresses the poet's identification of his consciousness with all objects and forms, and the list of things which he himself identifies with is large and comprehensive and is a good example of Whitman's observations. The continual process of becoming is at the heart of the poem. We become something or grow into something and this is the process of becoming, of change and development. The interpretation of the child's consciousness and physical phenomena, as shown in this poem, is one of the essential elements of Whitman's thought.




He composed this poem in 1855 with the initial title of "Poem of The Child That Went Forth, and Always Goes Forth, Forever and Forever" which later appeared in his poetic collection, Leaves of Grass 1860. This poem is autobiographical as many scholars associate this poem to Wittman's actual life of his childhood. The poem revolves around the past memories of a child which are pleasant and unpleasant simultaneously.


Aspects of the poem -


Observation power of Whitman (and humans)
The young child progressively observes a colourful array of plant and animal life, including the grass, "early lilacs," the ovoid "white and red morning-glories" (corresponding to the glorious morning of his world), young farmyard animals, and—in language suggesting the intersection of his objective and subjective worlds—fish "curiously" suspended in "the beautiful curious liquid." In an intimation of good and evil, he views the passing spectacle of children and adults. The statement that "all the changes of city and country" became "part of him" signals his growing powers of cognition.



Stages of life in the stages of the calendar - the poem shows the progressing stages of life of a person from childhood to old age and all the different major crossings that one has to go through.


' And the March-born lambs
And the field-sprouts of April and May became part of him '

Innocence to maturity
The poem starts with the early stages of a boy and then progresses to full fledged person in his being. Just as with all his poems, Whitman uses nature here to show the stages.

' The early lilacs became part of this child
the sow's pink-faint litter, and the mare's foal, and the cow's calf, and the noisy brood of the barn-yard
And the appletrees covered with blossoms


Nature as a companion
Nature here is used not just for symbolism but also to show how it is part of us. For Whitman, nature was very ornamental. He was far from seeing the beauty around him just for display. In the poem, he aligns nature as part of the growing child.


' The early lilacs became part of this child '

'Shadows . . aureola and mist . . light falling on roofs and gables of white or brown, three miles off,
The schooner near by sleepily dropping down the tide . . the little boat slack towed astern '