Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
- Whitman describes a "n***o" who drives a cart with four horses. Like the butcher and the blacksmith from Section 12, the cart-driver does his job well, and Whitman admires his large, strong frame. The cart-driver has complete control over the horse.
- He says how he likes to "caress" life with his gaze and, perhaps, his words.
- He sees more meaning in the eyes of an ox than in all the books he has ever read.
- Again he claims that studying nature is more important than studying books or philosophy.