Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
- The speaker now sums up what he has been saying all along: the body and the soul are equals, and the self is most important of all, even more important than God.
- The worst thing you can do is walk around without sympathy for other people. Even a poor person can have anything he wants, and a man can become a hero at any job.
- He returns to the subject of religion and says that people should not be curious about God. They should be curious about each other and themselves.
- It's not that he doesn't believe in God, he just thinks it's a waste of time to worry about the nature of God.
- Besides, God is everywhere and in everything. Plus, he leaves letters signed with his name in the streets.
- Whitman leaves the letters for other people to find. He's like someone who finds a lucky penny but leaves it for the next person's good luck.