Section 3 Summary

Lines 12-14

In the dooryard fronting an old farm-house near the white-wash'd palings,
Stands the lilac-bush tall-growing with heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
With many a pointed blossom rising delicate, with the perfume strong I love,

• By the third section of the poem, we're back to the lovely lilacs in the dooryard. The sudden mood change, as we noted before, fits well with the erratic reality of our speaker grieving. And since we just left a stanza that's all about woe, we're getting a sense of that balance between life and death some more. 
• It's all about the imagery in these lines, which serves to capture the fecundity (lushness) of spring and life in general. The lilac bush is "tall-growing" with "rich green" leaves and strong perfume. If that doesn't scream fecundity, we don't know what does.
• The old farmhouse reminds us of the speaker's isolation in times of grieving. The fence is "white-wash'd," but the house is old which gives the impression of the passing of time despite times of mourning. The world still turns and the fences are still painted over, no matter how long the speaker or anyone else may mourn in that isolated farmhouse. 
• Line 13 gives us that "tall-growing" lilac bush that not only suggests vitality, but also life's perseverance and the notion of moving forward of time. Like the song says, life goes on and in this case it flourishes with heart-shaped "rich green" leaves. So, even nature has a way of physically proving the endurance of life with leaves, which here are shaped like hearts. Aww. 
• But line 14 also points out that this life is also "delicate" despite its strong perfume. The lilacs may endure the winter, but we're also reminded that those spring blossoms are still fragile, just like life.

Lines 15-17

With every leaf a miracle—and from this bush in the dooryard,
With delicate-color'd blossoms and heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
A sprig with its flower I break.

• If you had any doubt about those lilacs being an extended metaphor for life, line 15 takes care of that. The speaker states that with "every leaf a miracle" occurs. We've all heard plenty of older folks talking about the miracle of life, and here the idea is the same. Despite those delicate buds, life still perseveres and flourishes.
• We're noticing that at this point that Whitman's elegy is sounding mighty optimistic and hopeful, despite the speaker's mourning. So we're really feeling the sense of holding on to the positive despite all the negative, deathly, bad times stuff. It's a "finding the light in the darkness" sort of thing. 
• And what does the speaker do to this delicate bush of life? He breaks off a "sprig with its flower." We're assuming he's checked with the owners first.
• We can also assume that that sprig will become important later on, since it's part of this extended metaphor for life.