Walt Whitman (1819-1892) first published "O Me! O Life!" in the 1867 edition of his famous collection Leaves of Grass. The poem's speaker wonders what the point of living is, when the world is so ugly and broken and nothing ever seems to get better. The speaker gets a surprising "Answer" from a nameless voice that might represent the speaker's own inner wisdom, or even life itself: the fact that life exists at all, this voice replies, is a miracle. The answer to the speaker's despair, this poem suggests, is thus to remember that simply being alive is an awe-inspiring privilege.
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The Full Text of “O Me! O Life!”
1O me! O life! of the questions of these recurring,
2Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
3Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
4Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
5Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
6Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
7The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
8That you are here—that life exists and identity,
9That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.
The Full Text of “O Me! O Life!”
1O me! O life! of the questions of these recurring,
2Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
3Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
4Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
5Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
6Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
7The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
8That you are here—that life exists and identity,
9That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.
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“O Me! O Life!” Summary
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“O Me! O Life!” Themes
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The Meaning of Life
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “O Me! O Life!”
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Line 1
O me! O life! of the questions of these recurring,
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Lines 2-3
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?) -
Lines 4-6
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined, -
Line 7
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
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Between Lines 7-8, Lines 8-9
Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.
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“O Me! O Life!” Symbols
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Cities
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“O Me! O Life!” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
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Assonance
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Aporia
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Apostrophe
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End-Stopped Line
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Repetition
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Metaphor
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“O Me! O Life!” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Recurring
- Trains
- Reproaching
- Vainly
- Objects
- Mean
- Plodding
- Sordid
- Intertwined
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “O Me! O Life!”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“O Me! O Life!” Speaker
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“O Me! O Life!” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “O Me! O Life!”
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More “O Me! O Life!” Resources
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External Resources
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The Poem Aloud — Listen to the poem read aloud.
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A First Edition — See an image of the first published edition of the poem at the Whitman Archive, and learn more about Whitman's poetry.
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A Short Biography — Learn more about Whitman's life and work at the Poetry Foundation.
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The Whitman Museum — Visit the website of the Walt Whitman museum, where you can learn more about the world in which Whitman lived and wrote.
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The Whitman Bicentennial — Read about Whitman's enduring legacy. Over 200 years after his birth, he remains one of the world's most influential and beloved poets.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Walt Whitman
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