Song of Myself (Part 13) - Walt Whitman
Observing the Teamster, Embracing Life, and Finding Harmony in Nature
The negro holds firmly the reins of his four horses,
The block swags underneath on its tied-over chain;
The negro that drives the long dray of the stone-yard,
Steady and tall he stands pois’d on one leg on the string-piece,
His blue shirt exposes his ample neck and breast, and loosens over his hip-band,
His glance is calm and commanding,
He tosses the slouch of his hat away from his forehead,
The sun falls on his crispy hair and mustache, falls on the black of his polish’d and perfect limbs.
I behold the picturesque giant, and love him, and I do not stop there,
I go with the team also.
In me the caresser of life wherever moving—backward as well as forward sluing,
To niches aside and junior bending.
Oxen that rattle the yoke or halt in the shade, what is that you express in your eyes?
It seems to me more than all the print I have read in my life.
My tread scares the wood-drake and wood-duck on my distant and day-long ramble,
They rise together, they slowly circle around.
I believe in those wing’d purposes,
And acknowledge red, yellow, white, playing within me,
And consider green and violet, and the tufted crown intentional,
And do not call the tortoise unworthy because she is not something else,
And the jay in the woods never studied the gamut, yet trills pretty well to me,
And the look of the bay mare shames silliness out of me.
In Part 13 of Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself,” the poet vividly portrays a teamster—a “picturesque giant”—poised with commanding ease as he guides a heavy dray of stone. Whitman devotes special attention to this man’s calm dignity, evident in his steady stance and powerful frame. By focusing on the simple but deeply human image of a driver in the sun, Whitman elevates a seemingly ordinary scene into a moment of reverence.
From that focal point, the poem expands into a meditation on the connectedness of all living things. Whitman suggests that an “invisible bond” joins humans with the natural world. He asks oxen, for instance, “what is that you express in your eyes?”—implying that animals communicate a truth exceeding anything he has encountered in written texts.
This section also celebrates the notion of acceptance. Whitman acknowledges the beauty and purpose in everything, from the coloring of birds to the humble tortoise. Rather than demanding everything conform to a single standard, he embraces each being’s uniqueness as intrinsically meaningful. In that spirit, the poet rejects the impulse to label something unworthy merely because it is different.
Whitman’s sensory language—“the sun falls on…polish’d limbs,” “the wood-duck on my distant ramble”—encourages us to see ourselves as participants in nature’s grand tapestry, not as distant observers. His reflection on vivid colors—red, yellow, white, green, violet—underscores the interplay of life’s diverse expressions. Even the simple act of scaring up ducks on a walk suggests that humans inevitably interact with and influence the world around them.
Crucially, Whitman ends with a nod to how animals can “shame silliness” out of him. This underscores how, by aligning ourselves with creatures and natural rhythms, we can break free from self-absorption. In bridging human endeavor (the teamster’s work) with the wild grace of animals (drakes, ducks, tortoises, mares), Part 13 illustrates a central motif of “Song of Myself”: the wholeness of life’s experiences, each strand informing and enhancing the other. By welcoming every creature and color with reverence, Whitman invites readers to see that what might appear commonplace is, in fact, wondrously intertwined with the essence of the universe.
Key points
• Everyday labor—such as guiding a dray—contains its own poetry and dignity.
• Animals convey truths that can surpass written knowledge.
• Embracing every being’s uniqueness fosters a profound sense of unity.
• Human actions inevitably affect the natural world, linking us to all life.
• By observing and valuing the diversity of creation, we gain insight into our own place in the cosmos.