Leaves of Grass

by Walt Whitman

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In section 2 of "Song of Myself", what is meant by "Have you reckon'd a thousand acres much? Have you reckon'd the earth much?" Is this about being an individual?

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Whitman is speaking to the general "you."  In an increasingly industrialized world, one in which people rarely contemplate the majesty and wonder of the natural world, he asks the question as something of a wake-up call.  A thousand acres is a wonderous thing, the earth itself is a marvel, yet we take so much for granted in our sequestered and sanitized lives.

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