--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Your very flesh shall be a great poem..." description: "\"“Your very flesh shall be a great poem...”\" — Walt Whitman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/769/walt-whitman-265_flesh_your-very-flesh-shall-be-a-great-poem-30_3087347.png" --- # Your very flesh shall be a great poem... ![“Your very flesh shall be a great poem...” quote by Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/769/walt-whitman-265_flesh_your-very-flesh-shall-be-a-great-poem-30_3087347.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/769/walt-whitman-265_flesh_your-very-flesh-shall-be-a-great-poem-30_3087347.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/769/walt-whitman-265_flesh_your-very-flesh-shall-be-a-great-poem-30_3087347.png) > ““Your very flesh shall be a great poem...”” [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker sees the human body as a work of art, expressing the beauty and potential of lived experience. **In simple terms:** Our bodies can be poetic expressions. Key Takeaway Embrace your physical existence as creative. Themes self‑expression body artistic identity Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal reflection - creative writing - public speaking Key Concepts humanism romanticism embodiment Questions to Reflect On - How can you turn daily actions into poetry? - What aspects of your body inspire you? A Different Perspective Physical form alone does not guarantee poetic depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Poem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poem/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/this-is-what-you-shall-do-love-the-earth-and-sun-and-the-animals-4/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [And your very flesh shall be a great poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/and-your-very-flesh-shall-be-a-great-poem/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/re-examine-all-you-have-been-told-at-school-or-church-or-in-any-book/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Love the earth and sun and animals, Despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, Stand up for the stupid and crazy, Devote your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/love-the-earth-and-sun-and-animals-despise-riches-give-alms-to/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [“re-examine all you have been told in school or church or in any book, and dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/re-examine-all-you-have-been-told-in-school-or-church-or-in-any-book-3/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Re examine all you have been told in school and in church Or in any book, dismiss what insults your own soul and your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/re-examine-all-you-have-been-told-in-school-and-in-church-or-in-any/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Re-examine all you have been told in school or church or in any book, and dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/re-examine-all-you-have-been-told-in-school-or-church-or-in-any-book-2/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [“This is what you should do: Love the earth and sun and animals, Despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, Stand up for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-is-what-you-should-do-love-the-earth-and-sun-and-animals-despise/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“All beauty comes from beautiful blood and a beautiful brain. If the greatnesses are in conjunction in a man or woman it is enough...the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/all-beauty-comes-from-beautiful-blood-and-a-beautiful-brain-if-the/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [“A great poem is for ages and ages in common and for all degrees and complexions and all departments and sects and for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/a-great-poem-is-for-ages-and-ages-in-common-and-for-all-degrees-and/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [This is what you should do: love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, stand up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/this-is-what-you-should-do-love-the-earth-and-sun-and-the-animals-2/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [The war against the war is the only war that shall give you a great honour and a real peace!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/the-war-against-the-war-is-the-only-war-that-shall-give-you-a-great/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Eternity shall be at once a great eye-opener and a great mouth-shutter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-elliot/eternity-shall-be-at-once-a-great-eye-opener-and-a-great-mouth-shutter/) [Jim Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-elliot/) > [Since we shall love each other, I shall be great and you shall be rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/since-we-shall-love-each-other-i-shall-be-great-and-you-shall-be-rich/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [They who will live for others shall have great troubles, but they shall seem to them small. Those who will live for themselves shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ralph-inge/they-who-will-live-for-others-shall-have-great-troubles-but-they/) [William Ralph Inge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ralph-inge/) ## More by Walt Whitman > [O lands! O all so dear to me - what you are, I become part of that, whatever it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/o-lands-o-all-so-dear-to-me-what-you-are-i-become-part-of-that/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [“Each of us inevitable, Each of us limitless—each of us with his or her right upon the earth, Each of us allow'd the eternal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/each-of-us-inevitable-each-of-us-limitless-each-of-us-with-his-or-her/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Comerado, this is no book,Who touches this, touches a man,(Is it night? Are we here alone?)It is I you hold, and who holds you,I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/comerado-this-is-no-book-who-touches-this-touches-a-man-is-it-night/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [I have sometimes thought that the laws ought not to punish those actions of evil which are committed when the senses are steeped in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/i-have-sometimes-thought-that-the-laws-ought-not-to-punish-those/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Oh while I live, to be the ruler of life, not a slave, to meet life as a powerful conqueror, and nothing exterior to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/oh-while-i-live-to-be-the-ruler-of-life-not-a-slave-to-meet-life-as-a/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [“it makes such difference where you read”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/it-makes-such-difference-where-you-read/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Wisdom is not finally tested in the schools, Wisdom cannot be pass'd from one having it to another not having it, Wisdom is of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/wisdom-is-not-finally-tested-in-the-schools-wisdom-cannot-be-pass-d/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Strange, (is it not?) that battles, martyrs, blood, even assassination should so condense - perhaps only really lastingly condense - a Nationality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/strange-is-it-not-that-battles-martyrs-blood-even-assassination/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [I think I could always live with animals. The more you're around people, the more you love animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/i-think-i-could-always-live-with-animals-the-more-you-re-around/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [“I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul, The pleasures of heaven are with me and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/i-am-the-poet-of-the-body-and-i-am-the-poet-of-the-soul-the-pleasures/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [So here I sit in the early candle-light of old age-I and my book-casting backward glances over out travel'd road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/so-here-i-sit-in-the-early-candle-light-of-old-age-i-and-my-book/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Re-examine all you have been told. Dismiss what insults your soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/re-examine-all-you-have-been-told-dismiss-what-insults-your-soul/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [This is what you shall do: love the earth and sun, and animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/this-is-what-you-shall-do-love-the-earth-and-sun-and-animals-despise/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Each of us inevitable; Each of us limitless-each of us with his or her right upon the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/each-of-us-inevitable-each-of-us-limitless-each-of-us-with-his-or-her-2/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Silence? What can New York-noisy, roaring, rumbling, tumbling, bustling, story, turbulent New York-have to do with silence? Amid the universal clatter, the incessant din…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/silence-what-can-new-york-noisy-roaring-rumbling-tumbling-bustling/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) [Explore all 775 Walt Whitman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) ## More Flesh quotes > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [It's still possible to savor the remarkable foods that millennia of human ingenuity have teased from milk. A sip of milk itself or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-mcgee/it-s-still-possible-to-savor-the-remarkable-foods-that-millennia-of/) Harold McGee > [If Jesus is the Son of God in human flesh, He's one of a kind of the 13 billions of people who have ever lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-lahaye/if-jesus-is-the-son-of-god-in-human-flesh-he-s-one-of-a-kind-of-the/) [Tim LaHaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-lahaye/) > [I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species. We err in copying the lower animal world if we are superior to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-hold-flesh-food-to-be-unsuited-to-our-species-we-err-in-copying-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I separated the joints, the arm joints, the leg joints, and had to do two boilings. I think I used four boxes of Soilex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-dahmer/i-separated-the-joints-the-arm-joints-the-leg-joints-and-had-to-do/) [Jeffrey Dahmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-dahmer/) > [If you like I'll be furious flesh elemental, or- changing to tones that the sunset arouses- if you like- I'll be extraordinary gentle, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-mayakovsky/if-you-like-i-ll-be-furious-flesh-elemental-or-changing-to-tones-that/) [Vladimir Mayakovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-mayakovsky/) > [Flesh forgets. Bone remembers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jefferson-bass/flesh-forgets-bone-remembers/) [Jefferson Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jefferson-bass/) > [For fear of causing terror to living beings, Mahamati, let the Bodhisattva who is disciplining himself to attain compassion, refrain from eating flesh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/for-fear-of-causing-terror-to-living-beings-mahamati-let-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [“Paul closed his eyes and turned his face to the sun. In spite of everything, it was hard not to take solace from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/paul-closed-his-eyes-and-turned-his-face-to-the-sun-in-spite-of/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [It is a great delusion to suppose that flesh-meat of any kind is essential to health. Considerably more than three parts of the work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-booth/it-is-a-great-delusion-to-suppose-that-flesh-meat-of-any-kind-is/) [Catherine Booth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-booth/) > [You asked me once if I would still love you when your lips were puckered with age and your eyes were faded. I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-medeiros/you-asked-me-once-if-i-would-still-love-you-when-your-lips-were/) [Teresa Medeiros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-medeiros/) > [What do you mean 'we,' flesh-tube?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bender-the-cartoon-character/what-do-you-mean-we-flesh-tube/) [Bender (The Cartoon Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bender-the-cartoon-character/) > [The camera can represent flesh so superbly that, if I dared, I would never photograph a figure without asking that figure to take its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-camera-can-represent-flesh-so-superbly-that-if-i-dared-i-would/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) Browse all 2,061 Flesh quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Your very flesh shall be a great poem...”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Walt Whitman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/your-very-flesh-shall-be-a-great-poem/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Flesh" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/your-very-flesh-shall-be-a-great-poem/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/769/walt-whitman-265_flesh_your-very-flesh-shall-be-a-great-poem-30_3087347.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/769/walt-whitman-265_flesh_your-very-flesh-shall-be-a-great-poem-30_3087347.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/769/walt-whitman-265_flesh_your-very-flesh-shall-be-a-great-poem-30_3087347.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Your very flesh shall be a great poem...” — Walt Whitman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Walt Whitman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Your very flesh shall be a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/your-very-flesh-shall-be-a-great-poem/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/your-very-flesh-shall-be-a-great-poem/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```