Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
- In this section, Whitman describes his experience with all kinds of people and situations, as if to justify his claim to be the companion of all people.
- He has seen everything from little kids to "suicides" that have just shot themselves.
- The point seems to be that the world is a chaotic place filled with good and bad things, but still Whitman isn't going to judge anyone.
- He's just an observer (see Section 4 and the "Me Myself").
- He comes "again and again" to observe the seedy side of life, like crime and adultery.
- He seems to be in a city.