Question

Great job on helping Noah understand one difference between literal and figurative language! Whitman was a transcendentalist poet or a poet who believed all humans had a unique connection to nature. Noah will need more help with this poem, as it’s a tough one.

The poem continues as follows:

“I depart as air, I shake my white locks at the runaway sun,
I effuse my flesh in eddies, and drift it in lacy jags.
I bequeath myself to the first to grow from the grass I love,
If you want me again look for me under your bootsoles.”

After reading this with Noah, you explain how Whitman encourages his readers to think positively about the end of life. Noah is still confused about the words effuse and bequeath.
Using your knowledge of root words and prefixes ef- (out or away from) and be- (to leave).

How would you define the words effuse and bequeath to Noah?
Question 5 options:

To scatter; to inherit


To flow out; to give away


To disperse; to bury beneath


To let go of; to give as a gift

Answer 1

Answer: To flow out; to give away.

Explanation: ef- means “out,” so effuse means to pour or flow out (Whitman “effuse[s] my flesh in eddies” = spreads/flows it outward). be- in bequeath has the sense “to leave,” so bequeath means to leave or give away (often as an inheritance).