《草叶集》包含了丰富而深刻的思想内容，诗人站在激进的资产阶级民主主义立场上讴歌美国这块“民主的大地”：
"In" leaves of grass contains rich and profound ideological content， the poet stands on a radical bourgeois democratic standpoint singing American this "democratic earth":
那里没有奴隶，也没有奴隶的主人
There are no slaves， nor the master of the slaves
那里人民立刻起来反对被选人的无休止的胡作非为
There are people immediately against the selection of endless play the gangster
那里男人女人勇猛地奔赴死的号召，有如大海汹涌的狂浪
Where men and women to die bravely calls， there are violent waves surging like sea
那里外部的权利总是跟随在内部的权利之后
Where the right is always following the right of the interior
那里公民总是头脑和理想，总统，市长，州长只是有报酬的雇用人
Where citizens are always on the minds and ideals， the president， the mayor， the governor is just a paid employment
那里孩子们被教育着自己管理自己，并自己依靠自己
Where children are taught to manage themselves， and to rely on their own
那里事件总是平静地解决
Where events are always settled
那里对心灵的探索受到鼓励
There is encouragement to the exploration of the soul
那里妇女在大街上公开游行，如同男子一样
There are women on the streets， like men
那里她们走到公共集会上，如同男子一样取得席次。
There they go to a public meeting， as men get seats.
《草叶集》中对大自然、对自我有着泛神主义的歌颂，泛神主义是崇拜大自然，以自然万物为神的诗中极力赞美大自然的壮丽、神奇和伟大：
"Leaves of grass" in nature， and the self has a celebration of pantheism， pantheism is the worship of nature and all things in the nature of God poem strongly praise nature of the magnificent and wonderful and great:
攀登高山，我自己小心地爬上，握持着低桠的细瘦的小枝
Climb the mountain， I carefully climbed up， holding a low Sam thin twig
行走过长满青草，树叶轻拂着的小径
Walking the long grass， leaves the breeze path
那里鹌鹑在麦田与树林之间鸣叫
Where quail call between the fields and woods
那里蝙蝠在七月的黄昏中飞翔，那里巨大的金甲虫在黑夜中降落
Where bats flying in the evening of July， where huge Reaver in night landing
那里溪水从老树根涌出流到草地上去。
Where the stream from the old root out flow on the grass.
《草叶集》是长满美国大地的芳草，永远生气蓬勃并散发着诱人的芳香。它是世界闻名的佳作，开创了美国民族诗歌的新时代。作者在诗歌形式上有大胆的创新，创造了“自由体”的诗歌形式，打破了传统的诗歌格律，以断句作为韵律的基础，节奏自由奔放，汪洋恣肆，舒卷自如，具有一泻千里的气势和无所不包的容量。
"Leaves of grass" is covered with earth American grass， always vibrant and exudes seductive fragrance. It is a world famous masterpiece， created a new era of USA national poetry. Author in the form of poetry is bold innovation， create forms of poetry "free body"， breaking the traditional poetry， to punctuate as a basis for the rhythm， rhythm， free spirited， unrestrained， free writing， has plummeted in the momentum and the all encompassing capacity.
《草叶集》涉及的领域十分广泛，思想十分丰富，庞杂，但其基本的主题可大致归结为：自我，创造和民族。
The grass set involves a wide range of areas， thinking is very rich， complex， but its basic theme can roughly summed up: self， and create and national.
自我是《草叶集》中反复渲染，反复歌咏的一大主题。诗人在强调自我、相信自己在超验主义思想的影响下，对自我进行了无以复加的赞颂，把它刻画成顶天立地的巨人。但诗人笔下的这个自我，不同于欧洲浪漫主义传统中那种感伤纤弱、自怨自艾的自我，而是一个强健有力，甚至有些粗鲁的自我：
Self is the "leaves of grass" in repeated rendering， a major theme of repeatedly singing. The poet in the stressed self， believe that their in the transcendental thoughts under the influence， the self of the utmost praise. It portrayed the indomitable spirit of the giant. But the poet of the self， different from European romantic tradition in the kind of sentimental， delicate， self pity self， but a strong， even some rude self:
“我，惠特曼，一个美国人，一个粗鲁汉，一个世界，纵情声色……饥餐，渴饮，传种接代（《自我之歌》）”
"I， Whitman， an American， a rude Chinese， a world of debauchery...... Meal hunger， thirst， reproduction ("song of myself")"
《草叶集》的成功更在于诗集里的每一片草叶都注入了鲜活的时代精神，正如诗人的心灵，时时随着时代的脉搏而跳动。而19世纪中后期的美国正处于一个自由，平等和民主精神想草叶一样传遍天下的时期，这不仅对当时的美国意义非凡，而且对整个人类冲破封建观念和专制压迫的双重枷锁，走向民主，自由的光明未来，都有深远的意义。
"Leaves of grass" success lies in poetry each a piece of grass into a fresh spirit of the times， as the poet's mind， always with the pulse of the times beating. And in the latter half of the 19th century in the United States is in a free， equal and democratic spirit to grass the same throughout the world， which not only the significance of the United States at the time extraordinary， but also to the entire human break feudal ideas and oppressive double yoke， to democracy， freedom of the bright future， far-reaching significance.
