The transcendentalist perspective on life, as defined by Walt Whitman and Durand through their creative and artistic mediums, is an eternal and unbroken cycle that is void of a strict beginning or an absolute end. It's an experience where an individual continuously grows and develops. The illusion that both are separate is a misconception that Walt Whitman seeks to rectify through the sixth poem by stating that "all goes onward and outward, nothing collapses" (Line 37). Similarly, Durand uses the image of a continuous river, a path, providing life to a new generation of foliage and nature, which arcs back towards the beginning of the stream creating a never-ending circle for the process to undoubtedly continue. .
Whitman's choice of the words, "onward" and "outward," can be seen as a continuing onward cycle of life or spiral outward of increasing progress as time goes on, further indicating that life is not only an eternal process but that it compounds based off of growth made in the past. This interpretation, again, shares striking similarities to Durand's painting, in that the lifeblood of water given to the trees causes them to grow. And as the seasons change, and the trees lose the leaves that signify their vitality, nature enters a new stage in its continuous circle of life.
In both works, the journey towards transcendence depicts one that welcomes the presence of companionship and is not an isolated road of solitude. The interaction between the boy and the narrator in Whitman's poem serves as a reminder of the fact that life is meant to be experienced with others, "fetching it to me with full hands," (Line 1). The betterment of the self is not restricted to the seclusion of the individual, meaning that, for a person to mature into the intelligent, strong, compassionate and powerful being present within everybody, interaction needs to take place.
