Leaves of Grass; Innocence of the Child

In poem 6 of Leaves of Grass, a child presents the question "What is Grass?" to Whitman. I think that this is portraying the innocence of a child. Then, Whitman realizes that he is just as unknowing as the child. Is this maybe creating the idea, that we are all children, trying to find answers to questions of nature? Then, Whitman proceeds by answering the question in multiple ways. "Or I guess...Or I guess...Or I guess" he writes, showing that humans try to guess the answer to questions, but never knowing what is the correct response.

After writing about what he guesses the grass is, he connects it to the graves of the dead. The grass grows from the deceased. Is he maybe connecting death with new life? Showing that there is a cycle, of never ending life and death, followed by new life? He finishes the poem with "All goes onward and outward-- nothing collapses; / And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier." In this stanza, he encorporates mimesis, by having a dash after outward, and then the sentence collapsing after the word collapse. This brings more attention and meaning to the end of the poem. I think that Whitman is trying to the cycle of death coming from life, and that death should not be feared.