In the first paragraph of Whitman's preface he talks about America. He tells the reader that we can learn from the things we did wrong in the past.
AMERICA does not repel the past or what it has produced under its forms or amid other politics or the idea of castes or the old religions: America does not realize yet that there are consequences of the events that happened in the past.
… accepts the lesson with calmness: America is not serious about the consequences.
… is not so impatient as has been supposed that the slough still sticks to opinions and manners and literature while the life which served its requirements has passed into the new life of the new forms:
...perceives that the corpse is slowly borne from the eating and sleeping rooms of the house: Nothing is going on
… perceives that it waits a little while in the door: America does not act
… that it was fittest for its days:
… that its action has descended to the stalwart and well shaped heir who approaches:
… and that he shall be fittest for his days: America has to be prepared
He is using some devices such as metaphors, for example "the corpse is slowly borne from the eating...".
When you have a look at the structure of the text it is conspicuous that he often leaves something out which is marked with three docs. He left out the subject (America).
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