This third section is a fine example of Whitman's use of the catalog; in a series of pictures, a pageant of users and uses of the axe is presented. The poet's intention is to demonstrate "the beauty of all adventurous and daring persons"-the ordinary people who built this country. Whitman's ability to paint word pictures is revealed in the diversity of the scenes describing these workmen, scenes in which he includes both past and present. The uses of the broadaxe are destructive as well as constructive. "The crash and cut away of connecting wood-work" shows the destructive use of the axe (in this case, firefighting); in addition, ancient warriors used the axe as a weapon. But whether it is used to create or destroy, the axe is effective essentially because it sets the world of action in motion and in this way participates in the mystic evolution of the universe.
Section 4 celebrates "muscle and pluck forever." These are the sources of power behind the action of the axe. Whitman asks rhetorical questions: "What do you think endures?" Do great cities, manufacturing states, constitutions, or armaments endure? The answer is that these are not important in themselves and will not endure unless they are expressions of "personal qualities." The whole world is a show and "the show passes." Only the city that is great, "which has the greatest men and women" — even if it consists only of ragged huts — that city will be "the greatest city in the whole world."
In this section there is a shift of emphasis from the material to the spiritual. Action "invigorates life," but it also "invigorates death." The axe is not even mentioned in this section, but it is indirectly associated with physical action. Physical action and spiritual vigor are interlinked and are both forms of human endeavor. The poet's view that "the living" and "the dead" advance in their own way shows the mystic progression of time and the unfolding of evolution. What endures is the action of great men and women. It is only the great (symbolized by the spirit of the broadaxe) who give meaning and spiritual significance to actions and events in this world.
