All 7 Uses of
defer
in
Leaves of Grass
- Be it so, then I answer'd,
I too haughty Shade also sing war, and a longer and greater one than any,
Waged in my book with varying fortune, with flight, advance
and retreat, victory deferr'd and wavering,
(Yet methinks certain, or as good as certain, at the last,) the
field the world,
For life and death, for the Body and for the eternal Soul,
Lo, I too am come, chanting the chant of battles,
I above all promote brave soldiers.†Chpt 1deferr'd = postponedunconventional spelling: This is more commonly spelled deferred.
- To be servile to none, to defer to none, not to any tyrant known or unknown,
Chpt 11 *defer = submit (or yield)
- the promise of thousands of years, till now deferr'd,
Chpt 14 *deferr'd = postponed (put off)unconventional spelling: This is more commonly spelled deferred.
- 13
Rhymes and rhymers pass away, poems distill'd from poems pass away,
The swarms of reflectors and the polite pass, and leave ashes,
Admirers, importers, obedient persons, make but the soil of literature,
America justifies itself, give it time, no disguise can deceive it
or conceal from it, it is impassive enough,
Only toward the likes of itself will it advance to meet them,
If its poets appear it will in due time advance to meet them, there
is no fear of mistake,
(The proof of a poet shall be sternly deferr'd till his country
absorbs him as affectionately as he has absorb'd it.)†Chpt 23deferr'd = postponedunconventional spelling: This is more commonly spelled deferred.
- I will not be outfaced by irrational things,
I will penetrate what it is in them that is sarcastic upon me,
I will make cities and civilizations defer to me,
This is what I have learnt from America—it is the amount, and it I
teach again.†Chpt 23
- (Mother, bend down, bend close to me your face,
I know not what these plots and wars and deferments are for,
I know not fruition's success, but I know that through war and crime
your work goes on, and must yet go on.)†Chpt 23
- (Curious in time I stand, noting the efforts of heroes,
Is the deferment long?†Chpt 26
Definitions:
-
(1)
(defer as in: deferred the decision) delay or postpone (hold off until a later time)
-
(2)
(defer as in: deferred to her wishes) submit or yield (typically to another person's opinion because of respect for that person or their knowledge)
-
(3)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
More rarely, defer can be used to indicate showing respect or deference; as when Dickens wrote in Bleak House: "They know him there and defer to him."