In the poem, “O Me! O Life!,” Walt Whitman explains the feelings and the thoughts of someone who thinks that their life is over. That there’s nothing else to do like they’ve hit a dead end in life. This person ask, “what good amid these,” and Whitman answers by saying, “that you are here…that the powerful play goes on,” and by play Whitman means life. Life that goes on and that you can contribute to.