Song of Myself by Walt Whitman Quotation Response 2

pg 83

"The past and present wilt."

This quotation is very short and thats one reason why I chose thuis quote. Another is because it seems like a very strong saying. Giving to different parts of time a comment is very weird to me. I dont understant why Whitman uses this quote as his first sentence. I believe it should be around the end. But it does somewhat explain the story to us. He now talks about his future and what he plans to do and gets away from the past and present.