LG1867	1	STARTING from fish-shape Paumanok, where I was born,
LG1867	2	Well-begotten, and rais'd by a perfect mother;
LG1867	3	After roaming many lands—lover of populous pave-mentspavements;
LG1867	4	Dweller in Mannahatta, city of ships, my city—or on southern savannas;
LG1867	5	Or a soldier camp'd, or carrying my knapsack and gun —or a miner in California;
LG1867	6	Or rude in my home in Dakotah's woods, my diet meat, my drink from the spring;
LG1867	7	Or withdrawn to muse and meditate in some deep recess,
LG1867	8	Far from the clank of crowds, intervals passing, rapt and happy;
LG1867	9	Aware of the fresh free giver, the flowing Missouri— aware of mighty Niagara;
LG1867	10	Aware of the buffalo herds, grazing the plains—the hirsute and strong-breasted bull;
LG1867	11	Of earths, rocks, Fifth-month flowers, experienced— stars, rain, snow, my amaze;
LG1867	12	Having studied the mocking-bird's tones, and the mountain hawk's,
LG1867	13	And heard at dusk the unrival'd one, the hermit thrush from the swamp-cedars,
LG1867	14	Solitary, singing in the West, I strike up for a New World.
LG1867	15	Victory, union, faith, identity, time,
LG1867	16	Yourself, the present and future lands, the indissolu-bleindissoluble compacts, riches, mystery,
LG1867	17	Eternal progress, the kosmos, and the modern reports.
LG1867	18	This, then, is life;
LG1867	19	Here is what has come to the surface after so many throes and convulsions.
LG1867	20	How curious! how real!
LG1867	21	Under foot the divine soil—over head the sun.
LG1867	22	See, revolving, the globe;
LG1867	23	The ancestor-continents, away, group'd together;
LG1867	24	The present and future continents, north and south,with the isthmus between.
LG1867	25	See, vast, trackless spaces;
LG1867	26	As in a dream, they change, they swiftly fill;
LG1867	27	Countless masses debouch upon them;
LG1867	28	They are now cover'd with the foremost people, arts,institutions, known.
LG1867	29	See, projected, through time,
LG1867	30	For me, an audience interminable.
LG1867	31	With firm and regular step they wend—they never stop,
LG1867	32	Successions of men, Americanos, a hundred millions;
LG1867	33	One generation playing its part, and passing on,
LG1867	34	Another generation playing its part, and passing on in its turn,
LG1867	35	With faces turn'd sideways or backward towards me,to listen,
LG1867	36	With eyes retrospective towards me.
LG1867	37	Americanos! Conquerors! marches humanitarian;
LG1867	38	Foremost! century marches! Libertad! masses!
LG1867	39	For you a programme of chants.
LG1867	40	Chants of the prairies;
LG1867	41	Chants of the long-running Mississippi, and down to the Mexican sea;
LG1867	42	Chants of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota;
LG1867	43	Chants going forth from the centre, from Kansas, and thence, equi-distant,
LG1867	44	Shooting in pulses of fire, ceaseless, to vivify all.
LG1867	45	In the Year 80 of The States,
LG1867	46	My tongue, every atom of my blood, form'd from this soil, this air,
LG1867	47	Born here of parents born here, from parents the same,and their parents the same,
LG1867	48	I, now thirty-six years old, in perfect health, begin,
LG1867	49	Hoping to cease not till death.
LG1867	50	Creeds and schools in abeyance,
LG1867	51	(Retiring back a while, sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten,)
LG1867	52	I harbor, for good or bad—I permit to speak, at every hazard,
LG1867	53	Nature now without check, with original energy.
LG1867	54	Take my leaves, America! take them South, and take them North!
LG1867	55	Make welcome for them everywhere, for they are your own offspring;
LG1867	56	Surround them, East and West! for they would sur-roundsurround you;
LG1867	57	And you precedents! connect lovingly with them, for they connect lovingly with you.
LG1867	58	I conn'd old times;
LG1867	59	I sat studying at the feet of the great masters:
LG1867	60	Now, if eligible, O that the great masters might re-turnreturn and study me!
LG1867	61	In the name of These States, shall I scorn the antique?
LG1867	62	Why these are the children of the antique, to jus-tifyjustify it.
LG1867	63	Dead poets, philosophs, priests,
LG1867	64	Martyrs, artists, inventors, governments long since,
LG1867	65	Language-shapers, on other shores,
LG1867	66	Nations once powerful, now reduced, withdrawn, or desolate,
LG1867	67	I dare not proceed till I respectfully credit what you have left, wafted hither :
LG1867	68	I have perused it—own it is admirable, (moving awhile among it;)
LG1867	69	Think nothing can ever be greater—nothing can ever deserve more than it deserves;
LG1867	70	Regarding it all intently a long while, then dismiss-ingdismissing it,
LG1867	71	I stand in my place, with my own day, here.
LG1867	72	Here lands female and male;
LG1867	73	Here the heirship and heiress-ship of the world—here the flame of materials;
LG1867	74	Here Spirituality, the translatress, the openly-avow'd,
LG1867	75	The ever-tending, the finale of visible forms;
LG1867	76	The satisfier, after due long-waiting, now advancing,
LG1867	77	Yes, here comes my mistress, the Soul.
LG1867	78	The SOUL!
LG1867	79	Forever and forever—longer than soil is brown and solid—longer than water ebbs and flows.
LG1867	80	I will make the poems of materials, for I think they are to be the most spiritual poems;
LG1867	81	And I will make the poems of my body and of mor-talitymortality,
LG1867	82	For I think I shall then supply myself with the poems of my Soul, and of immortality.
LG1867	83	I will make a song for These States, that no one State may under any circumstances be sub-jectedsubjected to another State;
LG1867	84	And I will make a song that there shall be comity by day and by night between all The States, and between any two of them;
LG1867	85	And I will make a song for the ears of the President,full of weapons with menacing points,
LG1867	86	And behind the weapons countless dissatisfied faces :
LG1867	87	And a song make I, of the One form'd out of all;
LG1867	88	The fang'd and glittering One whose head is over all;
LG1867	89	Resolute, warlike One, including and over all;
LG1867	90	(However high the head of any else, that head is over all.)
LG1867	91	I will acknowledge contemporary lands;
LG1867	92	I will trail the whole geography of the globe, and sa-lutesalute courteously every city large and small;
LG1867	93	And employments! I will put in my poems, that with you is heroism, upon land and sea—And I will report all heroism from an American point of view;
LG1867	94	And sexual organs and acts! do you concentrate in me—for I am determin'd to tell you with cour-ageouscourageous clear voice, to prove you illustrious.
LG1867	95	I will sing the song of companionship;
LG1867	96	I will show what alone must finally compact These;
LG1867	97	I believe These are to found their own ideal of manly love, indicating it in me;
LG1867	98	I will therefore let flame from me the burning fires that were threatening to consume me;
LG1867	99	I will lift what has too long kept down those smoul-deringsmouldering fires;
LG1867	100	I will give them complete abandonment;
LG1867	101	I will write the evangel-poem of comrades and of
LG1867	102	love;
LG1867	103	(For who but I should understand love, with all its
LG1867	104	sorrow and joy?
LG1867	105	And who but I should be the poet of comrades?)
LG1867	106	I am the credulous man of qualities, ages, races;
LG1867	107	I advance from the people en-masse in their own spirit;
LG1867	108	Here is what sings unrestricted faith.
LG1867	109	Omnes! Omnes! let others ignore what they may;
LG1867	110	I make the poem of evil also—I commemorate that part also;
LG1867	111	I am myself just as much evil as good, and my nation is—And I say there is in fact no evil,
LG1867	112	(Or if there is, I say it is just as important to you, to the land, or to me, as anything else.)
LG1867	113	I too, following many, and follow'd by many, inau-gurateinaugurate a Religion—I too go to the wars;
LG1867	114	(It may be I am destin'd to utter the loudest cries thereof, the winner's pealing shouts;
LG1867	115	Who knows? they may rise from me yet, and soar above every thing.)
LG1867	116	Each is not for its own sake;
LG1867	117	I say the whole earth, and all the stars in the sky, are for Religion's sake.
LG1867	118	I say no man has ever yet been half devout enough
LG1867	119	None has ever yet adored or worship'd half enough;
LG1867	120	None has begun to think how divine he himself is, and how certain the future is.
LG1867	121	I say that the real and permanent grandeur of These States must be their religion;
LG1867	122	Otherwise there is no real and permanent grandeur;
LG1867	123	(Nor character, nor life worthy the name, without Re-ligionReligion;
LG1867	124	Nor land, nor man or woman, without Religion.)
LG1867	125	What are you doing, young man?
LG1867	126	Are you so earnest—so given up to literature, science,art, amours?
LG1867	127	These ostensible realities, politics, points?
LG1867	128	Your ambition or business, whatever it may be?
LG1867	129	It is well—Against such I say not a word—I am their poet also;
LG1867	130	But behold! such swiftly subside—burnt up for Re-ligionReligion's sake;
LG1867	131	For not all matter is fuel to heat, impalpable flame,the essential life of the earth,
LG1867	132	Any more than such are to Religion.
LG1867	133	What do you seek, so pensive and silent?
LG1867	134	What do you need, Camerado?
LG1867	135	Dear son! do you think it is love?
LG1867	136	Listen, dear son—listen, America, daughter or son!
LG1867	137	It is a painful thing to love a man or woman to ex-cessexcess—and yet it satisfies—it is great;
LG1867	138	But there is something else very great—it makes the whole coincide;
LG1867	139	It, magnificent, beyond materials, with continuous hands, sweeps and provides for all.
LG1867	140	Know you! to drop in the earth the germs of a greater Religion,
LG1867	141	The following chants, each for its kind, I sing.
LG1867	142	My comrade!
LG1867	143	For you, to share with me, two greatnesses—and a third one, rising inclusive and more resplen-dentresplendent,
LG1867	144	The greatness of Love and Democracy—and the greatness of Religion.
LG1867	145	Melange mine own! the unseen and the seen;
LG1867	146	Mysterious ocean where the streams empty;
LG1867	147	Prophetic spirit of materials shifting and flickering around me;
LG1867	148	Living beings, identities, now doubtless near us, in
LG1867	149	the air, that we know not of;
LG1867	150	Contact daily and hourly that will not release me;
LG1867	151	These selecting—these, in hints, demanded of me.
LG1867	152	Not he, with a daily kiss, onward from childhood kissing me,
LG1867	153	Has winded and twisted around me that which holds me to him,
LG1867	154	Any more than I am held to the heavens, to the spir-itualspiritual world,
LG1867	155	And to the identities of the Gods, my lovers, faithful and true,
LG1867	156	After what they have done to me, suggesting themes.
LG1867	157	O such themes! Equalities!
LG1867	158	O amazement of things! O divine average!
LG1867	159	O warblings under the sun—usher'd, as now, or at noon, or setting!
LG1867	160	O strain, musical, flowing through ages—now reach-ingreaching hither,
LG1867	161	I take to your reckless and composite chords—I add to them, and cheerfully pass them forward.
LG1867	162	As I have walk'd in Alabama my morning walk,
LG1867	163	I have seen where the she-bird, the mocking-bird on her nest in the briers, hatching her brood.
LG1867	164	I have seen the he-bird also;
LG1867	165	I have paused to hear him, near at hand, inflating his throat, and joyfully singing.
LG1867	166	And while I paused, it came to me that what he really sang for was not there only,
LG1867	167	Nor for his mate nor himself only, nor all sent back by the echoes;
LG1867	168	But subtle, clandestine, away beyond,
LG1867	169	A charge transmitted, and gift occult, for those being born.
LG1867	170	Democracy!
LG1867	171	Near at hand to you a throat is now inflating itself
LG1867	172	and joyfully singing.
LG1867	173	Ma femme!
LG1867	174	For the brood beyond us and of us,
LG1867	175	For those who belong here, and those to come,
LG1867	176	I, exultant, to be ready for them, will now shake out carols stronger and haughtier than have ever yet been heard upon earth.
LG1867	177	I will make the songs of passion, to give them their way,
LG1867	178	And your songs, outlaw'd offenders—for I scan you with kindred eyes, and carry you with me the same as any.
LG1867	179	I will make the true poem of riches,
LG1867	180	To earn for the body and the mind, whatever adheres,and goes forward, and is not dropt by death.
LG1867	181	I will effuse egotism, and show it underlying all— and I will be the bard of personality;
LG1867	182	And I will show of male and female that either is but the equal of the other;
LG1867	183	And I will show that there is no imperfection in the present—and can be none in the future;
LG1867	184	And I will show that whatever happens to anybody, it may be turn'd to beautiful results—and I will show that nothing can happen more beautiful than death;
LG1867	185	And I will thread a thread through my poems that time and events are compact,
LG1867	186	And that all the things of the universe are perfect miracles, each as profound as any.
LG1867	187	I will not make poems with reference to parts;
LG1867	188	But I will make leaves, poems, poemets, songs, says,thoughts, with reference to ensemble:
LG1867	189	And I will not sing with reference to a day, but with reference to all days;
LG1867	190	And I will not make a poem, nor the least part of a poem, but has reference to the Soul;
LG1867	191	(Because, having look'd at the objects of the universe,I find there is no one, nor any particle of one,but has reference to the Soul.)
LG1867	192	Was somebody asking to see the Soul?
LG1867	193	See! your own shape and countenance—persons, sub-stancessubstances, beasts, the trees, the running rivers, the rocks and sands. All hold spiritual joys, and afterwards loosen them:
LG1867	194	How can the real body ever die, and be buried?
LG1867	195	Of your real body, and any man's or woman's real body,
LG1867	196	Item for item, it will elude the hands of the corpse-cleanerscorpse-cleaners, and pass to fitting spheres,
LG1867	197	Carrying what has accrued to it from the moment of birth to the moment of death.
LG1867	198	Not the types set up by the printer return their im-pressionimpression, the meaning, the main concern,
LG1867	199	Any more than a man's substance and life, or a wo-manwoman's substance and life, return in the body and the Soul,
LG1867	200	Indifferently before death and after death.
LG1867	201	Behold! the body includes and is the meaning, the main concern—and includes and is the Soul;
LG1867	202	Whoever you are! how superb and how divine is your body, or any part of it.
LG1867	203	Whoever you are! to you endless announcements.
LG1867	204	Daughter of the lands, did you wait for your poet?
LG1867	205	Did you wait for one with a flowing mouth and in-dicativeindicative hand?
LG1867	206	Toward the male of The States, and toward the female of The States,
LG1867	207	Live words—words to the lands.
LG1867	208	O the lands! interlink'd, food-yielding lands!
LG1867	209	Land of coal and iron! Land of gold! Lands of cotton, sugar, rice!
LG1867	210	Land of wheat, beef, pork! Land of wool and hemp!Land of the apple and grape!
LG1867	211	Land of the pastoral plains, the grass-fields of the world! Land of those sweet-air'd interminable plateaus!
LG1867	212	Land of the herd, the garden, the healthy house of adobieadobe!
LG1867	213	Lands where the northwest Columbia winds, and where the southwest Colorado winds!
LG1867	214	Land of the eastern Chesapeake! Land of the Dela-wareDelaware!
LG1867	215	Land of Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan!
LG1867	216	Land of the Old Thirteen! Massachusetts land! Land of Vermont and Connecticut!
LG1867	217	Land of the ocean shores! Land of sierras and peaks!
LG1867	218	Land of boatmen and sailors! Fishermen's land!
LG1867	219	Inextricable lands! the clutch'd together! the passion-atepassionate ones!
LG1867	220	The side by side! the elder and younger brothers!the bony-limb'd!
LG1867	221	The great women's land! the feminine! the ex-periencedexperienced sisters and the inexperienced sisters!
LG1867	222	Far breath'd land! Arctic braced! Mexican breez'd!the diverse! the compact!
LG1867	223	The Pennsylvanian! the Virginian! the double Caro-linianCarolinian!
LG1867	224	O all and each well-loved by me! my intrepid nations!O I at any rate include you all with perfect love!
LG1867	225	I cannot be discharged from you! not from one, any sooner than another!
LG1867	226	O Death! O for all that, I am yet of you, unseen, this hour, with irrepressible love,
LG1867	227	Walking New England, a friend, a traveler,
LG1867	228	Splashing my bare feet in the edge of the summer ripples, on Paumanok's sands,
LG1867	229	Crossing the prairies—dwelling again in Chicago— dwelling in every town,
LG1867	230	Observing shows, births, improvements, structures,arts,
LG1867	231	Listening to the orators and the oratresses in public halls,
LG1867	232	Of and through The States, as during life—each man and woman my neighbor,
LG1867	233	The Louisianian, the Georgian, as near to me, and I as near to him and her,
LG1867	234	The Mississippian and Arkansian yet with me—and I yet with any of them;
LG1867	235	Yet upon the plains west of the spinal river—yet in my house of adobieadobe,
LG1867	236	Yet returning eastward—yet in the Sea-Side State, or in Maryland,
LG1867	237	Yet Kanadian, cheerily braving the winter—the snow and ice welcome to me,
LG1867	238	Yet a true son either of Maine, or of the Granite State,or of the Narragansett Bay State, or of the Empire State;
LG1867	239	Yet sailing to other shores to annex the same—yet welcoming every new brother;
LG1867	240	Hereby applying these leaves to the new ones, from the hour they unite with the old ones;
LG1867	241	Coming among the new ones myself, to be their com-panioncompanion and equal—coming personally to you now;
LG1867	242	Enjoining you to acts, characters, spectacles, with me.
LG1867	243	With me, with firm holding—yet haste, haste on.
LG1867	244	For your life, adhere tome;
LG1867	245	Of all the men of the earth, I only can unloose you and toughen you;
LG1867	246	I may have to be persuaded many times before I consent to give myself to you—but what of that?
LG1867	247	Must not Nature be persuaded many times?
LG1867	248	No dainty dolce affettuoso I;
LG1867	249	Bearded, sunburnt, gray-neck'd, forbidding, I have arrived,
LG1867	250	To be wrestled with as I pass, for the solid prizes of the universe;
LG1867	251	For such I afford whoever can persevere to win them.
LG1867	252	On my way a moment I pause;
LG1867	253	Here for you! and here for America!
LG1867	254	Still the Present I raise aloft—Still the Future of The States I harbinge, glad and sublime;
LG1867	255	And for the Past, I pronounce what the air holds of &
LG1867	256	The red aborigines!
LG1867	257	Leaving natural breaths, sounds of rain and winds,calls as of birds and animals in the woods,syllabled to us for names;
LG1867	258	Okonee, Koosa, Ottawa, Monongahela, Sauk, Natchez,Chattahoochee, Kaqueta, Oronoco,
LG1867	259	Wabash, Miami, Saginaw, Chippewa, Oshkosh, Walla-WallaWalla-Walla;
LG1867	260	Leaving such to The States, they melt, they depart,charging the water and the land with names.
LG1867	261	O expanding and swift! O henceforth,
LG1867	262	Elements, breeds, adjustments, turbulent, quick, and audacious;
LG1867	263	A world primal again—Vistas of glory, incessant and branching;
LG1867	264	A new race, dominating previous ones, and grander far, with new contests,
LG1867	265	New politics, new literatures and religions, new in-ventionsinventions and arts.
LG1867	266	These! my voice announcing—I will sleep no more,but arise;
LG1867	267	You oceans that have been calm within me! how I feel you, fathomless, stirring, preparing un-precedentedunprecedented waves and storms.
LG1867	268	See! steamers steaming through my poems!
LG1867	269	See, in my poems immigrants continually coming and landing;
LG1867	270	See, in arriere, the wigwam, the trail, the hunter's hut, the flat-boat, the maize-leaf, the claim, the rude fence, and the backwoods village;
LG1867	271	See, on the one side the Western Sea, and on the other the Eastern Sea, how they advance and retreat upon my poems, as upon their own shores;
LG1867	272	See, pastures and forests in my poems—See, animals,wild and tame—See, beyond the Kanzas, count-lesscountless herds of buffalo, feeding on short curly grass;
LG1867	273	See, in my poems, cities, solid, vast, inland, with paved streets, with iron and stone edifices,ceaseless vehicles, and commerce;
LG1867	274	See, the many-cylinder'd steam printing-press—See,the electric telegraph, stretching across the Continent, from the Western Sea to Man-hattanManhattan;
LG1867	275	See, through Atlantica's depths, pulses American,Europe reaching—pulses of Europe, duly re-turnreturn'd;
LG1867	276	See, the strong and quick locomotive, as it departs,panting, blowing the steam-whistle;
LG1867	277	See, ploughmen, ploughing farms—See, miners, dig-gingdigging mines—See, the numberless factories;
LG1867	278	See, mechanics, busy at their benches, with tools— See from among them, superior judges, philo-sophsphilosophs, Presidents, emerge, drest in working dresses;
LG1867	279	See, lounging through the shops and fields of The States, me, well-beloved, close-held by day and night;
LG1867	280	Hear the loud echoes of my songs there! Read the hints come at last.
LG1867	281	O Camerado close!
LG1867	282	O you and me at last—and us two only.
LG1867	283	O a word to clear one's path ahead endlessly!
LG1867	284	O something extatic and undemonstrable! O music wild!
LG1867	285	O now I triumph—and you shall also;
LG1867	286	O hand in hand—O wholesome pleasure—O one more desirer and lover!
LG1867	287	O to haste, firm holding—to haste, haste on, with me.
LG1867	288	I CELEBRATE myself;
LG1867	289	And what I assume you shall assume;
LG1867	290	For every atom belonging to me, as good belongs to you.
LG1867	291	I loafe and invite my Soul;
LG1867	292	I lean and loafe at my ease, observing a spear of sum-mersummer grass.
LG1867	293	Houses and rooms are full of perfumes—the shelves are crowded with perfumes;
LG1867	294	I breathe the fragrance myself, and know it and like it;
LG1867	295	The distillation would intoxicate me also, but I shall not let it.
LG1867	296	The atmosphere is not a perfume—it has no taste of the distillation—it is odorless;
LG1867	297	It is for my mouth forever—I am in love with it;
LG1867	298	I will go to the bank by the wood, and become undis-guisedundisguised and naked;
LG1867	299	I am mad for it to be in contact with me.
LG1867	300	The smoke of my own breath;
LG1867	301	Echoes, ripples, buzz'd whispers, love-root, silk-thread,crotch and vine;
LG1867	302	My respiration and inspiration, the beating of my heart, the passing of blood and air through my lungs;
LG1867	303	The sniff of green leaves and dry leaves, and of the shore, and dark-color'd sea-rocks, and of hay in the barn;
LG1867	304	The sound of the belch'd words of my voice, words loos'd to the eddies of the wind;
LG1867	305	A few light kisses, a few embraces, a reaching around of arms;
LG1867	306	The play of shine and shade on the trees as the supple boughs wag;
LG1867	307	The delight alone, or in the rush of the streets, or along the fields and hill-sides;
LG1867	308	The feeling of health, the full noon trill, the song of me rising from bed and meeting the sun.
LG1867	309	Have you reckon'd a thousand acres much? have you reckon'd the earth much?
LG1867	310	Have you practis'd so long to learn to read?
LG1867	311	Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems?
LG1867	312	Stop this day and night with me, and you shall pos-sesspossess the origin of all poems;
LG1867	313	You shall possess the good of the earth and sun— (there are millions of suns left;)
LG1867	314	You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead,nor feed on the spectres in books;
LG1867	315	You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me:
LG1867	316	You shall listen to all sides, and filter them from your-selfyour-self.
LG1867	317	I have heard what the talkers were talking, the talk of the beginning and the end.
LG1867	318	But I do not talk of the beginning or the end.
LG1867	319	There was never any more inception than there is now,
LG1867	320	Nor any more youth or age than there is now;
LG1867	321	And will never be any more perfection than there is now,
LG1867	322	Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.
LG1867	323	Urge, and urge, and urge;
LG1867	324	Always the procreant urge of the world.
LG1867	325	Out of the dimness opposite equals advance—always substance and increase, always sex;
LG1867	326	Always a knit of identity—always distinction—always a breed of life.
LG1867	327	To elaborate is no avail—learn'd and unlearn'd feel that it is so.
LG1867	328	Sure as the most certain sure, plumb in the uprights,well entretied, braced in the beams,
LG1867	329	Stout as a horse, affectionate, haughty, electrical,
LG1867	330	I and this mystery, here we stand.
LG1867	331	Clear and sweet is my Soul, and clear and sweet is all that is not my Soul.
LG1867	332	Lack one lacks both, and the unseen is proved by the seen,
LG1867	333	Till that becomes unseen, and receives proof in its turn.
LG1867	334	Showing the best, and dividing it from the worst,age vexes age;
LG1867	335	Knowing the perfect fitness and equanimity of things,while they discuss I am silent, and go bathe and admire myself.
LG1867	336	Welcome is every organ and attribute of me, and of any man hearty and clean;
LG1867	337	Not an inch, nor a particle of an inch, is vile, and none shall be less familiar than the rest.
LG1867	338	I am satisfied—I see, dance, laugh, sing;
LG1867	339	As the hugging and loving Bed-fellow sleeps at my side through the night, and withdraws at the peep of the day, with stealthy tread,
LG1867	340	Leaving me baskets cover'd with white towels, swell-ingswelling the house with their plenty,
LG1867	341	Shall I postpone my acceptation and realization, and scream at my eyes,
LG1867	342	That they turn from gazing after and down the road,
LG1867	343	And forthwith cipher and show me a cent,
LG1867	344	Exactly the contents of one, and exactly the contents of two, and which is ahead?
LG1867	345	Trippers and askers surround me;
LG1867	346	People I meet—the effect upon me of my early life, or the ward and city I live in, or the nation,
LG1867	347	The latest dates, discoveries, inventions, societies,authors old and new,
LG1867	348	My dinner, dress, associates, looks, compliments, dues,
LG1867	349	The real or fancied indifference of some man or woman I love,
LG1867	350	The sickness of one of my folks, or of myself, or ill-doingill-doing, or loss or lack of money, or depressions or exaltations;
LG1867	351	Battles, the horrors of fratricidal war, the fever of doubtful news, the fitful events;
LG1867	352	These come to me days and nights, and go from me again,
LG1867	353	But they are not the Me myself.
LG1867	354	Apart from the pulling and hauling stands what I am;
LG1867	355	Stands amused, complacent, compassionating, idle,unitary;
LG1867	356	Looks down, is erect, or bends an arm on an impalpa-bleimpalpable certain rest,
LG1867	357	Looking with side-curved head, curious what will come next;
LG1867	358	Both in and out of the game, and watching and won-deringwondering at it.
LG1867	359	Backward I see in my own days where I sweated through fog with linguists and contenders;
LG1867	360	I have no mockings or arguments—I witness and wait.
LG1867	361	I believe in you, my Soul—the other I am must not abase itself to you;
LG1867	362	And you must not be abased to the other.
LG1867	363	Loafe with me on the grass—loose the stop from your throat;
LG1867	364	Not words, not music or rhyme I want—not custom or lecture, not even the best;
LG1867	365	Only the lull I like, the hum of your valved voice.
LG1867	366	I mind how once we lay, such a transparent sum-mersummer morning;
LG1867	367	How you settled your head athwart my hips, and gently turn'd over upon me,
LG1867	368	And parted the shirt from my bosom-bone, and plunged your tongue to my bare-stript heart,
LG1867	369	And reach'd till you felt my beard, and reach'd till you held my feet.
LG1867	370	Swiftly arose and spread around me the peace and knowledge that pass all the argument of the earth;
LG1867	371	And I know that the hand of God is the promise of my own;
LG1867	372	And I know that the spirit of God is the brother of my own;
LG1867	373	And that all the men ever born are also my brothers,and the women my sisters and lovers;
LG1867	374	And that a kelson of the creation is love;
LG1867	375	And limitless are leaves, stiff or drooping in the fields;
LG1867	376	And brown ants in the little wells beneath them;
LG1867	377	And mossy scabs of the worm-fence, and heap'd stones,elder, mullen and pokeweed.
LG1867	378	A child said, What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;
LG1867	379	How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is, any more than he.
LG1867	380	I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.
LG1867	381	Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
LG1867	382	A scented gift and remembrancer, designedly dropt,
LG1867	383	Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners,that we may see and remark, and say, Whose?
LG1867	384	Or I guess the grass is itself a child, the produced babe of the vegetation.
LG1867	385	Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic;
LG1867	386	And it means, Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow zones.
LG1867	387	Growing among black folks as among white;
LG1867	388	Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the same, I receive them the same.
LG1867	389	And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves.
LG1867	390	Tenderly will I use you,curling grass;
LG1867	391	It may be you transpire from the breasts of young men;
LG1867	392	It may be if I had known them I would have loved them.
LG1867	393	It may be you are from old people, and from women,and from offspring taken soon out of their mothers' laps;
LG1867	394	And here you are the mothers' laps.
LG1867	395	This grass is very dark to be from the white heads of old mothers;
LG1867	396	Darker than the colorless beards of old men;
LG1867	397	Dark to come from under the faint red roofs of mouths.
LG1867	398	O I perceive after all so many uttering tongues!
LG1867	399	And I perceive they do not come from the roofs of mouths for nothing.
LG1867	400	I wish I could translate the hints about the dead young men and women,
LG1867	401	And the hints about old men and mothers, and the offspring taken soon out of their laps.
LG1867	402	What do you think has become of the young and old men?
LG1867	403	And what do you think has become of the women and children?
LG1867	404	They are alive and well somewhere;
LG1867	405	The smallest sprout shows there is really no death;
LG1867	406	And if ever there was, it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it,
LG1867	407	And ceas'd the moment life appear'd.
LG1867	408	All goes onward and outward—nothing collapses;
LG1867	409	And to die is different from what any one supposed,and luckier.
LG1867	410	Has any one supposed it lucky to be born?
LG1867	411	I hasten to inform him or her, it is just as lucky to die, and I know it.
LG1867	412	I pass death with the dying, and birth with the new wash'd babe, and am not contain'd between my-hatmy hat and boots;
LG1867	413	And peruse manifold objects, no two alike, and every one good;
LG1867	414	The earth good, and the stars good, and their adjuncts all good.
LG1867	415	I am not an earth, nor an adjunct of an earth;
LG1867	416	I am the mate and companion of people, all just as immortal and fathomless as myself;
LG1867	417	(They do not know how immortal, but I know.)
LG1867	418	Every kind for itself and its own—for me mine, male and female;
LG1867	419	For me those that have been boys, and that love women;
LG1867	420	For me the man that is proud, and feels how it stings to be slighted;
LG1867	421	For me the sweetheart and the old maid—for me mothers, and the mothers of mothers;
LG1867	422	For me lips that have smiled, eyes that have shed tears;
LG1867	423	For me children, and the begetters of children.
LG1867	424	Undrape! you are not guilty to me, nor stale, nor discarded;
LG1867	425	I see through the broadcloth and gingham, whether or no;
LG1867	426	And am around, tenacious, acquisitive, tireless, and cannot be shaken away.
LG1867	427	The little one sleeps in its cradle;
LG1867	428	I lift the gauze, and look a long time, and silently brush away flies with my hand.
LG1867	429	The youngster and the red-faced girl turn aside up the bushy hill;
LG1867	430	I peeringly view them from the top.
LG1867	431	The suicide sprawls on the bloody floor of the bedroom;
LG1867	432	I witness the corpse with its dabbled hair—I note where the pistol has fallen.
LG1867	433	The blab of the pave, the tires of carts, sluff of boot-soles, talk of the promenaders;
LG1867	434	The heavy omnibus, the driver with his interrogating thumb, the clank of the shod horses on the granite floor;
LG1867	435	The snow-sleighs, the clinking, shouted jokes, pelts of snow-balls;
LG1867	436	The hurrahs for popular favorites, the fury of rous'd mobs;
LG1867	437	The flap of the curtain'd litter, a sick man inside,borne to the hospital;
LG1867	438	The meeting of enemies, the sudden oath, the blows and fall;
LG1867	439	The excited crowd, the policeman with his star,quickly working his passage to the centre of the crowd;
LG1867	440	The impassive stones that receive and return so many echoes;
LG1867	441	What groans of over-fed or half-starv'd who fall sun-struck, or in fits;
LG1867	442	What exclamations of women taken suddenly, who hurry home and give birth to babes;
LG1867	443	What living and buried speech is always vibrating here —what howls restrain'd by decorum,
LG1867	444	Arrests of criminals, slights, adulterous offers made,acceptances, rejections with convex lips;
LG1867	445	I mind them or the show or resonance of them—I come, and I depart.
LG1867	446	The big doors of the country-barn stand open and ready;
LG1867	447	The dried grass of the harvest-time loads the slow-drawnslow-drawn wagon;
LG1867	448	The clear light plays on the brown gray and green in-terintertinged tinged;
LG1867	449	The armfuls are packt to the sagging mow.
LG1867	450	I am there—I help—I came stretcht atop of the load;
LG1867	451	I felt its soft jolts—one leg reclined on the other;
LG1867	452	I jump from the cross-beams and seize the clover and timothy,
LG1867	453	And roll head over heels, and tangle my hair full of wisps.
LG1867	454	Alone, far in the wilds and mountains, I hunt,
LG1867	455	Wandering, amazed at my own lightness and glee;
LG1867	456	In the late afternoon choosing a safe spot to pass the night,
LG1867	457	Kindling a fire and broiling the fresh kill'd game;
LG1867	458	Falling asleep on the gather'd leaves, with my dog and gun by my side.
LG1867	459	The Yankee clipper is under her three sky-sails— she cuts the sparkle and scud;
LG1867	460	My eyes settle the land—I bend at her prow, or shout joyously from the deck.
LG1867	461	The boatman and clam-diggers arose early and stopt for me;
LG1867	462	I tuck'd my trowser-ends in my boots, and went and had a good time:
LG1867	463	You should have been with us that day round the chowder-kettle.
LG1867	464	I saw the marriage of the trapper in the open air in the far-west—the bride was a red girl;
LG1867	465	Her father and his friends sat near, cross-legged and dumbly smoking—they had moccasins to their feet, and large thick blankets hanging from their shoulders;
LG1867	466	On a bank lounged the trapper—he was drest mostly in skins—his luxuriant beard and curls pro-tectedprotect his neck—he held his bride by the hand;
LG1867	467	She had long eye-lashes—her head was bare—her coarse straight locks descended upon her volup-tuousvoluptuous limbs and reach'd to her feet.
LG1867	468	The runaway slave came to my house and stopt out-sideoutside;
LG1867	469	I heard his motions crackling the twigs of the wood-pilewoodpile;
LG1867	470	Through the swung half-door of the kitchen I saw him limpsy and weak,
LG1867	471	And went where he sat on a log, and led him in and assured him,
LG1867	472	And brought water, and fill'd a tub for his sweated body and bruis'd feet,
LG1867	473	And gave him a room that enter'd from my own, and gave him some coarse clean clothes,
LG1867	474	And remember perfectly well his revolving eyes and his awkwardness,
LG1867	475	And remember putting plasters on the galls of his neck and ankles;
LG1867	476	He staid with me a week before he was recuperated and pass'd north;
LG1867	477	(I had him sit next me at table—my fire-lock lean'd in the corner.)
LG1867	478	Twenty-eight young men bathe by the shore;
LG1867	479	Twenty-eight young men, and all so friendly:
LG1867	480	Twenty-eight years of womanly life, and all so lone-somelonesome.
LG1867	481	She owns the fine house by the rise of the bank;
LG1867	482	She hides, handsome and richly drest, aft the blinds of the window.
LG1867	483	Which of the young men does she like the best?
LG1867	484	Ah, the homeliest of them is beautiful to her.
LG1867	485	Where are you off to, lady?for I see you;
LG1867	486	You splash in the water there, yet stay stock still in your room.
LG1867	487	Dancing and laughing along the beach came the twenty-ninth bather;
LG1867	488	The rest did not see her, but she saw them and loved them.
LG1867	489	The beards of the young men glisten'd with wet, it ran from their long hair;
LG1867	490	Little streams pass'd all over their bodies.
LG1867	491	An unseen hand also pass'd over their bodies;
LG1867	492	It descended tremblingly from their temples and ribs.
LG1867	493	The young men float on their backs—their white bellies bulge to the sun—they do not ask who seizes fast to them;
LG1867	494	They do not know who puffs and declines with pen-dantpendant and bending arch;
LG1867	495	They do not think whom they souse with spray.
LG1867	496	The butcher-boy puts off his killing clothes, or sharpens his knife at the stall in the market;
LG1867	497	I loiter, enjoying his repartee and his shuffle and break-down.
LG1867	498	Blacksmiths with grimed and hairy chests environ the anvil;
LG1867	499	Each has his main-sledge—they are all out—(there is a great heat in the fire.)
LG1867	500	From the cinder-strew'd threshold I follow their movements;
LG1867	501	The lithe sheer of their waists plays even with their massive arms;
LG1867	502	Overhand the hammers swing—overhand so slow— overhand so sure:
LG1867	503	They do not hasten—each man hits in his place.
LG1867	504	The negro holds firmly the reins of his four horses —the block swags underneath on its tied-over chain;
LG1867	505	The negro that drives the dray of the stone-yard— steady and tall he stands, poised on one leg on the string-piece;
LG1867	506	His blue shirt exposes his ample neck and breast, and loosens over his hip-band;
LG1867	507	His glance is calm and commanding—he tosses the slouch of his hat away from his forehead;
LG1867	508	The sun falls on his crispy hair and moustache—falls on the black of his polish'd and perfect limbs.
LG1867	509	I behold the picturesque giant, and love him—and I do not stop there;
LG1867	510	I go with the team also.
LG1867	511	In me the caresser of life wherever moving—back-wardbackward as well as forward slueing;
LG1867	512	To niches aside and junior bending.
LG1867	513	Oxen that rattle the yoke and chain, or halt in the leafy shade! what is that you express in your eyes?
LG1867	514	It seems to me more than all the print I have read in my life.
LG1867	515	My tread scares the wood-drake and wood-duck, on my distant and day-long ramble;
LG1867	516	I believe in those wing'd purposes,
LG1867	517	And acknowledge red, yellow, white, playing within me,
LG1867	518	And consider green and violet, and the tufted crown,intentional,
LG1867	519	And do not call the tortoise unworthy because she is not something else;
LG1867	520	And the jay in the woods never studied the gamut,yet trills pretty well to me;
LG1867	521	And the look of the bay mare shames silliness out of me.
LG1867	522	The wild gander leads his flock through the cool night;
LG1867	523	Ya-honk! he says, and sounds it down to me like an invitation;
LG1867	524	(The pert may suppose it meaningless, but I listen close;
LG1867	525	I find its purpose and place up there toward the wintry sky.)
LG1867	526	The sharp hoof'd moose of the north, the cat on the house-sill, the chickadee, the prairie-dog,
LG1867	527	The litter of the grunting sow as they tug at her teats,
LG1867	528	The brood of the turkey-hen, and she with her half-spread wings;
LG1867	529	I see in them and myself the same old law.
LG1867	530	The press of my foot to the earth springs a hundred affections;
LG1867	531	They scorn the best I can do to relate them.
LG1867	532	I am enamour'd of growing outdoors,
LG1867	533	Of men that live among cattle, or taste of the ocean or woods,
LG1867	534	Of the builders and steerers of ships, and the wielders of axes and mauls, and the drivers of horses;
LG1867	535	I can eat and sleep with them week in and week out.
LG1867	536	What is commonest, cheapest, nearest, easiest, is Me;
LG1867	537	Me going in for my chances, spending for vast returns;
LG1867	538	Adorning myself to bestow myself on the first that will take me;
LG1867	539	Not asking the sky to come down to my good will;
LG1867	540	Scattering it freely forever.
LG1867	541	The pure contralto sings in the organ loft;
LG1867	542	The carpenter dresses his plank—the tongue of his foreplane whistles its wild ascending lisp;
LG1867	543	The married and unmarried children ride home to their Thanksgiving dinner;
LG1867	544	The pilot seizes the king-pin—he heaves down with a strong arm;
LG1867	545	The mate stands braced in the whale-boat—lance and harpoon are ready;
LG1867	546	The duck-shooter walks by silent and cautious stretches;
LG1867	547	The deacons are ordain'd with cross'd hands at the altar;
LG1867	548	The spinning-girl retreats and advances to the hum of the big wheel;
LG1867	549	The farmer stops by the bars, as he walks on a First-dayFirst-day loafe, and looks at the oats and rye;
LG1867	550	The lunatic is carried at last to the asylum, a confirm'd case,
LG1867	551	(He will never sleep any more as he did in the cot in his mother's bed-room;)
LG1867	552	The jour printer with gray head and gaunt jaws works at his case,
LG1867	553	He turns his quid of tobacco, while his eyes blurr with the manuscript;
LG1867	554	The malform'd limbs are tied to the surgeon's table,
LG1867	555	What is removed drops horribly in a pail;
LG1867	556	The quadroon girl is sold at the stand—the drunkard.nods by the bar-room stove;
LG1867	557	The machinist rolls up his sleeves—the policeman travels his beat—the gate-keeper marks who pass;
LG1867	558	The young fellow drives the express-wagon—(I love him, though I do not know him;)
LG1867	559	The half-breed straps on his light boots to compete in the race;
LG1867	560	The western turkey-shooting draws old and young— some lean on their rifles, some sit on logs,
LG1867	561	Out from the crowd steps the marksman, takes his position, levels his piece;
LG1867	562	The groups of newly-come immigrants cover the wharf or levee;
LG1867	563	As the woolly-pates hoe in the sugar-field, the overseer views them from his saddle;
LG1867	564	The bugle calls in the ball-room, the gentlemen run for their partners, the dancers bow to each other;
LG1867	565	The youth lies awake in the cedar-roof'd garret, and harks to the musical rain;
LG1867	566	The Wolverine sets traps on the creek that helps fill the Huron;
LG1867	567	The squaw, wrapt in her yellow-hemm'd cloth, is offering moccasins and bead-bags for sale;
LG1867	568	The connoisseur peers along the exhibition-gallery with half-shut eyes bent side-ways;
LG1867	569	As the deck-hands make fast the steamboat, the plank is thrown for the shore-going passengers;
LG1867	570	The young sister holds out the skein, while the elder sister winds it off in a ball, and stops now and then for the knots;
LG1867	571	The one-year wife is recovering and happy, having a week ago borne her first child;
LG1867	572	The clean-hair'd Yankee girl works with her sewing-machinesewing-machine, or in the factory or mill;
LG1867	573	The nine months' gone is in the parturition chamber,her faintness and pains are advancing;
LG1867	574	The paving-man leans on his two handed rammer— the reporter's lead flies swiftly over the note-book —the sign-painter is lettering with red and gold;
LG1867	575	The canal boy trots on the tow path—the bookkeeper counts at his desk, the shoemaker waxes his thread;
LG1867	576	The conductor beats time for the band, and all the performers follow him;
LG1867	577	The child is baptized—the convert is making his first professions;
LG1867	578	The regatta is spread on the bay—the race is begun —how the white sails sparkle!
LG1867	579	The drover, watching his drove, sings out to them that would stray;
LG1867	580	The pedler sweats with his pack on his back, (the pur-chaserpurchaser higgling about the odd cent;)
LG1867	581	The camera and plate are prepared, the lady must sit for her daguerreotype;
LG1867	582	The bride unrumples her white dress, the minute-hand of the clock moves slowly;
LG1867	583	The opium-eater reclines with rigid head and just-openjust-open'd lips;
LG1867	584	The prostitute draggles her shawl, her bonnet bobs on her tipsy and pimpled neck;
LG1867	585	The crowd laugh at her blackguard oaths, the men jeer and wink to each other;
LG1867	586	(Miserable! I do not laugh at your oaths, nor jeer you;)
LG1867	587	The President, holding a cabinet council, is surrounded by the Great Secretaries;
LG1867	588	On the piazza walk three matrons stately and friendly with twined arms;
LG1867	589	The crew of the fish-smack pack repeated layers of halibut in the hold;
LG1867	590	The Missourian crosses the plains, toting his wares and his cattle;
LG1867	591	As the fare-collector goes through the train, he gives notice by the jingling of loose change;
LG1867	592	The floor-men are laying the floor—the tinners are tinning the roof—the masons are calling for mortar;
LG1867	593	In single file, each shouldering his hod, pass onward the laborers;
LG1867	594	Seasons pursuing each other, the indescribable crowd is gather'd—it is the Fourth of Seventh-month —(What salutes of cannon and small arms!)
LG1867	595	Seasons pursuing each other, the plougher ploughs, the mower mows, and the winter-grain falls in the ground;
LG1867	596	Off on the lakes the pike-fisher watches and waits by the hole in the frozen surface;
LG1867	597	The stumps stand thick round the clearing, the squatter strikes deep with his axe;
LG1867	598	Flatboatmen make fast, towards dusk, near the cotton-woodcottonwood or pekan-trees;
LG1867	599	Coon-seekers go through the regions of the Red river,or through those drain'd by the Tennessee, or through those of the Arkansaw;
LG1867	600	Torches shine in the dark that hangs on the Chatta-hoocheChattahooche or Altamahaw;
LG1867	601	Patriarchs sit at supper with sons and grandsons and great-grandsons around them;
LG1867	602	In walls of adobieadobe, in canvas tents, rest hunters and trappers after their day's sport;
LG1867	603	The city sleeps, and the country sleeps;
LG1867	604	The living sleep for their time, the dead sleep for their time;
LG1867	605	The old husband sleeps by his wife, and the young husband sleeps by his wife;
LG1867	606	And these one and all tend inward to me, and I tend outward to them;
LG1867	607	And such as it is to be of these, more or less, I am.
LG1867	608	I am of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise;
LG1867	609	Regardless of others, ever regardful of others,
LG1867	610	Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man,
LG1867	611	Stuff'd with the stuff that is coarse, and stuff'd with the stuff that is fine;
LG1867	612	One of the great nation, the nation of many nations,the smallest the same, and the largest the same;
LG1867	613	A southerner soon as a northerner—a planter non-chalantnonchalant and hospitable, down by the Oconee I live;
LG1867	614	A Yankee, bound my own way, ready for trade, my joints the limberest joints on earth, and the sternest joints on earth;
LG1867	615	A Kentuckian, walking the vale of the Elkhorn in my deer-skin leggings—a Louisianian or Georgian;
LG1867	616	A boatman over lakes or bays, or along coasts—a Hoosier, Badger, Buckeye;
LG1867	617	At home on Kanadian snow-shoes, or up in the bush,or with fishermen off Newfoundland;
LG1867	618	At home in the fleet of ice-boats, sailing with the rest and tacking;
LG1867	619	At home on the hills of Vermont, or in the woods of Maine, or the Texan ranch;
LG1867	620	Comrade of Californians—comrade of free north-west-ernersnorth-westerners, (loving their big proportions;)
LG1867	621	Comrade of raftsmen and coalmen—comrade of all who shake hands and welcome to drink and meat;
LG1867	622	A learner with the simplest, a teacher of the thought-fullestthoughtfullest;
LG1867	623	A novice beginning, yet experient of myriads of sea-sonsseasons;
LG1867	624	Of every hue and caste am I, of every rank and re-ligionreligion;
LG1867	625	A farmer, mechanic, artist, gentleman, sailor, quaker;
LG1867	626	A prisoner, fancy-man, rowdy, lawyer, physician,priest.
LG1867	627	I resist anything better than my own diversity;
LG1867	628	I breathe the air, but leave plenty after me,
LG1867	629	And am not stuck up, and am in my place.
LG1867	630	(The moth and the fish-eggs are in their place;
LG1867	631	The suns I see, and the suns I cannot see, are in their place;
LG1867	632	The palpable is in its place, and the impalpable is in its place.)
LG1867	633	These are the thoughts of all men in all ages and lands—they are not original with me;
LG1867	634	If they are not yours as much as mine, they are nothing, or next to nothing;
LG1867	635	If they are not the riddle and the untying of the rid-dleriddle, they are nothing;
LG1867	636	If they are not just as close as they are distant, they are nothing.
LG1867	637	This is the grass that grows wherever the land is,and the water is;
LG1867	638	This is the common air that bathes the globe.
LG1867	639	With music strong I come—with my cornets and my drums,
LG1867	640	I play not marches for accepted victors only—I play great marches for conquer'd and slain persons.
LG1867	641	Have you heard that it was good to gain the day?
LG1867	642	I also say it is good to fall—battles are lost in the same spirit in which they are won.
LG1867	643	I beat and pound for the dead;
LG1867	644	I blow through my embouchures my loudest and gay-estgayest for them.
LG1867	645	Vivas to those who have fail'd!
LG1867	646	And to those whose war-vessels sank in the sea!
LG1867	647	And to those themselves who sank in the sea!
LG1867	648	And to all generals that lost engagements! and all overcome heroes!
LG1867	649	And the numberless unknown heroes, equal to the greatest heroes known.
LG1867	650	This is the meal pleasantly set—this is the meat for natural hunger;
LG1867	651	It is for the wicked just the same as the righteous—I make appointments with all;
LG1867	652	I will not have a single person slighted or left away;
LG1867	653	The kept-woman, sponger, thief, are hereby invited;
LG1867	654	The heavy-lipp'd slave is invited—the venerealee is invited:
LG1867	655	There shall be no difference between them and the rest.
LG1867	656	This is the press of a bashful hand—this is the float and odor of hair;
LG1867	657	This is the touch of my lips to yours—this is the mur-murmurmur of yearning;
LG1867	658	This is the far-off depth and height reflecting my own face;
LG1867	659	This is the thoughtful merge of myself, and the outlet < again.
LG1867	660	Do you guess I have some intricate purpose?
LG1867	661	Well, I have—for the Fourth-month showers have,and the mica on the side of a rock has.
LG1867	662	Do you take it I would astonish?
LG1867	663	Does the daylight astonish? Does the early redstart,twittering through the woods?
LG1867	664	Do I astonish more than they?
LG1867	665	This hour I tell things in confidence;
LG1867	666	I might not tell everybody, but I will tell you.
LG1867	667	Who goes there? hankering, gross, mystical, nude;
LG1867	668	How is it I extract strength from the beef I eat?
LG1867	669	What is a man, anyhow? What am I? What are you?
LG1867	670	All I mark as my own, you shall offset it with your own;
LG1867	671	Else it were time lost listening to me.
LG1867	672	I do not snivel that snivel the world over,
LG1867	673	That months are vacuums, and the ground but wal-lowwallow and filth;
LG1867	674	That life is a suck and a sell, and nothing remains at the end but threadbare crape, and tears.
LG1867	675	Whimpering and truckling fold with powders for invalids—conformity goes to the fourth-remov'd;
LG1867	676	I wear my hat as I please, indoors or out.
LG1867	677	Why should I pray? Why should I venerate and be ceremonious?
LG1867	678	Having pried through the strata, analyzed to a hair,counsell'd with doctors, and calculated close,
LG1867	679	I find no sweeter fat then sticks to my own bones.
LG1867	680	In all people I see myself—none more, and not one a barley-corn less;
LG1867	681	And the good or bad I say of myself, I say of them.
LG1867	682	And I know I am solid and sound;
LG1867	683	To me the converging objects of the universe perpetu-allyperpetually flow;
LG1867	684	All are written to me, and I must get what the writing means.
LG1867	685	I know I am deathless;
LG1867	686	I know this orbit of mine cannot be swept by the car-pentercarpenter's compass;
LG1867	687	I know I shall not pass like a child's carlacue cut with a burnt stick at night.
LG1867	688	I know I am august;
LG1867	689	I do not trouble my spirit to vindicate itself or be understood;
LG1867	690	I see that the elementary laws never apologize;
LG1867	691	(I reckon I behave no prouder than the level I plant my house by, after all.)
LG1867	692	I exist as I am—that is enough;
LG1867	693	If no other in the world be aware, I sit content;
LG1867	694	And if each and all be aware, I sit content.
LG1867	695	One world is aware, and by far the largest to me,and that is myself;
LG1867	696	And whether I come to my own to-day, or in ten thousand or ten million years,
LG1867	697	I can cheerfully take it now, or with equal cheerful-nesscheerfulness I can wait.
LG1867	698	My foothold is tenon'd and mortis'd in granite;
LG1867	699	I laugh at what you call dissolution;
LG1867	700	And I know the amplitude of time.
LG1867	701	I am the poet of the Body;
LG1867	702	And I am the poet of the Soul.
LG1867	703	The pleasures of heaven are with me, and the pains of hell are with me;
LG1867	704	The first I graft and increase upon myself—the latter I translate into a new tongue.
LG1867	705	I am the poet of the woman the same as the man;
LG1867	706	And I say it is as great to be a woman as to be a man;
LG1867	707	And I say there is nothing greater than the mother of men.
LG1867	708	I chant the chant of dilation or pride;
LG1867	709	We have had ducking and deprecating about enough;
LG1867	710	I show that size is only development.
LG1867	711	Have you outstript the rest? Are you the Presi-dentPresident?
LG1867	712	It is a trifle—they will more than arrive there, every one, and still pass on.
LG1867	713	I am he that walks with the tender and growing night;
LG1867	714	I call to the earth and sea, half-held by the night.
LG1867	715	Press close, bare-bosom'd night! Press close, mag-neticmagnetic, nourishing night!
LG1867	716	Night of south winds! night of the large few stars!
LG1867	717	Still, nodding night! mad, naked, summer night.
LG1867	718	Smile, O voluptuous, cool-breath'd earth!
LG1867	719	Earth of the slumbering and liquid trees;
LG1867	720	Earth of departed sunset! earth of the mountains,misty-topt!
LG1867	721	Earth of the vitreous pour of the full moon, just tinged with blue!
LG1867	722	Earth of shine and dark, mottling the tide of the river!
LG1867	723	Earth of the limpid gray of clouds, brighter and clearer for my sake!
LG1867	724	Far-swooping elbow'd earth! rich, apple-blossom'd earth!
LG1867	725	Smile, for your lover comes!
LG1867	726	Prodigal, you have given me love! Therefore I to you give love!
LG1867	727	O unspeakable, passionate love!
LG1867	728	You sea! I resign myself to you also—I guess what you mean;
LG1867	729	I behold from the beach your crooked inviting fingers;
LG1867	730	I believe you refuse to go back without feeling of me;
LG1867	731	We must have a turn together—I undress—hurry me out of sight of the land;
LG1867	732	Cushion me soft, rock me in billowy drowse;
LG1867	733	Sea of stretch'd ground-swells!
LG1867	734	Sea breathing broad and convulsive breaths!
LG1867	735	Sea of the brine of life! sea of unshovell'd yet always-readyalways-ready graves!
LG1867	736	Howler and scooper of storms! capricious and dainty sea!
LG1867	737	I am integral with you—I too am of one phase, and of all phases.
LG1867	738	Partaker of influx and efflux I—extoller of hate and conciliation;
LG1867	739	Extoller of amies, and those that sleep in each others' arms.
LG1867	740	I am he attesting sympathy;
LG1867	741	(Shall I make my list of things in the house, and skip the house that supports them?)
LG1867	742	I am not the poet of goodness only—I do not de-clinedecline to be the poet of wickedness also.
LG1867	743	Washes and razors for foofoos—for me freckles and a bristling beard.
LG1867	744	What blurt is this about virtue and about vice?
LG1867	745	Evil propels me, and reform of evil propels me—I stand indifferent;
LG1867	746	My gait is no fault-finder's or rejecter's gait;
LG1867	747	I moisten the roots of all that has grown.
LG1867	748	Did you fear some scrofula out of the unflagging pregnancy?
LG1867	749	Did you guess the celestial laws are yet to be work'd over and rectified?
LG1867	750	I find one side a balance, and the antipodal side a balance;
LG1867	751	Soft doctrine as steady help as stable doctrine;
LG1867	752	Thoughts and deeds of the present, our rouse and early start.
LG1867	753	This minute that comes to me over the past decil-lionsdecillions,
LG1867	754	There is no better than it and now.
LG1867	755	What behaved well in the past, or behaves well to-day, is not such a wonder;
LG1867	756	The wonder is, always and always, how there can be a mean man or an infidel.
LG1867	757	Endless unfolding of words of ages!
LG1867	758	And mine a word of the modern—the word En-masseEn-masse.
LG1867	759	A word of the faith that never balks;
LG1867	760	Here or henceforward, it is all the same to me— I accept time, absolutely.
LG1867	761	It alone is without flaw—it rounds and completes all;
LG1867	762	That mystic, baffling wonder I love, alone completes all.
LG1867	763	I accept reality, and dare not question it;
LG1867	764	Materialism first and last imbuing.
LG1867	765	Hurrah for positive science! long live exact demon-strationdemonstration!
LG1867	766	Fetch stonecrop, mixt with cedar and branches of lilac;
LG1867	767	This is the lexicographer—this the chemist—this made a grammar of the old cartouches;
LG1867	768	These mariners put the ship through dangerous un-knownunknown seas;
LG1867	769	This is the geologist—this works with the scalpel— and this is a mathematician.
LG1867	770	Gentlemen! to you the first honors always:
LG1867	771	Your facts are useful and real—and yet they are not my dwelling;
LG1867	772	(I but enter by them to an area of my dwelling.)
LG1867	773	Less the reminders of properties told, my words;
LG1867	774	And more the reminders, they, of life untold, and of freedom and extrication,
LG1867	775	And make short account of neuters and geldings, and favor men and women fully equipt,
LG1867	776	And beat the gong of revolt, and stop with fugitives,and them that plot and conspire.
LG1867	777	Walt Whitman am I, of mighty Manhattan the son,
LG1867	778	Turbulent, fleshy and sensual, eating, drinking and breeding;
LG1867	779	No sentimentalist—no stander above men and women,or apart from them;
LG1867	780	No more modest than immodest.
LG1867	781	Unscrew the locks from the doors!
LG1867	782	Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!
LG1867	783	Whoever degrades another degrades me;
LG1867	784	And whatever is done or said returns at last to me.
LG1867	785	Through me the afflatus surging and surging— through me the current and index.
LG1867	786	I speak the pass-word primeval—I give the sign of democracy;
LG1867	787	By God! I will accept nothing which all cannot have their counterpart of on the same terms.
LG1867	788	Through me many long dumb voices;
LG1867	789	Voices of the interminable generations of slaves;
LG1867	790	Voices of prostitutes, and of deform'd persons;
LG1867	791	Voices of the diseas'd and despairing, and of thieves and dwarfs;
LG1867	792	Voices of cycles of preparation and accretion,
LG1867	793	And of the threads that connect the stars—and of wombs, and of the fatherstuff,
LG1867	794	And of the rights of them the others are down upon;
LG1867	795	Of the trivial, flat, foolish, despised,
LG1867	796	Fog in the air, beetles rolling balls of dung.
LG1867	797	Through me forbidden voices;
LG1867	798	Voices of sexes and lusts—voices veil'd, and I remove the veil;
LG1867	799	Voices indecent, by me clarified and transfigur'd.
LG1867	800	I do not press my fingers across my mouth;
LG1867	801	I keep as delicate around the bowels as around the head and heart;
LG1867	802	Copulation is no more rank to me than death is.
LG1867	803	I believe in the flesh and the appetites;
LG1867	804	Seeing, hearing, feeling, are miracles, and each part and tag of me is a miracle.
LG1867	805	Divine am I inside and out, and I make holy what-everwhatever I touch or am touch'd from;
LG1867	806	The scent of these arm-pits, aroma finer than prayer;
LG1867	807	This head more than churches, bibles, and all the creeds.
LG1867	808	If I worship one thing more than another, it shall be the spread of my own body, or any part of it.
LG1867	809	Translucent mould of me, it shall be you!
LG1867	810	Shaded ledges and rests, it shall be you!
LG1867	811	Firm masculine colter, it shall be you.
LG1867	812	Whatever goes to the tilth of me, it shall be you!
LG1867	813	You my rich blood! Your milky stream, pale strip-pingsstrippings of my life.
LG1867	814	Breast that presses against other breasts, it shall be you!
LG1867	815	My brain, it shall be your occult convolutions.
LG1867	816	Root of wash't sweet-flag! timorous pond-snipe!nest of guarded duplicate eggs! it shall be you!
LG1867	817	Mix't tussled hay of head, beard, brawn, it shall be you!
LG1867	818	Trickling sap of maple! fibre of manly wheat! it shall be you!
LG1867	819	Sun so generous, it shall be you!
LG1867	820	Vapors lighting and shading my face, it shall be you!
LG1867	821	You sweaty brooks and dews, it shall be you!
LG1867	822	Winds whose soft-tickling genitals rub against me, it shall be you!
LG1867	823	Broad, muscular fields! branches of live oak! lov-ingloving lounger in my winding paths! it shall be you!
LG1867	824	Hands I have taken—face I have kiss'd—mortal I have ever touch'd! it shall be you.
LG1867	825	I dote on myself—there is that lot of me, and all so luscious;
LG1867	826	Each moment, and whatever happens, thrills me with joy.
LG1867	827	O I am wonderful!
LG1867	828	I cannot tell how my ankles bend, nor whence the cause of my faintest wish;
LG1867	829	Nor the cause of the friendship I emit, nor the cause of the friendship I take again.
LG1867	830	That I walk up my stoop! I pause to consider if it really be;
LG1867	831	A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.
LG1867	832	To behold the day-break!
LG1867	833	The little light fades the immense and diaphanous shadows;
LG1867	834	The air tastes good to my palate.
LG1867	835	Hefts of the moving world, at innocent gambols silently rising, freshly exuding,
LG1867	836	Scooting obliquely high and low.
LG1867	837	Something I cannot see puts upward libidinous prongs;
LG1867	838	Seas of bright juice suffuse heaven.
LG1867	839	The earth by the sky staid with—the daily close of their junction;
LG1867	840	The heav'd challenge from the east that moment over my head;
LG1867	841	The mocking taunt, See then whether you shall be master!
LG1867	842	Dazzling and tremendous, how quick the sun-rise would kill me,
LG1867	843	If I could not now and always send sun-rise out of me.
LG1867	844	We also ascend, dazzling and tremendous as the sun;
LG1867	845	We found our own, O my Soul, in the calm and cool of the day-break.
LG1867	846	My voice goes after what my eyes cannot reach;
LG1867	847	With the twirl of my tongue I encompass worlds, and volumes of worlds.
LG1867	848	Speech is the twin of my vision—it is unequal to measure itself;
LG1867	849	It provokes me forever;
LG1867	850	It says sarcastically, Walt, you contain enough—why don't you let it out then?
LG1867	851	Come now, I will not be tantalized—you conceive too much of articulation.
LG1867	852	Do you not know, O speech, how the buds beneath you are folded?
LG1867	853	Waiting in gloom, protected by frost;
LG1867	854	The dirt receding before my prophetical screams;
LG1867	855	I underlying causes, to balance them at last;
LG1867	856	My knowledge my live parts—it keeping tally with the meaning of things;
LG1867	857	Happiness—which, whoever hears me, let him or her set out in search of this day.
LG1867	858	My final merit I refuse you—I refuse putting from me what I really am;
LG1867	859	Encompass worlds, but never try to encompass me;
LG1867	860	I crowd your sleekest and best by simply looking to-wardtoward you.
LG1867	861	Writing and talk do not prove me;
LG1867	862	I carry the plenum of proof, and everything else, in my face;
LG1867	863	With the hush of my lips I wholly confound the skep-ticskeptic.
LG1867	864	I think I will do nothing now but listen,
LG1867	865	To accrue what I hear into myself—to let sounds con-tributecontribute toward me.
LG1867	866	I hear bravuras of birds, bustle of growing wheat,gossip of flames, clack of sticks cooking my meals;
LG1867	867	I hear the sound I love, the sound of the human voice;
LG1867	868	I hear all sounds running together, combined, fused or following;
LG1867	869	Sounds of the city, and sounds out of the city—sounds of the day and night;
LG1867	870	Talkative young ones to those that like them—the loud laugh of work-people at their meals;
LG1867	871	The angry base of disjointed friendship—the faint tones of the sick;
LG1867	872	The judge with hands tight to the desk, his pallid lips pronouncing a death-sentence;
LG1867	873	The heave'e'yo of stevedores unlading ships by the wharves—the refrain of the anchor-lifters;
LG1867	874	The ring of alarm-bells—the cry of fire—the whirr of swift-streaking engines and hose-carts, with premonitory tinkles, and color'd lights;
LG1867	875	The steam-whistle—the solid roll of the train of ap-proachingapproaching cars;
LG1867	876	The slow-march play'd at the head of the association,marching two and two;
LG1867	877	(They go to guard some corpse—the flag-tops are draped with black muslin.)
LG1867	878	I hear the violoncello, ('tis the young man's heart's complaint;)
LG1867	879	I hear the key'd cornet—it glides quickly in through my ears;
LG1867	880	It shakes mad-sweet pangs through my belly and breast.
LG1867	881	I hear the chorus—it is a grand opera;
LG1867	882	Ah, this indeed is music! This suits me.
LG1867	883	A tenor large and fresh as the creation fills me;
LG1867	884	The orbic flex of his mouth is pouring and filling me full.
LG1867	885	I hear the train'd soprano—(what work, with hers,is this?)
LG1867	886	The orchestra wrenches such ardors from me, I did not know I possess'd them;
LG1867	887	It sails me—I dab with bare feet—they are lick'd by the indolent waves;
LG1867	888	I am exposed, cut by bitter and angry hail—I lose my breath,
LG1867	889	Steep'd amid honey'd morphine, my windpipe throt-tledthrottled in fakes of death;
LG1867	890	At length let up again to feel the puzzle of puzzles,
LG1867	891	And that we call BEING.
LG1867	892	To be, in any form—what is that?
LG1867	893	(Round and round we go, all of us, and ever come back thither;)
LG1867	894	If nothing lay more develop't, the quahaug in its cal-louscallous shell were enough.
LG1867	895	Mine is no callous shell;
LG1867	896	I have instant conductors all over me, whether I pass or stop;
LG1867	897	They seize every object, and lead it harmlessly through me.
LG1867	898	I merely stir, press, feel with my fingers, and am happy;
LG1867	899	To touch my person to some one else's is about as much as I can stand.
LG1867	900	Is this then a touch? quivering me to a new identity,
LG1867	901	Flames and ether making a rush for my veins,
LG1867	902	Treacherous tip of me reaching and crowding to help them,
LG1867	903	My flesh and blood playing out lightning to strike what is hardly different from myself;
LG1867	904	On all sides prurient provokers stiffening my limbs,
LG1867	905	Straining the udder of my heart for its withheld drip,
LG1867	906	Behaving licentious toward me, taking no denial,
LG1867	907	Depriving me of my best, as for a purpose,
LG1867	908	Unbuttoning my clothes, holding me by the bare waist,
LG1867	909	Deluding my confusion with the calm of the sunlight and pasture-fields,
LG1867	910	Immodestly sliding the fellow-senses away,
LG1867	911	They bribed to swap off with touch, and go and graze at the edges of me;
LG1867	912	No consideration, no regard for my draining strength or my anger;
LG1867	913	Fetching the rest of the herd around to enjoy them a while,
LG1867	914	Then all uniting to stand on a headland and worry me.
LG1867	915	The sentries desert every other part of me;
LG1867	916	They have left me helpless to a red marauder;
LG1867	917	They all come to the headland, to witness and assist against me.
LG1867	918	I am given up by traitors;
LG1867	919	I talk wildly—I have lost my wits—I and nobody else am the greatest traitor;
LG1867	920	I went myself first to the headland—my own hands carried me there.
LG1867	921	You villain touch! what are you doing? My breath is tight in its throat;
LG1867	922	Unclench your floodgates! you are too much for me.
LG1867	923	Blind, loving, wrestling touch! sheath'd, hooded,sharp-tooth'd touch!
LG1867	924	Did it make you ache so, leaving me?
LG1867	925	Parting, track't by arriving—perpetual payment of perpetual loan;
LG1867	926	Rich, showering rain, and recompense richer after-wardafterward.
LG1867	927	Sprouts take and accumulate—stand by the curb prolific and vital;
LG1867	928	Landscapes, projected, masculine, full-sized, and golden.
LG1867	929	All truths wait in all things;
LG1867	930	They neither hasten their own delivery, nor resist it;
LG1867	931	They do not need the obstetric forceps of the surgeon;
LG1867	932	The insignificant is as big to me as any;
LG1867	933	(What is less or more than a touch?)
LG1867	934	Logic and sermons never convince;
LG1867	935	The damp of the night drives deeper into my soul.
LG1867	936	Only what proves itself to every man and woman is so;
LG1867	937	Only what nobody denies is so.
LG1867	938	A minute and a drop of me settle my brain;
LG1867	939	I believe the soggy clods shall become lovers and lamps,
LG1867	940	And a compend of compends is the meat of a man or woman,
LG1867	941	And a summit and flower there is the feeling they have for each other,
LG1867	942	And they are to branch boundlessly out of that lesson,until it becomes omnific,
LG1867	943	And until every one shall delight us, and we them.
LG1867	944	I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-workjourney-work of the stars,
LG1867	945	And the pismire is equally perfect, and a grain of sand, and the egg of the wren,
LG1867	946	And the tree-toad is a chef-d'oeuvre for the highest,
LG1867	947	And the running blackberry would adorn the parlors of heaven,
LG1867	948	And the narrowest hinge in my hand puts to scorn all machinery,
LG1867	949	And the cow crunching with depres't head surpasses any statue,
LG1867	950	And a mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidels,
LG1867	951	And I could come every afternoon of my life to look at the farmer's girl boiling her iron ten-kettle and baking short-cake.
LG1867	952	I find I incorporate gneiss, coal, long-threaded moss,fruits, grains, esculent roots,
LG1867	953	And am stuccoed with quadrupeds and birds all over,
LG1867	954	And have distanced what is behind me for good reasons,
LG1867	955	And call anything close again, when I desire it.
LG1867	956	In vain the speeding or shyness;
LG1867	957	In vain the plutonic rocks send their old heat against my approach;
LG1867	958	In vain the mastadon retreats beneath its own pow-derpowder'd bones;
LG1867	959	In vain objects stand leagues off, and assume manifold shapes;
LG1867	960	In vain the ocean settling in hollows, and the great monsters lying low;
LG1867	961	In vain the buzzard houses herself with the sky;
LG1867	962	In vain the snake slides through the creepers and logs;
LG1867	963	In vain the elk takes to the inner passes of the woods;
LG1867	964	In vain the razor-bill'd auk sails far north to Labrador;
LG1867	965	I follow quickly, I ascend to the nest in the fissure of the cliff.
LG1867	966	I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain'd;
LG1867	967	I stand and look at them long and long.
LG1867	968	They do not sweat and whine about their condition;
LG1867	969	They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins;
LG1867	970	They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God;
LG1867	971	Not one is dissatisfied—not one is demented with the mania of owning things;
LG1867	972	Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago;
LG1867	973	Not one is respectable or industrious over the whole earth.
LG1867	974	So they show their relations to me, and I accept them;
LG1867	975	They bring me tokens of myself—they evince them plainly in their possession.
LG1867	976	I wonder where they get those tokens:
LG1867	977	Did I pass that way huge times ago, and negligently drop them?
LG1867	978	Myself moving forward then and now and forever,
LG1867	979	Gathering and showing more always and with velocity,
LG1867	980	Infinite and omnigenous, and the like of these among them;
LG1867	981	Not too exclusive toward the reachers of my remem-brancersremembrancers;
LG1867	982	Picking out here one that I love, and now go with him on brotherly terms.
LG1867	983	A gigantic beauty of a stallion, fresh and responsive to my caresses,
LG1867	984	Head high in the forehead, wide between the ears,
LG1867	985	Limbs glossy and supple, tail dusting the ground,
LG1867	986	Eyes well apart, full of sparkling wickedness—ears finely cut, flexibly moving.
LG1867	987	His nostrils dilate, as my heels embrace him;
LG1867	988	His well-built limbs tremble with pleasure, as we speed around and return.
LG1867	989	I but use you a moment, then I resign you, stallion;
LG1867	990	Why do I need your paces, when I myself out-gallop them?
LG1867	991	Even, as I stand or sit, passing faster than you.
LG1867	992	O swift wind! O space and time! now I see it is true, what I guess'd at;
LG1867	993	What I guess'd when I loaf'd on the grass;
LG1867	994	What I guess'd while I lay alone in my bed,
LG1867	995	And again as I walk'd the beach under the paling stars of the morning.
LG1867	996	My ties and ballasts leave me—I travel—I sail—my elbows rest in the sea-gaps;
LG1867	997	I skirt the sierras—my palms cover continents;
LG1867	998	I am afoot with my vision.
LG1867	999	By the city's quadrangular houses—in log huts— camping with lumbermen;
LG1867	1000	Along the ruts of the turnpike—along the dry gulch and rivulet bed;
LG1867	1001	Weeding my onion-patch, or hoeing rows of carrots and parsnips—crossing savannas—trailing in forests;
LG1867	1002	Prospecting—gold-digging—girdling the trees of a new purchase;
LG1867	1003	Scorch'd ankle-deep by the hot sand—hauling my boat down the shallow river;
LG1867	1004	Where the panther walks to and fro on a limb over-headoverhead—where the buck turns furiously at the hunter;
LG1867	1005	Where the rattlesnake suns his flabby length on a rock —where the otter is feeding on fish;
LG1867	1006	Where the alligator in his tough pimples sleeps by the bayou;
LG1867	1007	Where the black bear is searching for roots or honey —where the beaver pats the mud with his paddle-shaped tail;
LG1867	1008	Over the growing sugar—over the yellow-flower'd cot-toncotton plant—over the rice in its low moist field;
LG1867	1009	Over the sharp-peak'd farm house, with its scallop'd scum and slender shoots from the gutters;
LG1867	1010	Over the western persimmon—over the long-leav'd corn—over the delicate blue-flower flax;
LG1867	1011	Over the white and brown buckwheat, a hummer and buzzer there with the rest;
LG1867	1012	Over the dusky green of the rye as it ripples and shades in the breeze;
LG1867	1013	Scaling mountains, pulling myself cautiously up, hold-ingholding on by low scragged limbs;
LG1867	1014	Walking the path worn in the grass, and beat through the leaves of the brush;
LG1867	1015	Where the quail is whistling betwixt the woods and the wheat-lot;
LG1867	1016	Where the bat flies in the Seventh-month eve—where the great gold-bug drops through the dark;
LG1867	1017	Where the flails keep time on the barn floor;
LG1867	1018	Where the brook puts out of the roots of the old tree and flows to the meadow;
LG1867	1019	Where cattle stand and shake away flies with the tremulous shuddering of their hides;
LG1867	1020	Where the cheese-cloth hangs in the kitchen—where andirons straddle the hearth webs fall in festoons from the rafters;
LG1867	1021	Where trip-hammers crash—where the press is whirl-ingwhirling its cylinders;
LG1867	1022	Wherever the human heart beats with terrible throes out of its ribs;
LG1867	1023	Where the pear-shaped balloon is floating aloft, float-ingfloating in it myself, and looking composedly down;
LG1867	1024	Where the life-car is drawn on the slip-noose—where the heat hatches pale-green eggs in the dented sand;
LG1867	1025	Where the she-whale swims with her calf, and never forsakes it;
LG1867	1026	Where the steam-ship trails hind-ways its long pennant of smoke;
LG1867	1027	Where the fin of the shark cuts like a black chip out of the water;
LG1867	1028	Where the half-burn'd brig is riding on unknown cur-rentscurrents,
LG1867	1029	Where shells grow to her slimy deck—where the dead are corrupting below;
LG1867	1030	Where the dense-starr'd flag is borne at the head of the regiments;
LG1867	1031	Approaching Manhattan, up by the long-stretching island;
LG1867	1032	Under Niagara, the cataract falling like a veil over my countenance;
LG1867	1033	Upon a doorblock of hard wood outside;
LG1867	1034	Upon the race-course, or enjoying picnics or jigs, or a good game of base-ball;
LG1867	1035	At he-festivals, with blackguard gibes, ironical license,bull-dances, drinking, laughter;
LG1867	1036	At the cider-mill, tasting the sweets of the brown mash, sucking the juice through a straw;
LG1867	1037	At apple-peelings, wanting kisses for all the red fruit I find;
LG1867	1038	At musters, beach-parties, friendly bees, huskings,house-raisings:
LG1867	1039	Where the mocking-bird sounds his delicious gurgles,cackles, screams, weeps;
LG1867	1040	Where the hay-rick stands in the barn-yard—where the dry-stalks are scatter'd—where the brood cow waits in the hovel;
LG1867	1041	Where the bull advances to do his masculine work— where the stud to the mare—where the cock is treading the hen;
LG1867	1042	Where the heifers browse—where geese nip their food with short jerks;
LG1867	1043	Where sun-down shadows lengthen over the limit-lesslimitless and lonesome prairie;
LG1867	1044	Where herds of buffalo make a crawling spread of the square miles far and near;
LG1867	1045	Where the humming-bird shimmers—where the neck of the long-lived swan is curving and winding;
LG1867	1046	Where the laughing-gull scoots by the shore, where she laughs her near-human laugh;
LG1867	1047	Where bee-hives range on a gray bench in the garden,half hid by the high weeds;
LG1867	1048	Where band-neck'd partridges roost in a ring on the ground with their heads out;
LG1867	1049	Where burial coaches enter the arch'd gates of a cemetery;
LG1867	1050	Where winter wolves bark amid wastes of snow and icicled trees;
LG1867	1051	Where the yellow-crown'd heron comes to the edge of the marsh at night and feeds upon small crabs;
LG1867	1052	Where the splash of swimmers and divers cools the warm noon;
LG1867	1053	Where the katy-did works her chromatic reed on the walnut-tree over the well;
LG1867	1054	Through patches of citrons and cucumbers with silver-wiredsilver-wired leaves;
LG1867	1055	Through the salt-lick or orange glade, or under con-icalconical firs;
LG1867	1056	Through the gymnasium—through the curtain'd saloon —through the office or public hall;
LG1867	1057	Pleas'd with the native, and pleas'd with the foreign —pleas'd with the new and old;
LG1867	1058	Pleas'd with women, the homely as well as the hand-somehandsome;
LG1867	1059	Pleas'd with the quakeress as she puts off her bonnet and talks melodiously;
LG1867	1060	Pleas'd with the tune of the choir of the white-washt church;
LG1867	1061	Pleas'd with the earnest words of the sweating Meth-odistMethodist preacher, or any preacher—imprest seri-ouslyseriously at the camp-meeting:
LG1867	1062	Looking in at the shop-windows of Broadway the whole forenoon—flatting the flesh of my nose on the thick plate-glass;
LG1867	1063	Wandering the same afternoon with my face turn'd up to the clouds,
LG1867	1064	My right and left arms round the sides of two friends,and I in the middle:
LG1867	1065	Coming home with the silent and dark-cheek'd bush-boybush-boy—behind me he rides at the drape of the day;
LG1867	1066	Far from the settlements, studying the print of ani-malsanimals' feet, or the moccasin print;
LG1867	1067	By the cot in the hospital, reaching lemonade to a feverish patient;
LG1867	1068	Nigh the coffin'd corpse when all is still, examining with a candle:
LG1867	1069	Voyaging to every port, to dicker and adventure;
LG1867	1070	Hurrying with the modern crowd, as eager and fickle as any;
LG1867	1071	Hot toward one I hate, ready in my madness to knife him;
LG1867	1072	Solitary at midnight in my back yard, my thoughts gone from me a long while;
LG1867	1073	Walking the old hills of Judea, with the beautiful gentle God by my side;
LG1867	1074	Speeding through space—speeding through heaven and the stars;
LG1867	1075	Speeding amid the seven satellites, and the broad ring, and the diameter of eighty thousand miles;
LG1867	1076	Speeding with tail'd meteors—throwing fire-balls like the rest;
LG1867	1077	Carrying the crescent child that carries its own full mother in its belly;
LG1867	1078	Storming, enjoying, planning, loving, cautioning,
LG1867	1079	Backing and filling, appearing and disappearing;
LG1867	1080	I tread day and night such roads.
LG1867	1081	I visit the orchards of spheres, and look at the product;
LG1867	1082	And look at quintillions ripen'd, and look at quintil-lionsquintillions green.
LG1867	1083	I fly the flight of the fluid and swallowing soul;
LG1867	1084	My course runs below the soundings of plummets.
LG1867	1085	I help myself to material and immaterial;
LG1867	1086	No guard can shut me off, nor law prevent me.
LG1867	1087	I anchor my ship for a little while only;
LG1867	1088	My messengers continually cruise away, or bring their returns to me.
LG1867	1089	I go hunting polar furs and the seal—leaping chasms with a pike-pointed staff—clinging to topples of brittle and blue.
LG1867	1090	I ascend to the foretruck;
LG1867	1091	I take my place late at night in the crow's-nest;
LG1867	1092	We sail the arctic sea—it is plenty light enough;
LG1867	1093	Through the clear atmosphere I stretch around on the wonderful beauty;
LG1867	1094	The enormous masses of ice pass me, and I pass them —the scenery is plain in all directions;
LG1867	1095	The white-topt mountains show in the distance—I fling out my fancies toward them;
LG1867	1096	(We are approaching some great battle-field in which we are soon to be engaged;
LG1867	1097	We pass the colossal out-posts of the encampment— we pass with still feet and caution;
LG1867	1098	Or we are entering by the suburbs some vast and ruin'd city;
LG1867	1099	The blocks and fallen architecture more than all the living cities of the globe.)
LG1867	1100	I am a free companion—I bivouac by invading watchfires.
LG1867	1101	I turn the bridegroom out of bed, and stay with the bride myself;
LG1867	1102	I tighten her all night to my thighs and lips.
LG1867	1103	My voice is the wife's voice, the screech by the rail of the stairs;
LG1867	1104	They fetch my man's body up, dripping and drown'd.
LG1867	1105	I understand the large hearts of heroes,
LG1867	1106	The courage of present times and all times;
LG1867	1107	How the skipper saw the crowded and rudderless wreck of the steam-ship, and Death chasing it up and down the storm;
LG1867	1108	How he knuckled tight, and gave not back one inch,and was faithful of days and faithful of nights,
LG1867	1109	And chalk'd in large letters, on a board, Be of good cheer, we will not desert you:
LG1867	1110	How he follow'd with them, and tack'd with them— and would not give it up;
LG1867	1111	How he saved the drifting company at last:
LG1867	1112	How the lank loose-gown'd women look'd when boated from the side of their prepared graves;
LG1867	1113	How the silent old-faced infants, and the lifted sick,and the sharp-lipp'd unshaved men:
LG1867	1114	All this I swallow—it tastes good—I like it well—it becomes mine;
LG1867	1115	I am the man—I suffer'd—I was there.
LG1867	1116	The disdain and calmness of martyrs;
LG1867	1117	The mother, condemn'd for a witch, burnt with dry wood, her children gazing on;
LG1867	1118	The hounded slave that flags in the race, leans by the fence, blowing, cover'd with sweat;
LG1867	1119	The twinges that sting like needles his legs and neck —the murderous buckshot and the bullets;
LG1867	1120	All these I feel or am.
LG1867	1121	I am the hounded slave, I wince at the bite of the dogs,
LG1867	1122	Hell and despair are upon me, crack and again crack the marksmen;
LG1867	1123	I clutch the rails of the fence, my gore dribs, thinn'd with the ooze of my skin;
LG1867	1124	I fall on the weeds and stones;
LG1867	1125	The riders spur their unwilling horses, haul close,
LG1867	1126	Taunt my dizzy ears, and beat me violently over the head with whip-stocks.
LG1867	1127	Agonies are one of my changes of garments;
LG1867	1128	I do not ask the wounded person how he feels—I my-selfmyself become the wounded person;
LG1867	1129	My hurts turns livid upon me as I lean on a cane and observe.
LG1867	1130	I am the mash'd fireman with breastbone broken:
LG1867	1131	Tumbling walls buried me in their debris;
LG1867	1132	Heat and smoke I inspired—I heard the yelling shouts of my comrades;
LG1867	1133	I heard the distant click of their picks and shovels;
LG1867	1134	They have clear'd the beams away—they tenderly lift me forth.
LG1867	1135	I lie in the night air in my red shirt—the pervading hush is for my sake;
LG1867	1136	Painless after all I lie, exhausted but not so unhappy;
LG1867	1137	White and beautiful are the faces around me—the heads are bared of their fire-caps;
LG1867	1138	The kneeling crowd fades with the light of the torches.
LG1867	1139	Distant and dead resuscitate;
LG1867	1140	They show as the dial or move as the hands of me— I am the clock myself.
LG1867	1141	I am an old artillerist—I tell of my fort's bombard-mentbombardment;
LG1867	1142	I am there again.
LG1867	1143	Again the long roll of the drummers;
LG1867	1144	Again the attacking cannon, mortars;
LG1867	1145	Again the cannon responsive.
LG1867	1146	I take part—I see and hear the whole;
LG1867	1147	The cries, curses, roar, the plaudits for well-aim'd shots;
LG1867	1148	The ambulanza slowly passing, trailing its red drip;
LG1867	1149	Workmen searching after damages, making indispen-sableindispensable repairs;
LG1867	1150	The fall of grenades through the rent roof—the fan-shapedfan-shaped explosion;
LG1867	1151	The whizz of limbs, heads, stone, wood, iron, high in the air.
LG1867	1152	Again gurgles the mouth of my dying general—he furiously waves with his hand;
LG1867	1153	He gasps through the clot, Mind not me—mind—the entrenchments.
LG1867	1154	Now I tell what I knew in Texas in my early youth;
LG1867	1155	(I tell not the fall of Alamo,
LG1867	1156	Not one escaped to tell the fall of Alamo,
LG1867	1157	The hundred and fifty are dumb yet at Alamo;)
LG1867	1158	Tis the tale of the murder in cold blood of four hun-dredhundred and twelve young men.
LG1867	1159	Retreating, they had form'd in a hollow square, with their baggage for breastworks;
LG1867	1160	Nine hundred lives out of the surrounding enemy's,nine times their number, was the price they took in advance;
LG1867	1161	Their colonel was wounded and their ammunition gone;
LG1867	1162	They treated for an honorable capitulation, receiv'd writing and seal, gave up their arms, and march'd back prisoners of war.
LG1867	1163	They were the glory of the race of rangers;
LG1867	1164	Matchless with horse, rifle, song, supper, courtship,
LG1867	1165	Large, turbulent, generous, brave, handsome, proud,and affectionate,
LG1867	1166	Bearded, sunburnt, drest in the free costume of hunters,
LG1867	1167	Not a single one over thirty years of age.
LG1867	1168	The second First-day morning they were brought out in squads, and massacred—it was beautiful early summer;
LG1867	1169	The work commenced about five o'clock, and was over by eight.
LG1867	1170	None obey'd the command to kneel;
LG1867	1171	Some made a mad and helpless rush—some stood stark and straight;
LG1867	1172	A few fell at once, shot in the temple or heart—the living and dead lay together;
LG1867	1173	The maim'd and mangled dug in the dirt—the new-comersnew-comers saw them there;
LG1867	1174	Some, half-kill'd, attempted to crawl away;
LG1867	1175	These were despatch'd with bayonets, or batter'd with the blunts of muskets;
LG1867	1176	A youth not seventeen years old seiz'd his assassin till two more came to release him;
LG1867	1177	The three were all torn, and cover'd with the boy's blood.
LG1867	1178	At eleven o'clock began the burning of the bodies:
LG1867	1179	That is the tale of the murder of the four hundred and twelve young men.
LG1867	1180	Would you hear of an old-fashion'd sea-fight?
LG1867	1181	Would you learn who won by the light of the moon and stars?
LG1867	1182	List to the story as my grandmother's father, the sailor, told it to me.
LG1867	1183	Our foe was no skulk in his ship, I tell you, (said he;)
LG1867	1184	His was the surly English pluck—and there is no tougher or truer, and never was, and never will be;
LG1867	1185	Along the lower'd eve he came, horribly raking us.
LG1867	1186	We closed with him—the yards entangled—the cannon touch'd;
LG1867	1187	My captain lash'd fast with his own hands.
LG1867	1188	We had receiv'd some eighteen-pound shots under the water;
LG1867	1189	On our lower-gun-deck two large pieces had burst at the first fire, killing all around, and blowing up overhead.
LG1867	1190	Fighting at sun-down, fighting at dark;
LG1867	1191	Ten o'clock at night, the full moon well up, our leaks on the gain, and five feet of water reported;
LG1867	1192	The master-at-arms loosing the prisoners confined in the after-hold, to give them a chance for them-selvesthemselves.
LG1867	1193	The transit to and from the magazine is now stopt by the sentinels,
LG1867	1194	They see so many strange faces, they do not know whom to trust.
LG1867	1195	Our frigate takes fire;
LG1867	1196	The other asks if we demand quarter?
LG1867	1197	If our colors are struck, and the fighting is done?
LG1867	1198	Now I laugh content, for I hear the voice of my little captain,(says my grandmother's father;)
LG1867	1199	We have not struck, he composedly cries, we have just begun our part of the fighting.
LG1867	1200	Only three guns are in use;
LG1867	1201	One is directed by the captain himself against the enemy's main-mast;
LG1867	1202	Two, well served with grape and canister, silence his musketry and clear his decks.
LG1867	1203	The tops alone second the fire of this little battery,especially the main-top;
LG1867	1204	They hold out bravely during the whole of the action.
LG1867	1205	Not a moment's cease;
LG1867	1206	The leaks gain fast on the pumps—the fire eats toward the powder-magazine;
LG1867	1207	One of the pumps has been shot away—it is generally thought we are sinking.
LG1867	1208	Serene stands the little captain;
LG1867	1209	He is not hurried—his voice is neither high nor low;
LG1867	1210	His eyes give more light to us than our battle-lanternsbattle-lanterns.
LG1867	1211	Toward twelve at night, there in the beams of the moon, they surrender to us.
LG1867	1212	O now it is not my grandmother's father there in the fight;
LG1867	1213	I feel it is I myself.
LG1867	1214	Stretch'd and still lies the midnight;
LG1867	1215	Two great hulls motionless on the breast of the darkness;
LG1867	1216	Our vessel riddled and slowly sinking—preparations to pass to the one we have conquer'd;
LG1867	1217	The captain on the quarter-deck coldly giving his orders through a countenance white as a sheet;
LG1867	1218	Near by, the corpse of the child that serv'd in the cabin;
LG1867	1219	The dead face of an old salt with long white hair and carefully curl'd whiskers;
LG1867	1220	The flames, spite of all that can be done, flickering aloft and below;
LG1867	1221	The husky voices of the two or three officer yet fit for duty; Formless stacks of bodies, and bodies by themselves— dabs of flesh upon the masts and spars,
LG1867	1222	Cut of cordage, dangle of rigging, slight shock of the soothe of waves,
LG1867	1223	Black and impassive guns, litter of powder-parcels,strong scent, Delicate sniffs of sea-breeze, smells of sedgy grass and fields by the shore, death-messages given in charge to survivors,
LG1867	1224	The hiss of the surgeon's knife, the gnawing teeth of his saw,
LG1867	1225	Wheeze, cluck, swash of falling blood, short wild scream, and long, dull, tapering groan;
LG1867	1226	These so—these irretrievable.
LG1867	1227	O Christ! This is mastering me!
LG1867	1228	Through the conquer'd doors they crowd. I am possess'd.
LG1867	1229	I embody all presences outlaw'd or suffering;
LG1867	1230	See myself in prison shaped like another man,
LG1867	1231	And feel the dull unintermitted pain.
LG1867	1232	For me the keepers of convicts shoulder their car-binescarbines and keep watch;
LG1867	1233	It is I let out in the morning, and barr'd at night.
LG1867	1234	Not a mutineer walks handcuff'd to jail, but I am handcuff'd to him and walk by his side;
LG1867	1235	(I am less the jolly one there, and more the silent one,with sweat on my twitching lips.)
LG1867	1236	Not a youngster is taken for larceny, but I go up too,and am tried and sentenced.
LG1867	1237	Not a cholera patient lies at the last gasp, but I also lie at the last gasp;
LG1867	1238	My face is ash-color'd—my sinews gnarl—away from me people retreat.
LG1867	1239	Askers embody themselves in me, and I am embo-diedembodied in them;
LG1867	1240	I project my hat, sit shame-faced, and beg.
LG1867	1241	Enough! enough! enough!
LG1867	1242	Somehow I have been stunn'd. Stand back!
LG1867	1243	Give me a little time beyond my cuff'd head, slumbers,dreams, gaping;
LG1867	1244	I discover myself on the verge of a usual mistake.
LG1867	1245	That I could forget the mockers and insults!
LG1867	1246	That I could forget the trickling tears, and the blows of the bludgeons and hammers!
LG1867	1247	That I could look with a separate look on my own crucifixion and bloody crowning.
LG1867	1248	I remember now;
LG1867	1249	I resume the overstaid fraction;
LG1867	1250	The grave of rock multiplies what has been confided to it, or to any graves;
LG1867	1251	Corpses rise, gashes heal, fastenings roll from me.
LG1867	1252	I troop forth replenish't with supreme power, one of an average unending procession;
LG1867	1253	Inland and sea-coast we go, and we pass all boundary lines;
LG1867	1254	Our swift ordinances on their way over the whole earth;
LG1867	1255	The blossoms we wear in our hats the growth of thous-andsthousands of years.
LG1867	1256	Eleves, I salute you! come forward!
LG1867	1257	Continue your annotations, continue your question-ingsquestionings.
LG1867	1258	The friendly and flowing savage, Who is he?
LG1867	1259	Is he waiting for civilization, or past it and master-ingmastering it?
LG1867	1260	Is he some south-westerner, rais'd out-doors? Is he Kanadian?
LG1867	1261	Is he from the Mississippi country? Iowa, Oregon,California? the mountains? prairie-life, bush-lifebush-life? or from the sea?
LG1867	1262	Wherever he goes, men and women accept and de-siredesire him;
LG1867	1263	They desire he should like them, touch them, speak to them, stay with them.
LG1867	1264	Behavior lawless as snow-flakes, words simple as grass, uncomb'd head, laughter, and naiveté,
LG1867	1265	Slow-stepping feet, common features, common modes and emanations;
LG1867	1266	They descend in new forms from the tips of his fingers;
LG1867	1267	They are wafted with the odor of his body or breath —they fly out of the glance of his eyes.
LG1867	1268	Flaunt of the sunshine, I need not your bask,—lie over!
LG1867	1269	You light surface only—I force surfaces and depths also.
LG1867	1270	Earth! you seem to look for something at my hands;
LG1867	1271	Say, old Top-knot! what do you want?
LG1867	1272	Man or woman! I might tell how I like you, but cannot;
LG1867	1273	And might tell what it is in me, and what it is in you,but cannot;
LG1867	1274	And might tell that pining I have—that pulse of my nights and days.
LG1867	1275	Behold! I do not give lectures or a little charity;
LG1867	1276	What I give, I give out of myself.
LG1867	1277	You there, impotent, loose in the knees!
LG1867	1278	Open your scarf'd chops till I blow grit within you;
LG1867	1279	Spread your palms, and lift the flaps of your pockets;
LG1867	1280	I am not to be denied—I compel—I have stores plenty and to spare;
LG1867	1281	And anything I have I bestow.
LG1867	1282	I do not ask who you are—that is not so important to me;
LG1867	1283	You can do nothing, and be nothing, but what I will infold you.
LG1867	1284	To cotton-field drudge or cleaner of privies I lean;
LG1867	1285	On his right cheek I put the family kiss,
LG1867	1286	And deep in my soul I swear, I never will deny him.
LG1867	1287	On women fit for conception I start bigger and nim-blernimbler babes;
LG1867	1288	This day I am jetting the stuff of far more arrogant republics.
LG1867	1289	To any one dying—thither I speed, and twist the knob of the door;
LG1867	1290	Turn the bed-clothes toward the foot of the bed;
LG1867	1291	Let the physician and the priest go home.
LG1867	1292	I seize the descending man, and raise him with re-sistlessresistless will.
LG1867	1293	O despairer, here is my neck;
LG1867	1294	By God! you shall not go down! Hang your whole weight upon me.
LG1867	1295	I dilate you with tremendous breath—I buoy you up;
LG1867	1296	Every room of the house do I fill with an arm'd force,
LG1867	1297	Lovers of me, bafflers of graves.
LG1867	1298	Sleep! I and they keep guard all night;
LG1867	1299	Not doubt—not decease shall dare to lay finger upon you;
LG1867	1300	I have embraced you, and henceforth possess you to myself; And when you rise in the morning you will find what I tell you is so.
LG1867	1301	I am he bringing help for the sick as they pant on their backs;
LG1867	1302	And for strong upright men I bring yet more needed help.
LG1867	1303	I heard what was said of the universe;
LG1867	1304	Heard it and heard it of several thousand years:
LG1867	1305	It is middling well as far as it goes,—But is that all?
LG1867	1306	Magnifying and applying come I,
LG1867	1307	Outbidding at the start the old cautious hucksters,
LG1867	1308	Taking myself the exact dimensions of Jehovah,
LG1867	1309	Lithographing Kronos, Zeus his son, and Hercules his grandson;
LG1867	1310	Buying drafts of Osiris, Isis, Belus, Brahma, Buddha,
LG1867	1311	In my portfolio placing Manito loose, Allah on a leaf,the crucifix engraved,
LG1867	1312	With Odin, and the hideous-faced Mexitli, and every idol and image;
LG1867	1313	Taking them all for what they are worth, and not a cent more;
LG1867	1314	Admitting they were alive and did the work of their days;
LG1867	1315	They bore mites, as for unfledg'd birds, who have now to rise and fly and sing for themselves;
LG1867	1316	Accepting the rough deific sketches to fill out better in myself—bestowing them freely on each man and woman I see;
LG1867	1317	Discovering as much, or more, in a framer framing a house;
LG1867	1318	Putting higher claims for him there with his roll'd up sleeves, driving the mallet and chisel;
LG1867	1319	Not objecting to special revelations—considering a curl of smoke or a hair on the back of my hand just as curious as any revelation;
LG1867	1320	Lads ahold of fire-engines and hook-and-ladder ropes no less to me than the Gods of the antique wars;
LG1867	1321	Minding their voices peal through the crash of de-structiondestruction,
LG1867	1322	Their brawny limbs passing safe over charr'd laths— their white foreheads whole and unhurt out of the flames:
LG1867	1323	By the mechanic's wife with her babe at her nipple interceding for every person born;
LG1867	1324	Three scythes at harvest whizzing in a row from three lusty angels with shirts bagg'd out at their waists;
LG1867	1325	The snag-tooth'd hostler with red hair redeeming sins past and to come,
LG1867	1326	Selling all he possesses, traveling on foot to fee law-yerslawyers for his brother, and sit by him while he is tried for forgery;
LG1867	1327	What was strewn in the amplest strewing the square rod about me, and not filling the square rod then;
LG1867	1328	The bull and the bug never worship'd half enough;
LG1867	1329	Dung and dirt more admirable than was dream'd;
LG1867	1330	The supernatural of no account—myself waiting my time to be one of the Supremes;
LG1867	1331	The day getting ready for me when I shall do as much good as the best, and be as prodigious:
LG1867	1332	By my life-lumps! becoming already a creator;
LG1867	1333	Putting myself here and now to the ambush't womb of the shadows.
LG1867	1334	A call in the midst of the crowd;
LG1867	1335	My own voice, orotund, sweeping, and final.
LG1867	1336	Come my children;
LG1867	1337	Come my boys and girls, my women, household, and intimates;
LG1867	1338	Now the performer launches his nerve—he has pass'd his prelude on the reeds within.
LG1867	1339	Easily written, loose-finger'd chords! I feel the thrum of your climax and close.
LG1867	1340	My head slues round on my neck;
LG1867	1341	Music rolls, but not from the organ;
LG1867	1342	Folks are around me, but they are no household of mine.
LG1867	1343	Ever the hard unsunk ground;
LG1867	1344	Ever the eaters and drinkers—ever the upward and downward sun—ever the air and the ceaseless tides;
LG1867	1345	Ever myself and my neighbors, refreshing, wicked,real;
LG1867	1346	Ever the old inexplicable query—ever that thorn'd thumb—that breath of itches and thirsts;
LG1867	1347	Ever the vexer's hoot! hoot! till we find where the sly one hides, and bring him forth;
LG1867	1348	Ever love—ever the sobbing liquid of life;
LG1867	1349	Ever the bandage under the chin—ever the tressels of death.
LG1867	1350	Here and there, with dimes on the eyes walking;
LG1867	1351	To feed the greed of the belly, the brains liberally spooning;
LG1867	1352	Tickets buying, taking, selling, but in to the feast never once going;
LG1867	1353	Many sweating, ploughing, thrashing, and then the chaff for payment receiving;
LG1867	1354	A few idly owning, and they the wheat continually claiming.
LG1867	1355	This is the city, and I am one of the citizens;
LG1867	1356	Whatever interests the rest interests me—politics,markets, newspapers, schools,
LG1867	1357	Benevolent societies, improvements, banks, tariffs,steamships, factories, stocks, stores, real estate,and personal estate.
LG1867	1358	The little plentiful mannikins, skipping around in collars and tail'd coats,
LG1867	1359	I am aware who they are—(they are actually not worms or fleas.)
LG1867	1360	I acknowledge the duplicates of myself—the weakest and shallowest is deathless with me;
LG1867	1361	What I do and say, the same waits for them;
LG1867	1362	Every thought that flounders in me, the same flounders in them.
LG1867	1363	I know perfectly well my own egotism;
LG1867	1364	I know my omnivorous lines, and cannot write any less;
LG1867	1365	And would fetch you, whoever you are, flush with my-selfmyself.
LG1867	1366	No words of routine are mine,
LG1867	1367	But abruptly to question, to leap beyond, yet nearer bring:
LG1867	1368	This printed and bound book—but the printer, and the printing-office boy?
LG1867	1369	The well-taken photographs—but your wife or friend close and solid in your arms?
LG1867	1370	The black ship mail'd with iron, her mighty guns in her turrets—but the pluck of the captain and engineers?
LG1867	1371	In the houses, the dishes and fare and furniture—but the host and hostess, and the look out of their eyes?
LG1867	1372	The sky up there—yet here, or next door, or across the way?
LG1867	1373	The saints and sages in history—but you yourself?
LG1867	1374	Sermons, creeds, theology—but the fathomless human brain,
LG1867	1375	And what is reason? and what is love? and what is life?
LG1867	1376	I do not despise you, priests;
LG1867	1377	My faith is the greatest of faiths, and the least of faiths,
LG1867	1378	Enclosing worship ancient and modern, and all between ancient and modern,
LG1867	1379	Believing I shall come again upon the earth after five thousand years,
LG1867	1380	Waiting responses from oracles, honoring the Gods,saluting the sun,
LG1867	1381	Making a fetish of the first rock or stump, powwowing with sticks in the circle of obis,
LG1867	1382	Helping the lama or brahmin as he trims the lamps of the idols,
LG1867	1383	Dancing yet through the streets in a phallic proces-sionprocession—rapt and austere in the woods, a gymno-sophistgymnosophist,
LG1867	1384	Drinking mead from the skull-cup—to Shastas and Vedas admirant—minding the Koran,
LG1867	1385	Walking the teokallis, spotted with gore from the stone and knife, beating the serpent-skin drum,
LG1867	1386	Accepting the Gospels—accepting him that was cruci-fiedcrucified, knowing assuredly that he is divine,
LG1867	1387	To the mass kneeling, or the puritan's prayer rising,or sitting patiently in a pew,
LG1867	1388	Ranting and frothing in my insane crisis, or waiting dead-like till my spirit arouses me,
LG1867	1389	Looking forth on pavement and land, or outside of pavement and land,
LG1867	1390	Belonging to the winders of the circuit of circuits.
LG1867	1391	One of that centripetal and centrifugal gang, I turn and talk like a man leaving charges before a journey.
LG1867	1392	Down-hearted doubters, dull and excluded,
LG1867	1393	Frivolous, sullen, moping, angry, affected, disheart-endishearten'd, atheistical;
LG1867	1394	I know every one of you—I know the sea of torment,despair and unbelief.
LG1867	1395	How the flukes splash!
LG1867	1396	How they contort, rapid as lightning, with spasms,and spouts of blood!
LG1867	1397	Be at peace, bloody flukes of doubters and sullen mopers;
LG1867	1398	I take my place among you as much as among any;
LG1867	1399	The past is the push of you, me, all, precisely the same,
LG1867	1400	And what is yet untried and afterward is for you, me,all, precisely the same.
LG1867	1401	I do not know what is untried and afterward;
LG1867	1402	But I know it will in its turn prove sufficient, and can-notcannot fail.
LG1867	1403	Each who passes is consider'd—each who stops is consider'd—not a single one can it fail.
LG1867	1404	It cannot fail the young man who died and was buried,
LG1867	1405	Nor the young woman who died and was put by his side,
LG1867	1406	Nor the little child that peep'd in at the door, and then drew back, and was never seen again,
LG1867	1407	Nor the old man who has lived without purpose, and feels it with bitterness worse than gall,
LG1867	1408	Nor him in the poor house, turbercled by rum and the bad disorder,
LG1867	1409	Nor the numberless slaughter'd and wreck'd—nor the brutish koboo call'd the ordure of humanity,
LG1867	1410	Nor the sacs merely floating with open mouths for food to slip in,
LG1867	1411	Nor anything in the earth, or down in the oldest graves of the earth,
LG1867	1412	Nor anything in the myriads of spheres—nor one of the myriads of myriads that inhabit them,
LG1867	1413	Nor the present—nor the least wisp that is known.
LG1867	1414	It is time to explain myself—Let us stand up.
LG1867	1415	What is known I strip away;
LG1867	1416	I launch all men and women forward with me into THE UNKNOWN.
LG1867	1417	The clock indicates the moment—but what does eternity indicate?
LG1867	1418	We have thus far exhausted trillions of winters and summers;
LG1867	1419	There are trillions ahead, and trillions ahead of them.
LG1867	1420	Births have brought us richness and variety,
LG1867	1421	And other births will bring us richness and variety.
LG1867	1422	I do not call one greater and one smaller;
LG1867	1423	That which fills its period and place is equal to any.
LG1867	1424	Were mankind murderous or jealous upon you, my brother, my sister?
LG1867	1425	I am sorry for you—they are not murderous or jeal-ousjealous upon me;
LG1867	1426	All has been gentle with me—I keep no account with lamentation;
LG1867	1427	(What have I to do with lamentation?)
LG1867	1428	I am an acme of things accomplish'd, and I an encloser of things to be.
LG1867	1429	My feet strike an apex of the apices of the stairs;
LG1867	1430	On every step bunches of ages, and larger bunches between the steps;
LG1867	1431	All below duly travel'd, and still I mount and mount.
LG1867	1432	Rise after rise bow the phantoms behind me;
LG1867	1433	Afar down I see the huge first Nothing—I know I was even there;
LG1867	1434	I waited unseen and always, and slept through the lethargic mist,
LG1867	1435	And took my time, and took no hurt from the fetid carbon.
LG1867	1436	Long I was hugg'd close—long and long.
LG1867	1437	Immense have been the preparations for me,
LG1867	1438	Faithful and friendly the arms that have help'd me.
LG1867	1439	Cycles ferried my cradle, rowing and rowing like cheerful boatmen;
LG1867	1440	For room to me stars kept aside in their own rings;
LG1867	1441	They sent influences to look after what was to hold me.
LG1867	1442	Before I was born out of my mother, generations guided me;
LG1867	1443	My embryo has never been torpid—nothing could overlay it.
LG1867	1444	For it the nebula cohered to an orb,
LG1867	1445	The long slow strata piled to rest it on,
LG1867	1446	Vast vegetables gave it sustenance,
LG1867	1447	Monstrous sauroids transported it in their months,and deposited it with care.
LG1867	1448	All forces have been steadily employ'd to complete and delight me;
LG1867	1449	Now on this spot I stand with my robust Soul.
LG1867	1450	O span of youth! Ever-push't elasticity!
LG1867	1451	O manhood, balanced, florid, and full.
LG1867	1452	My lovers suffocate me!
LG1867	1453	Crowding my lips, thick in the pores of my skin,
LG1867	1454	Jostling me through streets and public halls—coming naked to me at night,
LG1867	1455	Crying by day Ahoy! from the rocks of the river— swinging and chirping over my head,
LG1867	1456	Calling my name from flower-beds, vines, tangled under-brush,
LG1867	1457	Lighting on every moment of my life,
LG1867	1458	Bussing my body with soft balsamic busses,
LG1867	1459	Noiselessly passing handfuls out of their hearts, and giving them to be mine.
LG1867	1460	Old age superbly rising! O welcome, ineffable grace of dying days!
LG1867	1461	Every condition promulges not only itself—it pro-mulgespromulges what grows after and out of itself,
LG1867	1462	And the dark hush promulges as much as any.
LG1867	1463	I open my scuttle at night and see the far-sprinkled systems,
LG1867	1464	And all I see, multiplied as high as I can cipher, edge but the rim of the farther systems.
LG1867	1465	Wider and wider they spread, expanding, always expanding,
LG1867	1466	Outward and outward, and forever outward.
LG1867	1467	My sun has his sun, and round him obediently wheels,
LG1867	1468	He joins with his partners a group of superior circuit,
LG1867	1469	And greater sets follow, making specks of the greatest inside them.
LG1867	1470	There is no stoppage, and never can be stoppage;
LG1867	1471	If I, you, and the worlds, and all beneath or upon their surfaces, were this moment reduced back to a pallid float, it would not avail in the long run;
LG1867	1472	We should surely bring up again where we now stand,
LG1867	1473	And as surely go as much farther—and then farther and farther.
LG1867	1474	A few quadrillions of eras, a few octillions of cubic leagues, do not hazard the span, or make it impatient;
LG1867	1475	They are but parts—anything is but a part.
LG1867	1476	See ever so far, there is limitless space outside of that;
LG1867	1477	Count ever so much, there is limitless time around that.
LG1867	1478	My rendezvous is appointed—it is certain;
LG1867	1479	The Lord will be there, and wait till I come, on perfect terms;
LG1867	1480	(The great Camerado, the lover true for whom I pine,will be there.)
LG1867	1481	I know I have the best of time and space, and was never measured, and never will be measured.
LG1867	1482	I tramp a perpetual journey—(come listen all!)
LG1867	1483	My signs are a rain-proof coat, good shoes, and a staff cut from the woods;
LG1867	1484	No friend of mine takes his ease in my chair;
LG1867	1485	I have no chair, no church, no philosophy;
LG1867	1486	I lead no man to a dinner-table, library, or exchange;
LG1867	1487	But each man and each woman of you I lead upon a knoll,
LG1867	1488	My left hand hooking you round the waist,
LG1867	1489	My right hand pointing to landscapes of continents,and a plain public road.
LG1867	1490	Not I—not any one else, can travel that road for you,
LG1867	1491	You must travel it for yourself.
LG1867	1492	It is not far—it is within reach;
LG1867	1493	Perhaps you have been on it since you were born, and did not know;
LG1867	1494	Perhaps it is every where on water and on land.
LG1867	1495	Shoulder your duds, dear son, and I will mine, and let us hasten forth,
LG1867	1496	Wonderful cities and free nations we shall fetch as we go.
LG1867	1497	If you tire, give me both burdens, and rest the chuff of your hand on my hip,
LG1867	1498	And in due time you shall repay the same service to me;
LG1867	1499	For after we start, we never lie by again.
LG1867	1500	This day before dawn I ascended a hill, and look'd at the crowded heaven,
LG1867	1501	And I said to my Spirit, When we become the enfolders of those orbs, and the pleasure and knowledge of everything in them, shall we be fill'd and satisfied then?
LG1867	1502	And my Spirit said No, we but level that lift, to pass and continue beyond.
LG1867	1503	You are also asking me questions, and I hear you;
LG1867	1504	I answer that I cannot answer—you must find out for yourself.
LG1867	1505	Sit a while, dear son;
LG1867	1506	Here are biscuits to eat, and here is milk to drink;
LG1867	1507	But as soon as you sleep, and renew yourself in sweet clothes, I kiss you with a good-bye kiss, and open the gate for your egress hence.
LG1867	1508	Long enough have you dream'd contemptible dreams;
LG1867	1509	Now I wash the gum from your eyes;
LG1867	1510	You must habit yourself to the dazzle of the light,and of every moment of your life.
LG1867	1511	Long have you timidly waded, holding a plank by the shore;
LG1867	1512	Now I will you to be a bold swimmer,
LG1867	1513	To jump off in the midst of the sea, rise again, nod to me, shout, and laughingly dash with your hair.
LG1867	1514	I am the teacher of athletes;
LG1867	1515	He that by me spreads a wider breast than my own,proves the width of my own;
LG1867	1516	He most honors my style who learns under it to destroy the teacher.
LG1867	1517	The boy I love, the same becomes a man, not through derived power, but in his own right,
LG1867	1518	Wicked, rather than virtuous out of conformity or fear,
LG1867	1519	Fond of his sweetheart, relishing well his steak,
LG1867	1520	Unrequited love, or a slight, cutting him worse than sharp steel cuts,
LG1867	1521	First-rate to ride, to fight, to hit the bull's-eye, to sail a skiff, to sing a song, or play on the banjo,
LG1867	1522	Preferring scars, and the beard, and faces pitted with small-pox, over all latherers,
LG1867	1523	And those well tann'd to those that keep out of the sun.
LG1867	1524	I teach straying from me—yet who can stray from me?
LG1867	1525	I follow you, whoever you are, from the present hour;
LG1867	1526	My words itch at your ears till you understand them.
LG1867	1527	I do not say these things for a dollar, or to fill up the time while I wait for a boat;
LG1867	1528	It is you talking just as much as myself—I act as the tongue of you;
LG1867	1529	Tied in your mouth, in mine it begins to be loosen'd.
LG1867	1530	I swear I will never again mention love or death in-sideinside a house,
LG1867	1531	And I swear I will never translate myself at all, only to him or her who privately stays with me in the open air.
LG1867	1532	If you would understand me, go to the heights or water-shore;
LG1867	1533	The nearest gnat is an explanation, and a drop or mo-tionmotion of waves a key;
LG1867	1534	The maul, the oar, the hand-saw, second my words.
LG1867	1535	No shutter'd room or school can commune with me,
LG1867	1536	But roughs and little children better than they.
LG1867	1537	The young mechanic is closest to me—he knows me well;
LG1867	1538	The woodman, that takes his axe and jug with him,shall take me with him all day;
LG1867	1539	The farm-boy, ploughing in the field, feels good at the sound of my voice;
LG1867	1540	In vessels that sail, my words sail—I go with fisher-menfishermen and seamen, and love them.
LG1867	1541	The soldier camp'd, or upon the march, is mine;
LG1867	1542	On the night ere the pending battle, many seek me,and I do not fail them;
LG1867	1543	On the solemn night (it may be their last,) those that know me, seek me.
LG1867	1544	My face rubs to the hunter's face, when he lies down alone in his blanket;
LG1867	1545	The driver, thinking of me, does not mind the jolt of his wagon;
LG1867	1546	The young mother and old mother comprehend me;
LG1867	1547	The girl and the wife rest the needle a moment, and forget where they are;
LG1867	1548	They and all would resume what I have told them.
LG1867	1549	I have said that the soul is not more than the body,
LG1867	1550	And I have said that the body is not more than the soul:
LG1867	1551	And nothing, not God, is greater to one than one's self is,
LG1867	1552	And whoever walks a furlong without sympathy, walks to his own funeral, drest in his shroud,
LG1867	1553	And I or you, pocketless of a dime, may purchase the pick of the earth,
LG1867	1554	And to glance with an eye, or show a bean in its pod,confounds the learning of all times,
LG1867	1555	And there is no trade or employment but the young man following it may become a hero,
LG1867	1556	And there is no object so soft but it makes a hub for the wheel'd universe,
LG1867	1557	And I say to any man or woman, Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes.
LG1867	1558	And I say to mankind, Be not curious about God,
LG1867	1559	For I, who am curious about each, am not curious about God;
LG1867	1560	(No array of terms can say how much I am at peace about God, and about death.)
LG1867	1561	I hear and behold God in every object, yet under-standunderstand God not in the least,
LG1867	1562	Nor do I understand who there can be more wonder-fulwonderful than myself.
LG1867	1563	Why should I wish to see God better than this day?
LG1867	1564	I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four,and each moment then;
LG1867	1565	In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own face in the glass;
LG1867	1566	I find letters from God drop't in the street—and every one is sign'd by God's name,
LG1867	1567	And I leave them where they are, for I know that wheresoe'er I go,
LG1867	1568	Others will punctually come forever and ever.
LG1867	1569	And as to you Death, and you bitter hug of mor-talitymortality, it is idle to try to alarm me.
LG1867	1570	To his work without flinching the accoucheur comes;
LG1867	1571	I see the elder hand, pressing, receiving, supporting;
LG1867	1572	I recline by the sills of the exquisite flexible doors,
LG1867	1573	And mark the outlet, and mark the relief and escape.
LG1867	1574	And as to you, Corpse, I think you are good man-nuremannure—but that does not offend me;
LG1867	1575	I smell the white roses sweet-scented and growing,
LG1867	1576	I reach to the leafy lips—I reach to the polish't breasts of melons.
LG1867	1577	And as to you Life, I reckon you are the leavings of many deaths;
LG1867	1578	(No doubt I have died myself ten thousand times before.)
LG1867	1579	I hear you whispering there, O stars of heaven;
LG1867	1580	O suns! O grass of graves! O perpetual transfers and promotions!
LG1867	1581	If you do not say anything, how can I say anything.
LG1867	1582	Of the turbid pool that lies in the autumn forest,
LG1867	1583	Of the moon that descends the steeps of the soughing twilight,
LG1867	1584	Toss, sparkles of day and dusk! toss on the black stems that decay in the muck!
LG1867	1585	Toss to the moaning gibberish of the dry limbs.
LG1867	1586	I ascend from the moon, I ascend from the night;
LG1867	1587	I perceive that the ghastly glimmer is noonday sun-beamssunbeams reflected;
LG1867	1588	And debouch to the steady and central from the off-springoffspring great or small.
LG1867	1589	There is that in me—I do not know what it is—but I know it is in me.
LG1867	1590	Wrench't and sweaty—calm and cool then my body becomes;
LG1867	1591	I sleep—I sleep long.
LG1867	1592	I do not know it—it is without name—it is a word unsaid;
LG1867	1593	It is not in any dictionary, utterance, symbol.
LG1867	1594	Something it swings on more than the earth I swing on;
LG1867	1595	To it the creation is the friend whose embracing awakes me.
LG1867	1596	Perhaps I might tell more. Outlines! I plead for my brothers and sisters.
LG1867	1597	Do you see, O my brothers and sisters?
LG1867	1598	It is not chaos or death—it is form, union, plan—it is eternal life—it is HAPPINESS.
LG1867	1599	The past and present wilt—I have fill'd them, emp-tiedemptied them,
LG1867	1600	And proceed to fill my next fold of the future.
LG1867	1601	Listener up there! Here you! What have you to confide to me?
LG1867	1602	Look in my face, while I snuff the sidle of evening;
LG1867	1603	Talk honestly—no one else hears you, and I stay only a minute longer.
LG1867	1604	Do I contradict myself?
LG1867	1605	Very well, then, I contradict myself;
LG1867	1606	I am large—I contain multitudes.
LG1867	1607	I concentrate toward them that are nigh—I wait on the door-slab.
LG1867	1608	Who has done his day's work? Who will soonest be through with his supper?
LG1867	1609	Who wishes to walk with me?
LG1867	1610	Will you speak before I am gone? Will you prove already too late?
LG1867	1611	The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me—he complains of my gab and my loitering.
LG1867	1612	I too am not a bit tamed—I too am untranslatable;
LG1867	1613	I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.
LG1867	1614	The last scud of day holds back for me;
LG1867	1615	It flings my likeness after the rest, and true as any, on the shadow'd wilds;
LG1867	1616	It coaxes me to the vapor and the dusk.
LG1867	1617	I depart as air—I shake my white locks at the run-awayrunaway sun;
LG1867	1618	I effuse my flesh in eddies, and drift it in lacy jags.
LG1867	1619	I bequeathe myself to the dirt, to grow from the grass I love;
LG1867	1620	If you want me again, look for me under your boot-soles.
LG1867	1621	You will hardly know who I am, or what I mean;
LG1867	1622	But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,
LG1867	1623	And filter and fibre your blood.
LG1867	1624	Failing to fetch me at first, keep encouraged;
LG1867	1625	Missing me one place, search another;
LG1867	1626	I stop somewhere, waiting for you.
LG1867	1627	To THE garden, the world, anew ascending,
LG1867	1628	Potent mates, daughters, sons, preluding,
LG1867	1629	The love, the life of their bodies, meaning and being,
LG1867	1630	Curious, here behold my resurrection, after slumber;
LG1867	1631	The revolving cycles, in their wide sweep, having brought me again,
LG1867	1632	Amorous, mature—all beautiful to me—all wondrous;
LG1867	1633	My limbs, and the quivering fire that ever plays through them, for reasons, most wondrous;
LG1867	1634	Existing, I peer and penetrate still,
LG1867	1635	Content with the present—content with the past,
LG1867	1636	By my side, or back of me, Eve following,
LG1867	1637	Or in front, and I following her just the same.
LG1867	1638	FROM pent-up, aching rivers;
LG1867	1639	From that of myself, without which I were nothing;
LG1867	1640	From what I am determin'd to make illustrious, even if I stand sole among men;
LG1867	1641	From my own voice resonant—singing the phallus,
LG1867	1642	Singing the song of procreation,
LG1867	1643	Singing the need of superb children, and therein superb grown people,
LG1867	1644	Singing the muscular urge and the blending,
LG1867	1645	Singing the bedfellow's song, (O resistless yearning!
LG1867	1646	O for any and each, the body correlative attracting!
LG1867	1647	O for you, whoever you are, your correlative body! O it, more than all else, you delighting!)
LG1867	1648	—From the hungry gnaw that eats me night and day;
LG1867	1649	From native moments—from bashful pains—singing them;
LG1867	1650	Singing something yet unfound, though I have dili-gentlydiligently sought it, many a long year;
LG1867	1651	Singing the true song of the Soul, fitful, at random;
LG1867	1652	Singing what, to the Soul, entirely redeem'd her, the faithful one, even the prostitute, who detain'd me when I went to the city;
LG1867	1653	Singing the song of prostitutes;
LG1867	1654	Renascent with grossest Nature, or among animals;
LG1867	1655	Of that—of them, and what goes with them, my poems informing;
LG1867	1656	Of the smell of apples and lemons—of the pairing of birds,
LG1867	1657	Of the wet of woods—of the lapping of waves,
LG1867	1658	Of the mad pushes of waves upon the land—I them chanting;
LG1867	1659	The overture lightly sounding—the strain anticipat-inganticipating;
LG1867	1660	The welcome nearness—the sight of the perfect body;
LG1867	1661	The swimmer swimming naked in the bath, or motion-lessmotionless on his back lying and floating;
LG1867	1662	The female form approaching—I, pensive, love-flesh tremulous, aching;
LG1867	1663	—The slave's body for sale,—I, sternly, with harsh voice, auctioneering;
LG1867	1664	The divine list, for myself or you, or for any one, mak-ingmaking;
LG1867	1665	The face—the limbs—the index from head to foot, and what it arouses;
LG1867	1666	The mystic deliria—the madness amorous—the utter abandonment;
LG1867	1667	(Hark close, and still, what I now whisper to you,
LG1867	1668	I love you—O you entirely possess me,
LG1867	1669	O I wish that you and I escape from the rest, and go utterly off—O free and lawless,
LG1867	1670	Two hawks in the air—two fishes swimming in the sea not more lawless than we;)
LG1867	1671	—The furious storm through me careering—I passion-atelypassionately trembling;
LG1867	1672	The oath of the inseparableness of two together—of the woman that loves me, and whom I love more than my life—that oath swearing;
LG1867	1673	(O I willingly stake all, for you!
LG1867	1674	O let me be lost, if it must be so!
LG1867	1675	O you and I—what is it to us what the rest do or think?
LG1867	1676	What is all else to us? only that we enjoy each other, and exhaust each other, if it must be so;)
LG1867	1677	—From the master—the pilot I yield the vessel to;
LG1867	1678	The general commanding me, commanding all—from him permission taking;
LG1867	1679	From time the programme hastening, (I have loiter'd too long, as to is;)
LG1867	1680	From sex—From the warp and from the woof;
LG1867	1681	(To talk to the perfect girl who understands me,
LG1867	1682	To waft to her these from my own lips—to effuse them from my own body;)
LG1867	1683	From privacy—from frequent repinings alone;
LG1867	1684	From plenty of persons near, and yet the right person not near;
LG1867	1685	From the soft sliding of hands over me, and thrusting of fingers through my hair and beard;
LG1867	1686	From the long sustain'd kiss upon the mouth or bosom;
LG1867	1687	From the close pressure that makes me or any man drunk, fainting with excess;
LG1867	1688	From what the divine husband knows—from the work of fatherhood;
LG1867	1689	From exultation, victory, and relief—from the bedfel-lowbedfellow's embrace in the night;
LG1867	1690	From the act-poems of eyes, hands, hips, and bosoms,
LG1867	1691	From the cling of the trembling arm,
LG1867	1692	From the bending curve and the clinch,
LG1867	1693	From side by side, the pliant coverlid off-throwing,
LG1867	1694	From the one so unwilling to have me leave—and me just as unwilling to leave,
LG1867	1695	(Yet a moment, O tender waiter, and I return;)
LG1867	1696	—From the hour of shining stars and dropping dews,
LG1867	1697	From the night, a moment, I, emerging, flitting out,
LG1867	1698	Celebrate you, act divine—and you, children prepared for,
LG1867	1699	And you, stalwart loins.
LG1867	1700	I SING the Body electric;
LG1867	1701	The armies of those I love engirth me, and I engirththem;
LG1867	1702	They will not let me off till I go with them, respondto them,
LG1867	1703	And discorrupt them, and charge them full with thecharge of the Soul.
LG1867	1704	Was it doubted that those who corrupt their ownbodies conceal themselves?
LG1867	1705	And if those who defile the living are as bad as theywho defile the dead?
LG1867	1706	And if the body does not do as much as the Soul?
LG1867	1707	And if the body were not the Soul, what is the Soul?
LG1867	1708	The love of the Body of man or woman balks ac-countaccount—the body itself balks account;
LG1867	1709	That of the male is perfect, and that of the female isperfect.
LG1867	1710	The expression of the face balks account;
LG1867	1711	But the expression of a well-made man appears notonly in his face;
LG1867	1712	It is in his limbs and joints also, it is curiously in thejoints of his hips and wrists;
LG1867	1713	It is in his walk, the carriage of his neck, the flex ofhis waist and knees—dress does not hide him;
LG1867	1714	The strong, sweet, supple quality he has, strikesthrough the cotton and flannel;
LG1867	1715	To see him pass conveys as much as the best poem, perhaps more;
LG1867	1716	You linger to see his back, and the back of his neckand shoulder-side.
LG1867	1717	The sprawl and fulness of babes, the bosoms andheads of women, the folds of their dress, theirstyle as we pass in the street, the contour oftheir shape downwards,
LG1867	1718	The swimmer naked in the swimming bath, seen as heswims through the transparent green-shine, orlies with his face up, and rolls silently to andfro in the heave of the water,
LG1867	1719	The bending forward and backward of rowers in row-boatsrow-boats—the horseman in his saddle,
LG1867	1720	Girls, mothers, house-keepers, in all their perform-ancesperformances,
LG1867	1721	The group of laborers seated at noon-time with theiropen dinner-kettles, and their wives waiting,
LG1867	1722	The female soothing a child—the farmer's daughter inthe garden or cow-yard,
LG1867	1723	The young fellow hoeing corn—the sleigh-driverguiding his six horses through the crowd,
LG1867	1724	The wrestle of wrestlers, two apprentice-boys, quitegrown, lusty, good-natured, native-born, out onthe vacant lot at sun-down, after work,
LG1867	1725	The coats and caps thrown down, the embrace of loveand resistance,
LG1867	1726	The upper-hold and under-hold, the hair rumpledover and blinding the eyes;
LG1867	1727	The march of firemen in their own costumes, the playof masculine muscle through clean-settingtrowsers and waist-straps,
LG1867	1728	The slow return from the fire, the pause when the bellstrikes suddenly again, and the listening on thealert,
LG1867	1729	The natural, perfect, varied attitudes—the bent head, the curv'd neck, and the counting;
LG1867	1730	Such-like I love—I loosen myself, pass freely, am atthe mother's breast with the little child,
LG1867	1731	Swim with the swimmers, wrestle with wrestlers, marchin line with the firemen, and pause, listen, and count.
LG1867	1732	I knew a man, a common farmer—the father offive sons;
LG1867	1733	And in them were the fathers of sons—and in themwere the fathers of sons.
LG1867	1734	This man was of wonderful vigor, calmness, beautyof person;
LG1867	1735	The shape of his head, the richness and breadth ofhis manners, the pale yellow and white of hishair and beard, and the immeasurable meaningof his black eyes,
LG1867	1736	These I used to go and visit him to see—he was wisealso;
LG1867	1737	He was six feet tall, he was over eighty years old—hissons were massive, clean, bearded, tan-faced, handsome;
LG1867	1738	They and his daughters loved him—all who saw himloved him;
LG1867	1739	They did not love him by allowance—they loved himwith personal love;
LG1867	1740	He drank water only—the blood show'd like scarletthrough the clear-brown skin of his face;
LG1867	1741	He was a frequent gunner and fisher—he sail'd hisboat himself—he had a fine one presented tohim by a ship-joiner—he had fowling-pieces, presented to him by men that loved him;
LG1867	1742	When he went with his five sons and many grand-sonsto hunt or fish, you would pick him out as themost beautiful and vigorous of the gang,
LG1867	1743	You would wish long and long to be with him—youwould wish to sit by him in the boat, that youand he might touch each other.
LG1867	1744	I have perceiv'd that to be with those I like isenough,
LG1867	1745	To stop in company with the rest at evening isenough,
LG1867	1746	To be surrounded by beautiful, curious, breathing, laughing flesh is enough,
LG1867	1747	To pass among them, or touch any one, or rest myarm ever so lightly round his or her neck for amoment—what is this then?
LG1867	1748	I do not ask any more delight—I swim in it, as in asea.
LG1867	1749	There is something in staying close to men and wo-menwoman, and looking on them, and in the contactand odor of them, that pleases the soul well;
LG1867	1750	All things please the soul—but these please the soulwell.
LG1867	1751	This is the female form;
LG1867	1752	A divine nimbus exhales from it from head to foot;
LG1867	1753	It attracts with fierce undeniable attraction!
LG1867	1754	I am drawn by its breath as if I were no more than ahelpless vapor—all falls aside but myself and it;
LG1867	1755	Books, art, religion, time, the visible and solid earth, the atmosphere and the clouds, and what wasexpected of heaven or fear'd of hell, are nowconsumed;
LG1867	1756	Mad filaments, ungovernable shoots play out of it, theresponse likewise ungovernable!
LG1867	1757	Hair, bosom, hips, bend of legs, negligent fallinghands, all diffused—mine too diffused;
LG1867	1758	Ebb stung by the flow, and flow stung by the ebb—love-flesh swelling and deliciously aching;
LG1867	1759	Limitless limpid jets of love hot and enormous, quivering jelly of love, white-blow and deliri-ousdelirious juice;
LG1867	1760	Bridegroom night of love, working surely and softlyinto the prostrate dawn;
LG1867	1761	Undulating into the willing and yielding day,
LG1867	1762	Lost in the cleave of the clasping and sweet-flesh'dday.
LG1867	1763	This is the nucleus—after the child is born ofwoman, the man is born of woman;
LG1867	1764	This is the bath of birth—this is the merge of smalland large, and the outlet again.
LG1867	1765	Be not ashamed, women—your privilege enclosesthe rest, and is the exit of the rest,
LG1867	1766	You are the gates of the body, and you are the gatesof the soul.
LG1867	1767	The female contains all qualities, and tempers them—she is in her place, and moves with perfectbalance;
LG1867	1768	She is all things duly veil'd—she is both passive andactive;
LG1867	1769	She is to conceive daughters as well as sons, and sonsas well as daughters.
LG1867	1770	As I see my soul reflected in nature;
LG1867	1771	As I see through a mist, one with inexpressible com-pletenesscompleteness and beauty,
LG1867	1772	See the bent head, and arms folded over the breast—the female I see.
LG1867	1773	The male is not less the soul, nor more—he too isin his place;
LG1867	1774	He too is all qualities—he is action and power;
LG1867	1775	The flush of the known universe is in him;
LG1867	1776	Scorn becomes him well, and appetite and defiancebecome him well;
LG1867	1777	The wildest largest passions, bliss that is utmost, sor-rowsorrow that is utmost, become him well—pride isfor him;
LG1867	1778	The full-spread pride of man is calming and excellentto the soul;
LG1867	1779	Knowledge becomes him—he likes it always—hebrings everything to the test of himself;
LG1867	1780	Whatever the survey, whatever the sea and the sail, hestrikes soundings at last only here;
LG1867	1781	Where else does he strike soundings, except here?
LG1867	1782	The man's body is sacred, and the woman's body issacred;
LG1867	1783	No matter who it is, it is sacred;
LG1867	1784	Is it a slave? Is it one of the dull-faced immigrantsjust landed on the wharf?
LG1867	1785	Each belongs here or anywhere, just as much as thewell-off—just as much as you;
LG1867	1786	Each has his or her place in the procession.
LG1867	1787	All is a procession;
LG1867	1788	The universe is a procession, with measured and beau-tifulbeautiful motion.
LG1867	1789	Do you know so much yourself, that you call the slaveor the dull-face ignorant?
LG1867	1790	Do you suppose you have a right to a good sight, andhe or she has no right to a sight?
LG1867	1791	Do you think matter has cohered together from itsdiffuse float—and the soil is on the surface, and water runs, and vegetation sprouts,
LG1867	1792	For you only, and not for him and her?
LG1867	1793	A man's Body at auction;
LG1867	1794	I help the auctioneer—the sloven does not half knowhis business.
LG1867	1795	Gentlemen, look on this wonder!
LG1867	1796	Whatever the bids of the bidders, they cannot be highenough for it;
LG1867	1797	For it the globe lay preparing quintillions of years, without one animal or plant;
LG1867	1798	For it the revolving cycles truly and steadily roll'd.
LG1867	1799	In this head the all-baffling brain;
LG1867	1800	In it and below it, the makings of heroes.
LG1867	1801	Examine these limbs, red, black, or white—they areso cunning in tendon and nerve;
LG1867	1802	They shall be stript, that you may see them.
LG1867	1803	Exquisite senses, life-lit eyes, pluck, volition,
LG1867	1804	Flakes of breast-muscle, pliant back-bone and neck, flesh not flabby, good sized arms and legs,
LG1867	1805	And wonders within there yet.
LG1867	1806	Within there runs blood,
LG1867	1807	The same old blood!
LG1867	1808	The same red-running blood!
LG1867	1809	There swells and jets a heart—there all passions, de-siresdesires, reachings, aspirations;
LG1867	1810	Do you think they are not there because they are notexpress'd in parlors and lecture—rooms?
LG1867	1811	This is not only one man—this is the father of thosewho shall be fathers in their turns;
LG1867	1812	In him the start of populous states and rich republics;
LG1867	1813	Of him countless immortal lives, with countless em-bodimentsembodiments and enjoyments.
LG1867	1814	How do you know who shall come from the off-springoffspring of his offspring through the centuries?
LG1867	1815	Who might you find you have come from yourself, ifyou could trace back through the centuries?
LG1867	1816	A woman's Body at auction!
LG1867	1817	She too is not only herself—she is the teemingmother of mothers;
LG1867	1818	She is the bearer of them that shall grow and bemates to the mothers.
LG1867	1819	Have you ever loved the Body of a woman?
LG1867	1820	Have you ever loved the Body of a man?
LG1867	1821	Your father—where is your father?
LG1867	1822	Your mother—is she living? have you been muchwith her? and has she been much with you?
LG1867	1823	Do you not see that these are exactly the same to all, in all nations and times, all over the earth?
LG1867	1824	If any thing is sacred, the human body is sacred,
LG1867	1825	And the glory and sweet of a man, is the token of man-hoodmanhood untainted;
LG1867	1826	And in man or woman, a clean, strong, firm-fibredbody, is beautiful as the most beautiful face.
LG1867	1827	Have you seen the fool that corrupted his own livebody? or the fool that corrupted her own livebody?
LG1867	1828	For they do not conceal themselves, and cannot con-cealconceal themselves.
LG1867	1829	O my Body! I dare not desert the likes of you inother men and women, nor the likes of theparts of you;
LG1867	1830	I believe the likes of you are to stand or fall with thelikes of the Soul, (and that they are the Soul;)
LG1867	1831	I believe the likes of you shall stand or fall with mypoems—and that they are poems,
LG1867	1832	Man's, woman's, child's, youth's, wife's, husband's, mother's, father's, young man's, young woman'spoems;
LG1867	1833	Head, neck, hair, ears, drop and tympan of the ears,
LG1867	1834	Eyes, eye-fringes, iris of the eye, eye-brows, and thewaking or sleeping of the lids,
LG1867	1835	Mouth, tongue, lips, teeth, roof of the mouth, jaws, and the jaw-hinges,
LG1867	1836	Nose, nostrils of the nose, and the partition,
LG1867	1837	Cheeks, temples, forehead, chin, throat, back of theneck, neck-slue,
LG1867	1838	Strong shoulders, manly beard, scapula, hind-shoul-dershind-shoulders, and the ample side-round of the chest,
LG1867	1839	Upper-arm, arm-pit, elbow-socket, lower-arm, arm-sinewsarm-sinews, arm-bones,
LG1867	1840	Wrist and wrist-joints, hand, palm, knuckles, thumb, fore-finger, finger-balls, finger-joints, finger-nailsfingernails,
LG1867	1841	Broad breast-front, curling hair of the breast, breast-bonebreast-bone, breast-side,
LG1867	1842	Ribs, belly, backbone, joints of the back-bone,
LG1867	1843	Hips, hip-sockets, hip-strength, inward and outwardround, man-balls, man-root,
LG1867	1844	Strong set of thighs, well carrying the trunk above,
LG1867	1845	Leg-fibres, knee, knee-pan, upper-leg, under-leg,
LG1867	1846	Ankles, instep, foot-ball, toes, toe-joints, the heel;
LG1867	1847	All attitudes, all the shapeliness, all the belongings ofmy or your body, or of any one's body, male orfemale,
LG1867	1848	The lung-sponges, the stomach-sac, the bowels sweetand clean,
LG1867	1849	The brain in its folds inside the skull-frame,
LG1867	1850	Sympathies, heart-valves, palate-valves, sexuality, ma-ternitymaternity,
LG1867	1851	Womanhood, and all that is a woman—and the manthat comes from woman,
LG1867	1852	The womb, the teats, nipples, breast-milk, tears, laugh-terlaughter, weeping, love-looks, love-perturbations andrisings,
LG1867	1853	The voice, articulation, language, whispering, shout-ingshouting aloud,
LG1867	1854	Food, drink, pulse, digestion, sweat, sleep, walking, swimming,
LG1867	1855	Poise on the hips, leaping, reclining, embracing, arm-curvingarm-curving and tightening,
LG1867	1856	The continual changes of the flex of the mouth, andaround the eyes,
LG1867	1857	The skin, the sun-burnt shade, freckles, hair,
LG1867	1858	The curious sympathy one feels, when feeling with thehand the naked meat of the body,
LG1867	1859	The circling rivers, the breath, and breathing it inand out,
LG1867	1860	The beauty of the waist, and thence of the hips, andthence downward toward the knees,
LG1867	1861	The thin red jellies within you, or within me—thebones, and the marrow in the bones,
LG1867	1862	The exquisite realization of health;
LG1867	1863	O I say, these are not the parts and poems of the Bodyonly, but of the Soul,
LG1867	1864	O I say now these are the Soul!
LG1867	1865	A WOMAN waits for me—she contains all, nothing is lacking,
LG1867	1866	Yet all were lacking, if sex were lacking, or if the moisture of the right man were lacking.
LG1867	1867	Sex contains all,
LG1867	1868	Bodies, Souls, meanings, proofs, purities, delicacies,results, promulgations,
LG1867	1869	Songs, commands, health, pride, the maternal mystery,the semitic milk,
LG1867	1870	All hopes, benefactions, bestowals,
LG1867	1871	All the passions, loves, beauties, delights of the earth,
LG1867	1872	All the governments, judges, gods, follow'd persons of the earth,
LG1867	1873	These are contain'd in sex, as parts of itself, and jus-tificationsjustifications of itself.
LG1867	1874	Without shame the man I like knows and avows the deliciousness of his sex,
LG1867	1875	Without shame the woman I like knows and avows hers.
LG1867	1876	Now I will dismiss myself from impassive women,
LG1867	1877	I will go stay with her who waits for me, and with those women that are warm-blooded and suffi-cientsufficient for me:
LG1867	1878	I see that they understand me, and do not deny me:
LG1867	1879	I see that they are worthy of me—I will be the robust husband of those women.
LG1867	1880	They are not one jot less than I am,
LG1867	1881	They are tann'd in the face by shining suns and blowing winds,
LG1867	1882	Their flesh has the old divine suppleness and strength,
LG1867	1883	They know how to swim, row, ride, wrestle, shoot, run,strike, retreat, advance, resist, defend them-selvesthemselves,
LG1867	1884	They are ultimate in their own right—they are calm,clear, well-possess'd of themselves.
LG1867	1885	I draw you close to me, you women!
LG1867	1886	I cannot let you go, I would do you good,
LG1867	1887	I am for you, and you are for me, not only for our own sake, but for others' sakes;
LG1867	1888	Evelop'd in you sleep greater heroes and bards,
LG1867	1889	They refuse to awake at the touch of any man but me:
LG1867	1890	It is I, you women—I make my way,
LG1867	1891	I am stern, acrid, large, undissuadable—but I love you,
LG1867	1892	I do not hurt you any more than is necessary for you,
LG1867	1893	I pour the stuff to start sons and daughters fit for These States—I press with slow rude muscle,
LG1867	1894	I brace myself effectually—I listen to no entreaties,
LG1867	1895	I dare not withdraw till I deposit what has so long accumulated within me.
LG1867	1896	Through you I drain the pent-up rivers of myself,
LG1867	1897	In you I wrap a thousand onward years,
LG1867	1898	On you I graft the grafts of the best-beloved of me and America,
LG1867	1899	The drops I distil upon you shall grow fierce and ath-leticathletic girls, new artists, musicians, and singers,
LG1867	1900	The babes I beget upon you are to beget babes in their turn,
LG1867	1901	I shall demand perfect men and women out of my love-spendings,
LG1867	1902	I shall expect them to interpenetrate with others, as I and you interpenetrate now,
LG1867	1903	I shall count on the fruits of the gushing showers of them, as I count on the fruits of the gushing showers I give now,
LG1867	1904	I shall look for loving crops from the birth, life, death,immortality, I plant so lovingly now.
LG1867	1905	SPONTANEOUS me, Nature,
LG1867	1906	The loving day, the mounting sun, the friend I am happy with,
LG1867	1907	The arm of my friend hanging idly over my shoulder,
LG1867	1908	The hill-side whiten'd with blossoms of the mountain ash,
LG1867	1909	The same, late in autumn—the hues of red, yellow, drab, purple, and light and dark green,
LG1867	1910	The rich coverlid of the grass—animals and birds— the private untrimm'd bank—the primitive apples—the pebble-stones,
LG1867	1911	Beautiful dripping fragments—the negligent list of one after another, as I happen to call them to me, or think of them,
LG1867	1912	The real poems, (what we call poems being merely pictures,)
LG1867	1913	The poems of the privacy of the night, and of men like me,
LG1867	1914	This poem, drooping shy and unseen, that I always carry, and that all men carry,
LG1867	1915	(Know, once for all, avow'd on purpose, wherever are men like me, are our lusty, lurking, masculine poems;)
LG1867	1916	Love-thoughts, love-juice, love-odor, love-yielding, love-climbers, and the climbing sap,
LG1867	1917	Arms and hands of love—lips of love—phallic thumb of love—breasts of love—bellies press'd and glued together with love,
LG1867	1918	Earth of chaste love—life that is only life after love,
LG1867	1919	The body of my love—the body of the woman I love—the body of the man—the body of the earth,
LG1867	1920	Soft forenoon airs that blow from the south-west,
LG1867	1921	The hairy wild-bee that murmurs and hankers up and down—that gripes the full-grown lady-flower, curves upon her with amorous firm legs, takes his will of her, and holds himself tremulous and tight till he is satisfied,
LG1867	1922	The wet of woods through the early hours,
LG1867	1923	Two sleepers at night lying close together as they sleep, one with an arm slanting down across and below the waist of the other,
LG1867	1924	The smell of apples, aromas from crush'd sage-plant, mint, birch-bark,
LG1867	1925	The boy's longings, the glow and pressure as he con-fidesconfides to me what he was dreaming,
LG1867	1926	The dead leaf whirling its spiral whirl, and falling still and content to the ground,
LG1867	1927	The no-form'd stings that sights, people, objects, sting me with,
LG1867	1928	The hubb'd sting of myself, stinging me as much as it ever can any one,
LG1867	1929	The sensitive, orbic, underlapp'd brothers, that only privileged feelers may be intimate where they are,
LG1867	1930	The curious roamer, the hand, roaming all over the body—the bashful withdrawing of flesh where the fingers soothingly pause and edge them-selvesthemselves,
LG1867	1931	The limpid liquid within the young man,
LG1867	1932	The vexed corrosion, so pensive and so painful,
LG1867	1933	The torment—the irritable tide that will not be at rest,
LG1867	1934	The like of the same I feel—the like of the same in others,
LG1867	1935	The young man that flushes and flushes, and the young woman that flushes and flushes,
LG1867	1936	The young man that wakes, deep at night, the hot hand seeking to repress what would master him;
LG1867	1937	The mystic amorous night—the strange half-welcome pangs, visions, sweats,
LG1867	1938	The pulse pounding through palms and trembling encircling fingers—the young man all color'd, red, ashamed, angry;
LG1867	1939	The souse upon me of my lover the sea, as I lie willing and naked,
LG1867	1940	The merriment of the twin-babes that crawl over the grass in the sun, the mother never turning her vigilant eyes from them,
LG1867	1941	The walnut-trunk, the walnut-husks, and the ripening or ripen'd long-round walnuts;
LG1867	1942	The continence of vegetables, birds, animals,
LG1867	1943	The consequent meanness of me should I skulk or find myself indecent, while birds and animals never once skulk or find themselves indecent;
LG1867	1944	The great chastity of paternity, to match the great chastity of maternity,
LG1867	1945	The oath of procreation I have sworn—my Adamic and fresh daughters,
LG1867	1946	The greed that eats me day and night with hungry gnaw, till I saturate what shall produce boys to fill my place when I am through,
LG1867	1947	The wholesome relief, repose, content;
LG1867	1948	And this bunch, pluck'd at random from myself;
LG1867	1949	It has done its work—I toss it carelessly to fall where it may.
LG1867	1950	ONE hour to madness and joy!
LG1867	1951	O furious! O confine me not!
LG1867	1952	(What is this that frees me so in storms?
LG1867	1953	What do my shouts amid lightnings and raging winds mean?)
LG1867	1954	O to drink the mystic deliria deeper than any other man!
LG1867	1955	O savage and tender achings!
LG1867	1956	(I bequeath them to you, my children,
LG1867	1957	I tell them to you, for reasons, O bridegroom and bride.)
LG1867	1958	O to be yielded to you, whoever you are, and you to be yielded to me, in defiance of the world!
LG1867	1959	O to return to Paradise! O bashful and feminine!
LG1867	1960	O to draw you to me—to plant on you for the first time the lips of a determin'd man!
LG1867	1961	O the puzzle—the thrice-tied knot—the deep and dark pool! O all untied and illumin'd!
LG1867	1962	O to speed where there is space enough and air enough at last!
LG1867	1963	O to be absolv'd from previous ties and conventions— I from mine, and you from yours!
LG1867	1964	O to find a new unthought-of nonchalance with the best of nature!
LG1867	1965	O to have the gag remov'd from one's mouth!
LG1867	1966	O to have the feeling, to-day or any day, I am suffi-cientsufficient as I am!
LG1867	1967	O something unprov'd! something in a trance!
LG1867	1968	O madness amorous! O trembling!
LG1867	1969	O to escape utterly from others' anchors and holds!
LG1867	1970	To drive free! to love free! to dash reckless and dan-gerousdangerous!
LG1867	1971	To court destruction with taunts—with invitations!
LG1867	1972	To ascend—to leap to the heavens of the love indicated to me!
LG1867	1973	To rise thither with my inebriate Soul!
LG1867	1974	To be lost, if it must be so!
LG1867	1975	To feed the remainder of life with one hour of fulness and freedom!
LG1867	1976	With one brief hour of madness and joy.
LG1867	1977	WE two—how long we were fool'd!
LG1867	1978	Now transmuted, we swiftly escape, as Nature escapes;
LG1867	1979	We are Nature—long have we been absent, but now we return;
LG1867	1980	We become plants, leaves, foliage, roots, bark;
LG1867	1981	We are bedded in the ground—we are rocks;
LG1867	1982	We are oaks—we grow in the openings side by side;
LG1867	1983	We browse—we are two among the wild herds, spon-taneousspontaneous as any;
LG1867	1984	We are two fishes swimming in the sea together;
LG1867	1985	We are what the locust blossoms are—we drop scent around the lanes, mornings and evenings;
LG1867	1986	We are also the coarse smut of beasts, vegetables, minerals;
LG1867	1987	We are two predatory hawks—we soar above, and look down;
LG1867	1988	We are two resplendent suns—we it is who balance ourselves, orbic and stellar—we are as two comets;
LG1867	1989	We prowl fang'd and four-footed in the woods—we spring on prey;
LG1867	1990	We are two clouds, forenoons and afternoons, driving overhead;
LG1867	1991	We are seas mingling—we are two of those cheerful waves, rolling over each other, and interwetting each other;
LG1867	1992	We are what the atmosphere is, transparent, receptive, pervious, impervious;
LG1867	1993	We are snow, rain, cold, darkness—we are each pro-ductproduct and influence of the globe;
LG1867	1994	We have circled and circled till we have arrived home again—we two have;
LG1867	1995	We have voided all but freedom, and all but our own joy.
LG1867	1996	NATIVE moments! when you come upon me—Ah you are here now!
LG1867	1997	Give me now libidinous joys only!
LG1867	1998	Give me the drench of my passions! Give me life coarse and rank!
LG1867	1999	To-day, I go consort with nature's darlings—to-night too;
LG1867	2000	I am for those who believe in loose delights—I share the midnight orgies of young men;
LG1867	2001	I dance with the dancers, and drink with the drinkers;
LG1867	2002	The echoes ring with our indecent calls;
LG1867	2003	I take for my love some prostitute—I pick out some low person for my dearest friend,
LG1867	2004	He shall be lawless, rude, illiterate—he shall be one condemn'd by others for deeds done;
LG1867	2005	I will play a part no longer—Why should I exile my-selfmyself from my companions?
LG1867	2006	O you shunn'd persons! I at least do not shun you,
LG1867	2007	I come forthwith in your midst—I will be your poet,
LG1867	2008	I will be more to you than to any of the rest.
LG1867	2009	ONCE I pass'd through a populous city, imprinting my brain, for future use, with its shows, architec-turearchitecture, customs, and traditions;
LG1867	2010	Yet now, of all that city, I remember only a woman I casually met there, who detain'd me for love of me;
LG1867	2011	Day by day and night by night we were together,—All else has long been forgotten by me;
LG1867	2012	I remember, I say, only that woman who passionately clung to me;
LG1867	2013	Again we wander—we love—we separate again;
LG1867	2014	Again she holds me by the hand—I must not go!
LG1867	2015	I see her close beside me, with silent lips, sad and tremulous.
LG1867	2016	FACING west, from California's shores,
LG1867	2017	Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound,
LG1867	2018	I, a child, very old, over waves, towards the house of maternity, the land of migrations, look afar,
LG1867	2019	Look off the shores of my Western Sea—the circle almost circled;
LG1867	2020	For, starting westward from Hindustan, from the vales of Kashmere,
LG1867	2021	From Asia—from the north—from the God, the sage, and the hero,
LG1867	2022	From the south—from the flowery peninsulas, and the spice islands;
LG1867	2023	Long having wander'd since—round the earth having wander'd,
LG1867	2024	Now I face home again—very pleas'd and joyous;
LG1867	2025	(But where is what I started for, so long ago?
LG1867	2026	And why is it yet unfound?)
LG1867	2027	AGES and ages, returning at intervals,
LG1867	2028	Undestroy'd, wandering immortal,
LG1867	2029	Lusty, phallic, with the potent original loins, perfectly sweet,
LG1867	2030	I, chanter of Adamic songs,
LG1867	2031	Through the new garden, the West, the great cities calling,
LG1867	2032	Deliriate, thus prelude what is generated, offering these, offering myself,
LG1867	2033	Bathing myself, bathing my songs in Sex,
LG1867	2034	Offspring of my loins.
LG1867	2035	O HYMEN! O Hymenee!
LG1867	2036	Why do you tantalize me thus?
LG1867	2037	O why sting me for a swift moment only?
LG1867	2038	Why can you not continue? O why do you now cease?
LG1867	2039	Is it because, if you continued beyond the swift mo-mentmoment, you would soon certainly kill me?
LG1867	2040	I AM he that aches with amorous love;
LG1867	2041	Does the earth gravitate? Does not all matter, aching, attract all matter?
LG1867	2042	So the Body of me, to all I meet, or know.
LG1867	2043	AS Adam, early in the morning,
LG1867	2044	Walking forth from the bower, refresh'd with sleep;
LG1867	2045	Behold me where I pass—hear my voice—approach,
LG1867	2046	Touch me—touch the palm of your hand to my Body as I pass;
LG1867	2047	Be not afraid of my Body.
LG1867	2048	WHO has gone farthest? For I swear I will go farther;
LG1867	2049	And who has been just? For I would be the most just person of the earth;
LG1867	2050	And who most cautious? For I would be more cautious;
LG1867	2051	And who has been happiest? O I think it is I! I think no one was ever happier than I;
LG1867	2052	And who has lavish'd all? For I lavish constantly the best I have;
LG1867	2053	And who has been firmest? For I would be firmer;
LG1867	2054	And who proudest? For I think I have reason to be the proudest son alive—for I am the son of the brawny and tall-topt city;
LG1867	2055	And who has been bold and true? For I would be the boldest and truest being of the universe;
LG1867	2056	And who benevolent? For I would show more be-nevolencebenevolence than all the rest;
LG1867	2057	And who has projected beautiful words through the longest time? By God! I will outvie him! I will say such words, they shall stretch through longer time!
LG1867	2058	And who has receiv'd the love of the most friends? For I know what it is to receive the passionate love of many friends;
LG1867	2059	And to whom has been given the sweetest from women, and paid them in kind? For I will take the like sweets and pay them in kind;
LG1867	2060	And who possesses a perfect and enamour'd body? For I do not believe any one possesses a more perfect or enamour'd body than mine;
LG1867	2061	And who thinks the amplest thoughts? For I will surround those thoughts;
LG1867	2062	And who has made hymns fit for the earth? For I am mad with devouring extacy to make joyous hymns for the whole earth!
LG1867	2063	IN paths untrodden,
LG1867	2064	In the growth by margins of pond-waters,
LG1867	2065	Escaped from the life that exhibits itself,
LG1867	2066	From all the standards hitherto publish'd—from the pleasures, profits, conformities,
LG1867	2067	Which too long I was offering to feed my Soul;
LG1867	2068	Clear to me, now, standards not yet publish'd—clear to me that my Soul,
LG1867	2069	That the Soul of the man I speak for, feeds, rejoices in comrades;
LG1867	2070	Here, by myself, away from the clank of the world,
LG1867	2071	Tallying and talk'd to here by tongues aromatic,
LG1867	2072	No longer abash'd—for in this secluded spot I can respond as I would not dare elsewhere,
LG1867	2073	Strong upon me the life that does not exhibit itself, yet contains all the rest,
LG1867	2074	Resolv'd to sing no songs to-day but those of manly attachment,
LG1867	2075	Projecting them along that substantial life,
LG1867	2076	Bequeathing, hence, types of athletic love,
LG1867	2077	Afternoon, this delicious Ninth-month, in my forty-firstforty-first year,
LG1867	2078	I proceed, for all who are, or have been, young men,
LG1867	2079	To tell the secret of my nights and days,
LG1867	2080	To celebrate the need of comrades.
LG1867	2081	SCENTED herbage of my breast,
LG1867	2082	Leaves from you I yield, I write, to be perused best afterwards,
LG1867	2083	Tomb-leaves, growing up above me, above death,
LG1867	2084	Perennial roots, tall leaves—O the winter shall not freeze you, delicate leaves,
LG1867	2085	Every year shall you bloom again—Out from where you retired, you shall emerge again;
LG1867	2086	O I do not know whether many, passing by, will dis-coverdiscover you, or inhale your faint odor—but I believe a few will;
LG1867	2087	O slender leaves! O blossoms of my blood! I permit you to tell, in your own way, of the heart that is under you;
LG1867	2088	O burning and throbbing—surely all will one day be accomplish'd;
LG1867	2089	O I do not know what you mean, there underneath yourselves—you are not happiness,
LG1867	2090	You are often more bitter than I can bear—you burn and sting me,
LG1867	2091	Yet you are very beautiful to me, you faint-tinged roots—you make me think of Death,
LG1867	2092	Death is beautiful from you—(what indeed is beauti-fulbeautiful, except Death and Love?)
LG1867	2093	O I think it is not for life I am chanting here my chant of lovers—I think it must be for Death,
LG1867	2094	For how calm, how solemn it grows, to ascend to the atmosphere of lovers,
LG1867	2095	Death or life I am then indifferent—my Soul declines to prefer,
LG1867	2096	I am not sure but the high Soul of lovers welcomes death most;
LG1867	2097	Indeed, O Death, I think now these leaves mean pre-ciselyprecisely the same as you mean;
LG1867	2098	Grow up taller, sweet leaves, that I may see! grow up out of my breast!
LG1867	2099	Spring away from the conceal'd heart there!
LG1867	2100	Do not fold yourself so in your pink-tinged roots, timid leaves!
LG1867	2101	Do not remain down there so ashamed, herbage of my breast!
LG1867	2102	Come, I am determin'd to unbare this broad breast of mine—I have long enough stifled and choked:
LG1867	2103	Emblematic and capricious blades, I leave you—now you serve me not;
LG1867	2104	Away! I will say what I have to say, by itself,
LG1867	2105	I will escape from the sham that was proposed to me,
LG1867	2106	I will sound myself and comrades only—I will never again utter a call, only their call,
LG1867	2107	I will raise with it, immortal reverberations through The States,
LG1867	2108	I will give an example to lovers, to take permanent shape and will through The States;
LG1867	2109	Through me shall the words be said to make death exhilarating;
LG1867	2110	Give me your tone therefore, O Death, that I may accord with it,
LG1867	2111	Give me yourself—for I see that you belong to me now above all, and are folded inseparably to-gethertogether—you Love and Death are;
LG1867	2112	Nor will I allow you to balk me any more with what I was calling life,
LG1867	2113	For now it is convey'd to me that you are the pur-portspurports essential,
LG1867	2114	That you hide in these shifting forms of life, for reasons —and that they are mainly for you,
LG1867	2115	That you, beyond them, come forth, to remain, the real reality,
LG1867	2116	That behind the mask of materials you patiently wait, no matter how long,
LG1867	2117	That you will one day, perhaps take control of all,
LG1867	2118	That you will perhaps dissipate this entire show of appearance,
LG1867	2119	That may be you are what it is all for—but it does not last so very long,
LG1867	2120	But you will last very long.
LG1867	2121	WHOEVER you are, holding me now in hand,
LG1867	2122	Without one thing, all will be useless,
LG1867	2123	I give you fair warning, before you attempt me further,
LG1867	2124	I am not what you supposed, but far different.
LG1867	2125	Who is he that would become my follower?
LG1867	2126	Who would sign himself a candidate for my affections?
LG1867	2127	The way is suspicious—the result uncertain, perhaps destructive;
LG1867	2128	You would have to give up all else—I alone would ex-pectexpect to be your God, sole and exclusive,
LG1867	2129	Your novitiate would even then be long and exhaust-ingexhausting,
LG1867	2130	The whole past theory of your life, and all conformity to the lives around you, would have to be aban-donedabandoned;
LG1867	2131	Therefore release me now, before troubling yourself any further—Let go your hand from my shoulders,
LG1867	2132	Put me down, and depart on your way.
LG1867	2133	Or else, by stealth, in some wood, for trial,
LG1867	2134	Or back of a rock, in the open air,
LG1867	2135	(For in any roof'd room of a house I emerge not—nor in company,
LG1867	2136	And in libraries I lie as one dumb, a gawk, or unborn,or dead,)
LG1867	2137	But just possibly with you on a high hill—first watch-ingwatching lest any person, for miles around, ap-proachapproach unawares,
LG1867	2138	Or possibly with you sailing at sea, or on the beach of the sea, or some quiet island,
LG1867	2139	Here to put your lips upon mine I permit you,
LG1867	2140	With the comrade's long-dwelling kiss, or the new husband's kiss,
LG1867	2141	For I am the new husband, and I am the comrade.
LG1867	2142	Or, if you will, thrusting me beneath your clothing,
LG1867	2143	Where I may feel the throbs of your heart, or rest upon your hip,
LG1867	2144	Carry me when you go forth over land or sea;
LG1867	2145	For thus, merely touching you, is enough—is best,
LG1867	2146	And thus, touching you, would I silently sleep and be carried eternally.
LG1867	2147	But these leaves conning, you con at peril,
LG1867	2148	For these leaves, and me, you will not understand,
LG1867	2149	They will elude you at first, and still more afterward —I will certainly elude you,
LG1867	2150	Even while you should think you had unquestionably caught me, behold!
LG1867	2151	Already you see I have escaped from you.
LG1867	2152	For it is not for what I have put into it that I have written this book,
LG1867	2153	Nor is it by reading it you will acquire it,
LG1867	2154	Nor do those know me best who admire me, and vauntingly praise me,
LG1867	2155	Nor will the candidates for my love, (unless at most a very few,) prove victorious,
LG1867	2156	Nor will my poems do good only—they will do just as much evil, perhaps more;
LG1867	2157	For all is useless without that which you may guess at many times and not hit—that which I hinted at;
LG1867	2158	Therefore release me, and depart on your way.
LG1867	2159	THESE, I, singing in spring, collect for lovers,
LG1867	2160	(For who but I should understand lovers, and all their sorrow and joy?
LG1867	2161	And who but I should be the poet of comrades?)
LG1867	2162	Collecting, I traverse the garden, the world—but soon I pass the gates,
LG1867	2163	Now along the pond-side—now wading in a little, fearing not the wet,
LG1867	2164	Now by the post-and-rail fences, where the old stones thrown there, pick'd from the fields, have accu-mulatedaccumulated,
LG1867	2165	Wild-flowers and vines and weeds come up through the stones, and partly cover them—Beyond these I pass,
LG1867	2166	Far, far in the forest, before I think where I go,
LG1867	2167	Solitary, smelling the earthy smell, stopping now and then in the silence,
LG1867	2168	Alone I had thought—yet soon a silent troop gathers around me,
LG1867	2169	Some walk by my side, and some behind, and some embrace my arms or neck,
LG1867	2170	They, the spirits of friends, dead or alive—thicker they come, a great crowd, and I in the middle,
LG1867	2171	Collecting, dispensing, singing in spring, there I wan-derwander with them,
LG1867	2172	Plucking something for tokens—tossing toward who-everwhoever is near me;
LG1867	2173	Here! lilac, with a branch of pine,
LG1867	2174	Here out of my pocket, some moss which I pull'd off a live-oak in Florida, as it hung trailing down,
LG1867	2175	Here, some pinks and laurel leaves, and a handful of sage,
LG1867	2176	And here what I now draw from the water, wading in the pond-side,
LG1867	2177	(O here I last saw him that tenderly loves me—and returns again, never to separate from me,
LG1867	2178	And this, O this shall henceforth be the token of com-radescomrades—this Calamus-root shall,
LG1867	2179	Interchange it, youths, with each other! Let none render it back!)
LG1867	2180	And twigs of maple, and a bunch of wild orange, and chestnut,
LG1867	2181	And stems of currants, and plum-blows, and the aro-maticaromatic cedar:
LG1867	2182	These, I, compass'd around by a thick cloud of spirits,
LG1867	2183	Wandering, point to, or touch as I pass, or throw them loosely from me,
LG1867	2184	Indicating to each one what he shall have—giving something to each;
LG1867	2185	But what I drew from the water by the pond-side, that I reserve,
LG1867	2186	I will give of it—but only to them that love, as I my-selfmyself am capable of loving.
LG1867	2187	COME, I will make the continent indissoluble;
LG1867	2188	I will make the most splendid race the sun ever yet shone upon;
LG1867	2189	I will make divine magnetic lands,With the love of comrades,With the life-long love of comrades.
LG1867	2190	I will plant companionship thick as trees along all the rivers of America, and along the shores of the great lakes, and all over the prairies;
LG1867	2191	I will make inseparable cities, with their arms about each other's necks; By the love of comrades,By the manly love of comrades.
LG1867	2192	For you these, from me, O Democracy, to serve you,ma femme!
LG1867	2193	For you! for you, I am trilling these songs,In the love of comrades,In the high-towering love of comrades.
LG1867	2194	NOT heaving from my ribb'd breast only;
LG1867	2195	Not in sighs at night, in rage, dissatisfied with myself;
LG1867	2196	Not in those long-drawn, ill-supprest sighs;
LG1867	2197	Not in many an oath and promise broken;
LG1867	2198	Not in my wilful and savage soul's volition;
LG1867	2199	Not in the subtle nourishment of the air;
LG1867	2200	Not in this beating and pounding at my temples and wrists;
LG1867	2201	Not in the curious systole and diastole within, which will one day cease;
LG1867	2202	Not in many a hungry wish, told to the skies only;
LG1867	2203	Not in cries, laughter, defiances, thrown from me when alone, far in the wilds;
LG1867	2204	Not in husky pantings through clench'd teeth;
LG1867	2205	Not in sounded and resounded words—chattering words, echoes, dead words;
LG1867	2206	Not in the murmurs of my dreams while I sleep,
LG1867	2207	Nor the other murmurs of these incredible dreams of every day;
LG1867	2208	Nor in the limbs and senses of my body, that take you and dismiss you continually—Not there;
LG1867	2209	Not in any or all of them, O adhesiveness! O pulse of my life!
LG1867	2210	Need I that you exist and show yourself, any more than in these songs.
LG1867	2211	OF the terrible doubt of appearances,
LG1867	2212	Of the uncertainty after all—that we may be deluded,
LG1867	2213	That may-be reliance and hope are but speculations after all,
LG1867	2214	That may-be identity beyond the grave is a beautiful fable only,
LG1867	2215	May-be the things I perceive—the animals, plants, men, hills, shining and flowing waters,
LG1867	2216	The skies of day and night—colors, densities, forms— May-be these are, (as doubtless they are,) only apparitions, and the real something has yet to be known;
LG1867	2217	(How often they dart out of themselves, as if to con-foundconfound me and mock me!
LG1867	2218	How often I think neither I know, nor any man knows, aught of them;)
LG1867	2219	May-be seeming to me what they are, (as doubtless they indeed but seem,) as from my present point of view—And might prove, (as of course they would,) naught of what they appear, or naught anyhow, from entirely changed points of view;
LG1867	2220	—To me, these, and the like of these, are curiously answer'd by my lovers, my dear friends;
LG1867	2221	When he whom I love travels with me, or sits a long while holding me by the hand,
LG1867	2222	When the subtle air, the impalpable, the sense that words and reason hold not, surround us and pervade us,
LG1867	2223	Then I am charged with untold and untellable wisdom —I am silent—I require nothing further,
LG1867	2224	I cannot answer the question of appearances, or that of identity beyond the grave;
LG1867	2225	But I walk or sit indifferent—I am satisfied,
LG1867	2226	He ahold of my hand has completely satisfied me.
LG1867	2227	RECORDERS ages hence!
LG1867	2228	Come, I will take you down underneath this impassive exterior—I will tell you what to say of me;
LG1867	2229	Publish my name and hang up my picture as that of the tenderest lover,
LG1867	2230	The friend, the lover's portrait, of whom his friend, his lover, was fondest,
LG1867	2231	Who was not proud of his songs, but of the measure-lessmeasureless ocean of love within him—and freely pour'd it forth,
LG1867	2232	Who often walk'd lonesome walks, thinking of his dear friends, his lovers,
LG1867	2233	Who pensive, away from one he lov'd, often lay sleep-lesssleepless and dissatisfied at night,
LG1867	2234	Who knew too well the sick, sick dread lest the one he lov'd might secretly be indifferent to him,
LG1867	2235	Whose happiest days were far away, through fields, in woods, on hills, he and another, wandering hand in hand, they twain, apart from other men,
LG1867	2236	Who oft as he saunter'd the streets, curved with his arm the shoulder of his friend—while the arm of his friend rested upon him also.
LG1867	2237	WHEN I heard at the close of the day how my name had been receiv'd with plaudits in the capitol, still it was not a happy night for me that fol-lowfollow'd;
LG1867	2238	And else, when I carous'd, or when my plans were accomplish'd, still I was not happy;
LG1867	2239	But the day when I rose at dawn from the bed of perfect health, refresh'd, singing, inhaling the ripe breath of autumn,
LG1867	2240	When I saw the full moon in the west grow pale and disappear in the morning light,
LG1867	2241	When I wander'd alone over the beach, and undress-ingundressing, bathed, laughing with the cool waters, and saw the sun rise,
LG1867	2242	And when I thought how my dear friend, my lover, was on his way coming, O then I was happy;
LG1867	2243	O then each breath tasted sweeter—and all that day my food nourish'd me more—and the beautiful day pass'd well,
LG1867	2244	And the next came with equal joy—and with the next, at evening, came my friend;
LG1867	2245	And that night, while all was still, I heard the waters roll slowly continually up the shores,
LG1867	2246	I heard the hissing rustle of the liquid and sands, as directed to me, whispering, to congratulate me,
LG1867	2247	For the one I love most lay sleeping by me under the same cover in the cool night,
LG1867	2248	In the stillness, in the autumn moonbeams, his face was inclined toward me,
LG1867	2249	And his arm lay lightly around my breast—and that night I was happy.
LG1867	2250	ARE you the new person drawn toward me?
LG1867	2251	To begin with, take warning—I am surely far differ-entdifferent from what you suppose;
LG1867	2252	Do you suppose you will find in me your ideal?
LG1867	2253	Do you think it so easy to have me become your lover?
LG1867	2254	Do you think the friendship of me would be unalloy'd satisfaction?
LG1867	2255	Do you think I am trusty and faithful?
LG1867	2256	Do you see no further than this façade—this smooth and tolerant manner of me?
LG1867	2257	Do you suppose yourself advancing on real ground toward a real heroic man?
LG1867	2258	Have you no thought, O dreamer, that it may be all maya, illusion?
LG1867	2259	ROOTS and leaves themselves alone are these;
LG1867	2260	Scents brought to men and women from the wild woods, and from the pond-side,
LG1867	2261	Breast-sorrel and pinks of love—fingers that wind around tighter than vines,
LG1867	2262	Gushes from the throats of birds, hid in the foliage of trees, as the sun is risen;
LG1867	2263	Breezes of land and love—breezes set from living shores out to you on the living sea—to you, O sailors!
LG1867	2264	Frost-mellow'd berries, and Third-month twigs, offer'd fresh to young persons wandering out in the fields when the winter breaks up,
LG1867	2265	Love-buds, put before you and within you, whoever you are,
LG1867	2266	Buds to be unfolded on the old terms;
LG1867	2267	If you bring the warmth of the sun to them, they will open, and bring form, color, perfume, to you;
LG1867	2268	If you become the aliment and the wet, they will become flowers, fruits, tall branches and trees.
LG1867	2269	NOT heat flames up and consumes,
LG1867	2270	Not sea-waves hurry in and out,
LG1867	2271	Not the air, delicious and dry, the air of the ripe summer, bears lightly along white down-balls of myriads of seeds,
LG1867	2272	Wafted, sailing gracefully, to drop where they may;
LG1867	2273	Not these—O none of these, more than the flames of me, consuming, burning for his love whom I love!
LG1867	2274	O none, more than I, hurrying in and out;
LG1867	2275	Does the tide hurry, seeking something, and never give up? O I the same;
LG1867	2276	O nor down-balls, nor perfumes, nor the high, rain-emittingrain-emitting clouds, are borne through the open air,
LG1867	2277	Any more than my Soul is borne through the open air,
LG1867	2278	Wafted in all directions, O love, for friendship, for you.
LG1867	2279	TRICKLE, drops! my blue veins leaving!
LG1867	2280	O drops of me! trickle, slow drops,
LG1867	2281	Candid, from me falling—drip, bleeding drops,
LG1867	2282	From wounds made to free you whence you were prison'd,
LG1867	2283	From my face—from my forehead and lips,
LG1867	2284	From my breast—from within where I was conceal'd —press forth, red drops—confession drops;
LG1867	2285	Stain every page—stain every song I sing, every word I say, bloody drops;
LG1867	2286	Let them know your scarlet heat—let them glisten;
LG1867	2287	Saturate them with yourself, all ashamed and wet;
LG1867	2288	Glow upon all I have written or shall write, bleeding drops;
LG1867	2289	Let it all be seen in your light, blushing drops.
LG1867	2290	OF him I love day and night, I dream'd I heard he was dead;
LG1867	2291	And I dream'd I went where they had buried him I love —but he was not in that place;
LG1867	2292	And I dream'd I wander'd, searching among burial-placesburial-places, to find him;
LG1867	2293	And I found that every place was a burial-place;
LG1867	2294	The houses full of life were equally full of death, (this house is now;)
LG1867	2295	The streets, the shipping, the places of amusement, the Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, the Manna-hattaManhatta, were as full of the dead as of the living,
LG1867	2296	And fuller, O vastly fuller, of the dead than of the living;
LG1867	2297	—And what I dream'd I will henceforth tell to every person and age,
LG1867	2298	And I stand henceforth bound to what I dream'd;
LG1867	2299	And now I am willing to disregard burial-places, and dispense with them;
LG1867	2300	And if the memorials of the dead were put up indif-ferentlyindifferently everywhere, even in the room where I eat or sleep, I should be satisfied;
LG1867	2301	And if the corpse of any one I love, or if my own corpse, be duly render'd to powder, and pour'd in the sea, I shall be satisfied;
LG1867	2302	Or if it be distributed to the winds, I shall be sat-isfiedsatisfied.
LG1867	2303	CITY of orgies, walks and joys!
LG1867	2304	City whom that I have lived and sung in your midst will one day make you illustrious,
LG1867	2305	Not the pageants of you—not your shifting tableaux, your spectacles, repay me;
LG1867	2306	Not the interminable rows of your houses—nor the ships at the wharves,
LG1867	2307	Nor the processions in the streets, nor the bright win-dowswindows, with goods in them;
LG1867	2308	Nor to converse with learn'd persons, or bear my share in the soiree or feast;
LG1867	2309	Not those—but, as I pass, O Manhattan! your fre-quentfrequent and swift flash of eyes offering me love,
LG1867	2310	Offering response to my own—these repay me;
LG1867	2311	Lovers, continual lovers, only repay me.
LG1867	2312	BEHOLD this swarthy face, this unrefined face—these gray eyes,
LG1867	2313	This beard—the white wool, unclipt upon my neck,
LG1867	2314	My brown hands, and the silent manner of me, with-outwithout charm;
LG1867	2315	Yet comes one, a Manhattanese, and ever at parting, kisses me lightly on the lips with robust love,
LG1867	2316	And I, in the public room, or on the crossing of the street, or on the ship's deck, kiss him in return;
LG1867	2317	We observe that salute of American comrades, land and sea,
LG1867	2318	We are those two natural and nonchalant persons.
LG1867	2319	I SAW in Louisiana a live-oak growing,
LG1867	2320	All alone stood it, and the moss hung down from the branches;
LG1867	2321	Without any companion it grew there, uttering joyous leaves of dark green,
LG1867	2322	And its look, rude, unbending, lusty, made me think of myself;
LG1867	2323	But I wonder'd how it could utter joyous leaves, standing alone there, without its friend, its lover near—for I knew I could not;
LG1867	2324	And I broke off a twig with a certain number of leaves upon it, and twined around it a little moss,
LG1867	2325	And brought it away—and I have placed it in sight in my room;
LG1867	2326	It is not needed to remind me as of my own dear friends,
LG1867	2327	(For I believe lately I think of little else than of them;)
LG1867	2328	Yet it remains to me a curious token—it makes me think of manly love;
LG1867	2329	—For all that, and though the live-oak glistens there in Louisiana, solitary, in a wide flat space,
LG1867	2330	Uttering joyous leaves all its life, without a friend, a lover, near,
LG1867	2331	I know very well I could not.
LG1867	2332	THAT music always round me, unceasing, unbeginning —yet long untaught I did not hear;
LG1867	2333	But now the chorus I hear, and am elated;
LG1867	2334	A tenor, strong, ascending, with power and health, with glad notes of day-break I hear,
LG1867	2335	A soprano, at intervals, sailing buoyantly over the tops of immense waves,
LG1867	2336	A transparent base, shuddering lusciously under and through the universe,
LG1867	2337	The triumphant tutti—the funeral wailings, with sweet flutes and violins—all these I fill myself with;
LG1867	2338	I hear not the volumes of sound merely—I am moved by the exquisite meanings,
LG1867	2339	I listen to the different voices winding in and out, striving, contending with fiery vehemence to excel each other in emotion,
LG1867	2340	I do not think the peformersperformers know themselves—but now I think I begin to know them.
LG1867	2341	PASSING stranger! you do not know how longingly I look upon you,
LG1867	2342	You must be he I was seeking, or she I was seeking, (it comes to me, as of a dream,)
LG1867	2343	I have somewhere surely lived a life of joy with you,
LG1867	2344	All is recall'd as we flit by each other, fluid, affection-ateaffectionate, chaste, matured,
LG1867	2345	You grew up with me, were a boy with me, or a girl with me,
LG1867	2346	I ate with you, and slept with you—your body has become not yours only, nor left my body mine only,
LG1867	2347	You give me the pleasure of your eyes, face, flesh, as we pass—you take of my beard, breast, hands, in return,
LG1867	2348	I am not to speak to you—I am to think of you when I sit alone, or wake at night alone,
LG1867	2349	I am to wait—I do not doubt I am to meet you again,
LG1867	2350	I am to see to it that I do not lose you.
LG1867	2351	THIS moment yearning and thoughtful, sitting alone,
LG1867	2352	It seems to me there are other men in other lands, yearning and thoughtful;
LG1867	2353	It seems to me I can look over and behold them, in Prussia, Italy, France, Spain—or far, far away, in China, or in Russia or India—talking other dialects;
LG1867	2354	And it seems to me if I could know those men, I should become attached to them, as I do to men in my own lands;
LG1867	2355	O I know we should be brethren and lovers,
LG1867	2356	I know I should be happy with them.
LG1867	2357	I HEAR it was charged against me that I sought to destroy institutions;
LG1867	2358	But really I am neither for nor against institutions;
LG1867	2359	(What indeed have I in common with them?—Or what with the destruction of them?)
LG1867	2360	Only I will establish in the Mannahatta, and in every city of These States, inland and seaboard,
LG1867	2361	And in the fields and woods, and above every keel little or large, that dents the water,
LG1867	2362	Without edifices, or rules, or trustees, or any argu-mentargument,
LG1867	2363	The institution of the dear love of comrades.
LG1867	2364	THE prairie-grass dividing—its special odor breathing,
LG1867	2365	I demand of it the spiritual corresponding,
LG1867	2366	Demand the most copious and close companionship of men,
LG1867	2367	Demand the blades to rise of words, acts, beings,
LG1867	2368	Those of the open atmosphere, coarse, sunlit, fresh, nutritious,
LG1867	2369	Those that go their own gait, erect, stepping with freedom and command—leading, not following,
LG1867	2370	Those with a never-quell'd audacity—those with sweet and lusty flesh, clear of taint,
LG1867	2371	Those that look carelessly in the faces of Presidents and Governors, as to say, Who are you?
LG1867	2372	Those of earth-born passion, simple, never constrain'd' never obedient,
LG1867	2373	Those of inland America.
LG1867	2374	WE two boys together clinging,
LG1867	2375	One the other never leaving,
LG1867	2376	Up and down the roads going—North and South excursions making,
LG1867	2377	Power enjoying—elbows stretching—fingers clutch-ingclutching,
LG1867	2378	Armed and fearless—eating, drinking, sleeping, lov-ingloving,
LG1867	2379	No law less than ourselves owning—sailing, soldiering, thieving, threatening,
LG1867	2380	Misers, menials, priests alarming—air breathing, water drinking, on the turf of the sea-beach dancing,
LG1867	2381	Cities wrenching, ease scorning, statutes mocking, feebleness chasing,
LG1867	2382	Fulfilling our foray.
LG1867	2383	O LIVING always—always dying!
LG1867	2384	O the burials of me, past and present!
LG1867	2385	O me, while I stride ahead, material, visible, imperi-ousimperious as ever!
LG1867	2386	O me, what I was for years, now dead, (I lament not —I am content;)
LG1867	2387	O to disengage myself from those corpses of me, which I turn and look at, where I cast them!
LG1867	2388	To pass on, (O living! always living!) and leave the corpses behind!
LG1867	2389	WHEN I peruse the conquer'd fame of heroes, and the victories of mighty generals, I do not envy the generals,
LG1867	2390	Nor the President in his Presidency, nor the rich in his great house;
LG1867	2391	But when I read of the brotherhood of lovers, how it was with them,
LG1867	2392	How through life, through dangers, odium, unchang-ingunchanging, long and long,
LG1867	2393	Through youth, and through middle and old age, how unfaltering, how affectionate and faithful they were,
LG1867	2394	Then I am pensive—I hastily put down the book, and walk away, fill'd with the bitterest envy.
LG1867	2395	A GLIMPSE, through an interstice caught,
LG1867	2396	Of a crowd of workmen and drivers in a bar-room, around the stove, late of a winter night—And I unremark'd, seated in a corner;
LG1867	2397	Of a youth who loves me, and whom I love, silently approaching, and seating himself near, that he may hold me by the hand;
LG1867	2398	A long while, amid the noises of coming and going— of drinking and oath and smutty jest,
LG1867	2399	There we two, content, happy in being together, speaking little, perhaps not a word.
LG1867	2400	A PROMISE to California,
LG1867	2401	Also to the great Pastoral Plains, and for Oregon:
LG1867	2402	Sojourning east a while longer, soon I travel toward you, to remain, to teach robust American love;
LG1867	2403	For I know very well that I and robust love belong among you, inland, and along the Western Sea;
LG1867	2404	For These States tend inland, and toward the Western Sea—and I will also.
LG1867	2405	WHAT ship, puzzled at sea, cons for the true reckon-ingreckoning?
LG1867	2406	Or, coming in, to avoid the bars, and follow the chan-nelchannel, a perfect pilot needs?
LG1867	2407	Here, sailor! Here, ship! take aboard the most perfect pilot,
LG1867	2408	Whom, in a little boat, putting off, and rowing, I, hailing you, offer.
LG1867	2409	HERE the frailest leaves of me, and yet my strongest-lastingstrongest-lasting:
LG1867	2410	Here I shade down and hide my thoughts—I do not expose them,
LG1867	2411	And yet they expose me more than all my other poems.
LG1867	2412	WHAT think you I take my pen in hand to record?
LG1867	2413	The battle-ship, perfect-model'd, majestic, that I saw pass the offing to-day under full sail?
LG1867	2414	The splendors of the past day? Or the splendor of the night that envelops me?
LG1867	2415	Or the vaunted glory and growth of the great city spread around me?—No;
LG1867	2416	But I record of two simple men I saw to-day, on the pier, in the midst of the crowd, parting the part-ingparting of dear friends;
LG1867	2417	The one to remain hung on the other's neck, and pas-sionatelypassionately kiss'd him,
LG1867	2418	While the one to depart, tightly prest the one to remain in his arms.
LG1867	2419	No labor-saving machine,
LG1867	2420	Nor discovery have I made;
LG1867	2421	Nor will I be able to leave behind me any wealthy bequest to found a hospital or library,
LG1867	2422	Nor reminiscence of any deed of courage, for America,
LG1867	2423	Nor literary success, nor intellect—nor book for the book-shelf;
LG1867	2424	Only a few carols, vibrating through the air, I leave,
LG1867	2425	For comrades and lovers.
LG1867	2426	I DREAM'D in a dream, I saw a city invincible to the attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth;
LG1867	2427	I dream'd that was the new City of Friends;
LG1867	2428	Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust love—it led the rest;
LG1867	2429	It was seen every hour in the actions of the men of that city,
LG1867	2430	And in all their looks and words.
LG1867	2431	To the East and to the West;
LG1867	2432	To the man of the Seaside State, and of Pennsylvania,
LG1867	2433	To the Kanadian of the North—to the Southerner I love;
LG1867	2434	These, with perfect trust, to depict you as myself—the germs are in all men;
LG1867	2435	I believe the main purport of These States is to found a superb friendship, exalté, previously unknown,
LG1867	2436	Because I perceive it waits, and has been always wait-ingwaiting, latent in all men.
LG1867	2437	EARTH! my likeness!
LG1867	2438	Though you look so impassive, ample and spheric there,
LG1867	2439	I now suspect that is not all;
LG1867	2440	I now suspect there is something fierce in you, eligible to burst forth;
LG1867	2441	For an athlete is enamour'd of me—and I of him,
LG1867	2442	But toward him there is something fierce and terrible in me, eligible to burst forth,
LG1867	2443	I dare not tell it in words—not even in these songs.
LG1867	2444	A LEAF for hand in hand!
LG1867	2445	You natural persons old and young!
LG1867	2446	You on the Mississippi, and on all the branches and bayous of the Mississippi!
LG1867	2447	You friendly boatmen and mechanics! You roughs!
LG1867	2448	You twain! And all processions moving along the streets!
LG1867	2449	I wish to infuse myself among you till I see it com-moncommon for you to walk hand in hand!
LG1867	2450	FAST-ANCHOR'D, eternal, O love! O woman I love;
LG1867	2451	O bride! O wife! more resistless than I can tell, the thought of you!
LG1867	2452	Then separate, as disembodied, or another born,
LG1867	2453	Ethereal, the last athletic reality, my consolation;
LG1867	2454	I ascend—I float in the regions of your love, O man,
LG1867	2455	O sharer of my roving life.
LG1867	2456	SOMETIMES with one I love, I fill myself with rage, for fear I effuse unreturn'd love;
LG1867	2457	But now I think there is no unreturn'd love—the pay is certain, one way or another;
LG1867	2458	(I loved a certain person ardently, and my love was not return'd;
LG1867	2459	Yet out of that, I have written these songs.)
LG1867	2460	THAT shadow, my likeness, that goes to and fro, seek-ingseeking a livelihood, chattering, chaffering;
LG1867	2461	How often I find myself standing and looking at it where it flits;
LG1867	2462	How often I question and doubt whether that is really me;
LG1867	2463	But in these, and among my lovers, and carolling my songs,
LG1867	2464	O I never doubt whether that is really me.
LG1867	2465	AMONG the men and women, the multitude,
LG1867	2466	I perceive one picking me out by secret and divine signs,
LG1867	2467	Acknowledging none else—not parent, wife, husband,brother, child, any nearer than I am;
LG1867	2468	Some are baffled—But that one is not—that one knows me.
LG1867	2469	Ah, lover and perfect equal!
LG1867	2470	I meant that you should discover me so, by my faint indirections;
LG1867	2471	And I, when I meet you, mean to discover you by the like in you.
LG1867	2472	O BOY of the West!
LG1867	2473	To you many things to absorb, I teach, to help you become eleve of mine:
LG1867	2474	Yet if blood like mine circle not in your veins;
LG1867	2475	If you be not silently selected by lovers, and do not silently select lovers,
LG1867	2476	Of what use is it that you seek to become eleve of mine?
LG1867	2477	O YOU whom I often and silently come where you are, that I may be with you;
LG1867	2478	As I walk by your side, or sit near, or remain in the same room with you,
LG1867	2479	Little you know the subtle electric fire that for your sake is playing within me.
LG1867	2480	FULL of life, now, compact, visible,
LG1867	2481	I, forty years old the Eighty-third Year of The States,
LG1867	2482	To one a century hence, or any number of centuries hence,
LG1867	2483	To you, yet unborn, these seeking you.
LG1867	2484	When you read these, I, that was visible, am become invisible;
LG1867	2485	Now it is you, compact, visible, realizing my poems,seeking me;
LG1867	2486	Fancying how happy you were, if I could be with you,and become your loving comrade;
LG1867	2487	Be it as if I were with you. Be not too certain but I am now with you.
LG1867	2488	O TAKE my hand, Walt Whitman!
LG1867	2489	Such gliding wonders! such sights and sounds!
LG1867	2490	Such join'd unended links, each hook'd to the next!
LG1867	2491	Each answering all—each sharing the earth with all.
LG1867	2492	What widens within you, Walt Whitman?
LG1867	2493	What waves and soils exuding?
LG1867	2494	What climes? what persons and lands are here?
LG1867	2495	Who are the infants? some playing, some slumbering?
LG1867	2496	Who are the girls? who are the married women?
LG1867	2497	Who are the three old men going slowly with their arms about each others' necks?
LG1867	2498	What rivers are these? what forests and fruits are these?
LG1867	2499	What are the mountains call'd that rise so high in the mists?
LG1867	2500	What myriads of dwellings are they, fill'd with dewellersdwellers?
LG1867	2501	Within me latitude widens, longitude lengthens;
LG1867	2502	Asia, Africa, Europe, are to the east—America is pro-videdprovided for in the west;
LG1867	2503	Banding the bulge of the earth winds the hot equator,
LG1867	2504	Curiously north and south turn the axis-ends;
LG1867	2505	Within me is the longest day—the sun wheels in slant-ingslanting rings—it does not set for months?
LG1867	2506	Stretch'd in due time within me the midnight sun just rises above the horizon, and sinks again;
LG1867	2507	Within me zones, seas, cataracts, plants, volcanoes,groups,
LG1867	2508	Malaysia, Polynesia, and the great West Indian islands.
LG1867	2509	What do you hear, Walt Whitman?
LG1867	2510	I hear the workman singing, and the farmer's wife singing;
LG1867	2511	I hear in the distance the sounds of children, and of animals early in the day;
LG1867	2512	I hear quick rifle-cracks from the riflemen of East Tennessee and Kentucky, hunting on hills;
LG1867	2513	I hear emulous shouts of Australians, pursuing the wild horse;
LG1867	2514	I hear the Spanish dance, with castanets, in the chest-nutchestnut shade, to the rebeck and guitar;
LG1867	2515	I hear continual echoes from the Thames;
LG1867	2516	I hear fierce French liberty songs;
LG1867	2517	I hear of the Italian boat-sculler the musical recita-tiverecitative of old poems;
LG1867	2518	I hear the Virginia plantation chorus of negroes, of a harvest night, in the glare of pine knots;
LG1867	2519	I hear the strong baritone of the 'long-shore-men of Mannahatta;
LG1867	2520	I hear the stevedores unlading the cargoes, and sing-ingsinging;
LG1867	2521	I hear the screams of the water-fowl of solitary north-westnorthwest lakes;
LG1867	2522	I hear the rustling pattering of locusts, as they strike the grain and grass with the showers of their terrible clouds;
LG1867	2523	I hear the Coptic refrain, toward sundown, pensively falling on the breast of the black venerable vast mother, the Nile;
LG1867	2524	I hear the bugles of raft-tenders on the streams of Kanada;
LG1867	2525	I hear the chirp of the Mexican muleteer, and the bells of the mule;
LG1867	2526	I hear the Arab muezzin, calling from the top of the mosque;
LG1867	2527	I hear the Christian priests at the altars of their churches—I hear the responsive base and soprano;
LG1867	2528	I hear the wail of utter despair of the white-hair'd Irish grand-parents, when they learn the death of their grandson;
LG1867	2529	I hear the cry of the Cossack, and the sailor's voice,putting to sea at Okotsk;
LG1867	2530	I hear the wheeze of the slave-coffle, as the slaves march on—as the husky gangs pass on by twos and threes, fasten'd together with wrist-chains and ankle-chains;
LG1867	2531	I hear the entreaties of women tied up for punishment —I hear the sibilant whisk of thongs through the air;
LG1867	2532	I hear the Hebrew reading his records and psalms;
LG1867	2533	I hear the rhythmic myths of the Greeks, and the strong legends of the Romans;
LG1867	2534	I hear the tale of the divine life and bloody death of the beautiful God, the Christ;
LG1867	2535	I hear the Hindoo teaching his favorite pupil the loves, wars, adages, transmitted safely to this day from poets who wrote three thousand years ago.
LG1867	2536	What do you see, Walt Whitman?
LG1867	2537	Who are they you salute, and that one after another salute you?
LG1867	2538	I see a great round wonder rolling through the air;
LG1867	2539	I see diminute farms, hamlets, ruins, grave-yards,jails, factories, palaces, hovels, huts of barba-riansbarbarians, tents of nomads, upon the surface;
LG1867	2540	I see the shaded part on one side, where the sleepers are sleeping—and the sun-lit part on the other side,
LG1867	2541	I see the curious silent change of the light and shade,
LG1867	2542	I see distant lands, as real and near to the inhabitants of them, as my land is to me,
LG1867	2543	I see plenteous waters;
LG1867	2544	I see mountain peaks—I see the sierras of Andes and Alleghanies, where they range;
LG1867	2545	I see plainly the Himalayas, Chian Shahs, Altays,Ghauts;
LG1867	2546	I see the Rocky Mountains, and the Peak of Winds;
LG1867	2547	I see the Styrian Alps, and the Karnac Alps;
LG1867	2548	I see the Pyrenees, Balks, Carpathians—and to the north the Dofrafields, and off at sea Mount Hecla;
LG1867	2549	I see Vesuvius and Etna—I see the Anahuacs;
LG1867	2550	I see the Mountains of the Moon, and the Snow Mountains, and the Red Mountains of Mada-gascarMadagascar;
LG1867	2551	I see the Vermont hills, and the long string of Cor-dillerasCordilleras;
LG1867	2552	I see the vast deserts of Western America;
LG1867	2553	I see the Lybian, Arabian, and Asiatic deserts;
LG1867	2554	I see huge dreadful Arctic and Antartic icebergs;
LG1867	2555	I see the superior oceans and the inferior ones—the Atlantic and Pacific, the sea of Mexico, the Brazilian sea, and the sea of Peru,
LG1867	2556	The Japan waters, those of Hindostan, the China Sea,and the Gulf of Guinea,
LG1867	2557	The spread of the Baltic, Caspian, Bothnia, the British shores, and the Bay of Biscay,
LG1867	2558	The clear-sunn'd Mediterranean, and from one to an-otheranother of its islands,
LG1867	2559	The inland fresh-tasted seas of North America,
LG1867	2560	The White Sea, and the sea around Greenland.
LG1867	2561	I behold the mariners of the world;
LG1867	2562	Some are in storms—some in the night, with the watch on the lookout;
LG1867	2563	Some drifting helplessly—some with contagious dis-easesdiseases.
LG1867	2564	I behold the sail and steamships of the world, some in clusters in port, some on their voyages;
LG1867	2565	Some double the Cape of Storms—some Cape Verde,—others Cape Guardafui, Bon, or Bajadore;
LG1867	2566	Others Dondra Head—others pass the Straits of Sun-daSunda—others Cape Lopatka—others Behring's Straits;
LG1867	2567	Others Cape Horn—others the Gulf of Mexico, or along Cuba or Hayti—others Hudson's Bay or Baffin's Bay;
LG1867	2568	Others pass the Straits of Dover—others enter the Wash—others the Firth of Solway—others round Cape Clear—others the Land's End;
LG1867	2569	Others traverse the Zuyder Zee, or the Scheld;
LG1867	2570	Others add to the exits and entrances at Sandy Hook;
LG1867	2571	Others to the comers and goers at Gibraltar, or the Dardanelles;
LG1867	2572	Others sternly push their way through the northern winter-packs;
LG1867	2573	Others descend or ascend the Obi or the Lena:
LG1867	2574	Others the Niger or the Congo—others the Indus, the Burampooter and Cambodia;
LG1867	2575	Others wait at the wharves of Manhattan, steam'd up,ready to start;
LG1867	2576	Wait, swift and swarthy, in the ports of Australia;
LG1867	2577	Wait at Liverpool, Glasgow, Dublin, Marseilles, Lis-bonLisbon, Naples, Hamburg, Bremen, Bordeaux, the Hague, Copenhagen;
LG1867	2578	Wait at Valparaiso, Rio Janeiro, Panama;
LG1867	2579	Wait at their moorings at Boston, Philadelphia, Balti-moreBaltimore, Charleston, New Orleans, Galveston, San Francisco.
LG1867	2580	I see the tracks of the rail-roads of the earth;
LG1867	2581	I see them welding State to State, city to city, through North America;
LG1867	2582	I see them in Great Britain, I see them in Europe;
LG1867	2583	I see them in Asia and in Africa.
LG1867	2584	I see the electric telegraphs of the earth;
LG1867	2585	I see the filaments of the news of the wars, deaths,losses, gains, passions, of my race.
LG1867	2586	I see the long river-stripes of the earth;
LG1867	2587	I see where the Mississippi flows—I see where the Columbia flows;
LG1867	2588	I see the Great River, and the Falls of Niagara;
LG1867	2589	I see the Amazon and the Paraguay;
LG1867	2590	I see the four great rivers of China, the Amour, the Yellow River, the Yiang-tse, and the Pearl;
LG1867	2591	I see where the Seine flows, and where the Loire, the Rhone, and the Guadalquiver flow;
LG1867	2592	I see the windings of the Volga, the Dnieper, the Oder;
LG1867	2593	I see the Tuscan going down the Arno, and the Vene-tianVenetian along the Po;
LG1867	2594	I see the Greek seaman sailing out of Egina bay.
LG1867	2595	I see the site of the old empire of Assyria, and that of Persia, and that of India;
LG1867	2596	I see the falling of the Ganges over the high rim of Saukara.
LG1867	2597	I see the place of the idea of the Deity incarnated by avatars in human forms;
LG1867	2598	I see the spots of the successions of priests on the earth —oracles, sacrificers, brahmins, sabians, lamas,monks, muftis, exhorters;
LG1867	2599	I see where druids walked the groves of Mona—I see the mistletoe and vervain;
LG1867	2600	I see the temples of the deaths of the bodies of Gods —I see the old signifiers.
LG1867	2601	I see Christ once more eating the bread of his last supper, in the midst of youths and old persons;
LG1867	2602	I see where the strong divine young man, the Hercu-lesHercules, toil'd faithfully and long, and then died;
LG1867	2603	I see the place of the innocent rich life and hapless fate of the beautiful nocturnal son, the full-limbfull-limb'd Bacchus;
LG1867	2604	I see Kneph, blooming, drest in blue, with the crown of feathers on his head;
LG1867	2605	I see Hermes, unsuspected, dying, well-beloved, saying to the people, Do not weep for me,
LG1867	2606	This is not my true country, I have lived banish'd from my true country—I now go back there,
LG1867	2607	I return to the celestial sphere, where every one goes in his turn.
LG1867	2608	I see the battle-fields of the earth—grass grows up-onupon them, and blossoms and corn;
LG1867	2609	I see the tracks of ancient and modern expeditions.
LG1867	2610	I see the nameless masonries, venerable messages of the unknown events, heroes, records of the earth.
LG1867	2611	I see the places of the sagas;
LG1867	2612	I see pine-trees and fir-trees torn by northern blasts;
LG1867	2613	I see granite boulders and cliffs—I see green meadows and lakes;
LG1867	2614	I see the burial-cairns of Scandinavian warriors;
LG1867	2615	I see them raised high with stones, by the marge of restless oceans, that the dead men's spirits,when they wearied of their quiet graves, might rise up through the mounds, and gaze on the tossing billows, and be refresh'd by storms, im-mensityimmensity, liberty, action.
LG1867	2616	I see the steppes of Asia;
LG1867	2617	I see the tumuli of Mongolia—I see the tents of Kal-mucksKalmucks and Baskirs;
LG1867	2618	I see the nomadic tribes, with herds of oxen and cows;
LG1867	2619	I see the table-lands notch'd with ravines—I see the jungles and deserts;
LG1867	2620	I see the camel, the wild steed, the bustard, the fat-tailfat-tailed sheep, the antelope, and the burrowing wolf.
LG1867	2621	I see the high-lands of Abyssinia;
LG1867	2622	I see flocks of goats feeding, and see the fig-tree,tamarind, date,
LG1867	2623	And see fields of teff-wheat, and see the places of verdure and gold.
LG1867	2624	I see the Brazilian vaquero;
LG1867	2625	I see the Bolivian ascending Mount Sorata;
LG1867	2626	I see the Wacho crossing the plains—I see the incom-parableincomparable rider of horses with his lasso on his arm;
LG1867	2627	I see over the pampas the pursuit of wild cattle for their hides.
LG1867	2628	I see little and large sea-dots, some inhabited, some uninhabited;
LG1867	2629	I see two boats with nets, lying off the shore of Pau-manokPaumanok, quite still;
LG1867	2630	I see ten fishermen waiting—they discover now a thick school of mossbonkers—they drop the join'd sein-ends in the water,
LG1867	2631	The boats separate—they diverge and row off, each on its rounding course to the beach, enclosing the mossbonkers;
LG1867	2632	The net is drawn in by a windlass by those who stop ashore,
LG1867	2633	Some of the fishermen lounge in their boats—others stand negligently ankle-deep in the water,poised on strong legs;
LG1867	2634	The boats are partly drawn up—the water slaps against them;
LG1867	2635	On the sand, in heaps and winrows, well out from the water, lie the green-back'd spotted mossbonkers.
LG1867	2636	I see the despondent red man in the west, lingering about the banks of Moingo, and about Lake Pepin;
LG1867	2637	He has heard the quail and beheld the honey-bee, and sadly prepared to depart.
LG1867	2638	I see the regions of snow and ice;
LG1867	2639	I see the sharp-eyed Samoiede and the Finn;
LG1867	2640	I see the seal-seeker in his boat, poising his lance;
LG1867	2641	I see the Siberian on his slight-built sledge, drawn by dogs;
LG1867	2642	I see the porpoise-hunters—I see the whale-crews of the South Pacific and the North Atlantic;
LG1867	2643	I see the cliffs, glaciers, torrents, valleys, of Switzer-landSwitzerland—I mark the long winters, and the iso-lationisolation.
LG1867	2644	I see the cities of the earth, and make myself at random a part of them;
LG1867	2645	I am a real Parisian;
LG1867	2646	I am a habitan of Vienna, St. Petersburg, Berlin, Con-stantinopleConstantinople;
LG1867	2647	I am of Adelaide, Sidney, Melbourne;
LG1867	2648	I am of London, Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh,Limerick;
LG1867	2649	I am of Madrid, Cadiz, Barcelona, Oporto, Lyons,Brussels, Berne, Frankfort, Stuttgart, Turin,Florence;
LG1867	2650	I belong in Moscow, Cracow, Warsaw—or northward in Christiania or Stockholm—or in Siberian Irkutsk—or in some street in Iceland;
LG1867	2651	I descend upon all those cities, and rise from them again.
LG1867	2652	I see vapors exhaling from unexplored countries;
LG1867	2653	I see the savage types, the bow and arrow, the pois-onpoison'd splint, the fetish, and the obi.
LG1867	2654	I see African and Asiatic towns;
LG1867	2655	I see Algiers, Tripoli, Derne, Mogadore, Timbuctoo,Monrovia;
LG1867	2656	I see the swarms of Pekin, Canton, Benares, Delhi,Calcutta, Yedo;
LG1867	2657	I see the Kruman in his hut, and the Dahoman and Ashantee-man in their huts;
LG1867	2658	I see the Turk smoking opium in Aleppo;
LG1867	2659	I see the picturesque crowds at the fairs of Khiva, and those of Herat;
LG1867	2660	I see Teheran—I see Muscat and Medina, and the intervening sands—I see the caravans toiling onward;
LG1867	2661	I see Egypt and the Egyptians—I see the pyramids and obelisks;
LG1867	2662	I look on chisel'd histories, songs, philosophies, cut in slabs of sand-stone, or on granite blocks;
LG1867	2663	I see at Memphis mummy-pits, containing mummies.embalm'd, swathed in linen cloth, lying there many centuries;
LG1867	2664	I look on the fall'n Theban, the large-ball'd eyes, the side-drooping neck, the hands folded across the breast.
LG1867	2665	I see the menials of the earth, laboring;
LG1867	2666	I see the prisoners in the prisons;
LG1867	2667	I see the defective human bodies of the earth;
LG1867	2668	I see the blind, the deaf and dumb, idiots, hunch-backshunchbacks, lunatics;
LG1867	2669	I see the pirates, thieves, betrayers, murderers, slave-makersslave-makers of the earth;
LG1867	2670	I see the helpless infants, and the helpless old men and women.
LG1867	2671	I see male and female everywhere;
LG1867	2672	I see the serene brotherhood of philosophs;
LG1867	2673	I see the constructiveness of my race;
LG1867	2674	I see the results of the perseverance and industry of my race;
LG1867	2675	I see ranks, colors, barbarisms, civilizations—I go among them—I mix indiscriminately,
LG1867	2676	And I salute all the inhabitants of the earth.
LG1867	2677	You, where you are!
LG1867	2678	You daughter or son of England!
LG1867	2679	You of the mighty Slavic tribes and empires! you Russ in Russia!
LG1867	2680	You dim-descended, black, divine-soul'd African, large,fine-headed, nobly-form'd, superbly destin'd, on equal terms with me!
LG1867	2681	You Norwegian! Swede! Dane! Icelander! you Prussian!
LG1867	2682	You Spaniard of Spain! you Portuguese!
LG1867	2683	You Frenchwoman and Frenchman of France!
LG1867	2684	You Belge! you liberty-lover of the Netherlands!
LG1867	2685	You sturdy Austrian! you Lombard! Hun! Bohe-mianBohemian! farmer of Styria!
LG1867	2686	You neighbor of the Danube!
LG1867	2687	You working-man of the Rhine, the Elbe, or the Weser! you working-woman too!
LG1867	2688	You Sardinian! you Bavarian! Swabian! Saxon!Wallachian! Bulgarian!
LG1867	2689	You citizen of Prague! Roman! Neapolitan! Greek!
LG1867	2690	You lithe matador in the arena at Seville!
LG1867	2691	You mountaineer living lawlessly on the Taurus or Caucasus!
LG1867	2692	You Bokh horse-herd, watching your mares and stal-lionsstallions feeding!
LG1867	2693	You beautiful-bodied Persian, at full speed in the sad-dlesaddle, shooting arrows to the mark!
LG1867	2694	You Chinaman and Chinawoman of China! you Tar-tarTartar of Tartary!
LG1867	2695	You women of the earth subordinated at your tasks!
LG1867	2696	You Jew journeying in your old age through every risk, to stand once on Syrian ground!
LG1867	2697	You other Jews waiting in all lands for your Messiah!
LG1867	2698	You thoughtful Armenian, pondering by some stream of the Euphrates! you peering amid the ruins of Nineveh! you ascending Mount Ararat!
LG1867	2699	You foot-worn pilgrim welcoming the far-away sparkle of the minarets of Mecca!
LG1867	2700	You sheiks along the stretch from Suez to Babelman-debBabelmandeb, ruling your families and tribes!
LG1867	2701	You olive-grower tending your fruit on fields of Naz-arethNazareth, Damascus, or Lake Tiberias!
LG1867	2702	You Thibet trader on the wide inland, or bargaining in the shops of Lassa!
LG1867	2703	You Japanese man or woman! you liver in Madagas-carMadagascar, Ceylon, Sumatra, Borneo!
LG1867	2704	All you continentals of Asia, Africa, Europe, Austra-liaAustralia, indifferent of place!
LG1867	2705	All you on the numberless islands of the archipela-goesarchipelagoes of the sea!
LG1867	2706	And you of centuries hence, when you listen to me!
LG1867	2707	And you, each and everywhere, whom I specify not,but include just the same!
LG1867	2708	Health to you! Good will to you all—from me and America sent.
LG1867	2709	Each of us inevitable;
LG1867	2710	Each of us limitless—each of us with his or her right upon the earth;
LG1867	2711	Each of us allow'd the eternal purports of the earth;
LG1867	2712	Each of us here as divinely as any is here.
LG1867	2713	You Hottentot with clicking palate! You wolly-hairwolly-hair'd hordes!
LG1867	2714	You own'd persons, dropping sweat-drops or blood-dropsblood-drops!
LG1867	2715	You human forms with the fathomless ever-impressive countenances of brutes!
LG1867	2716	I dare not refuse you—the scope of the world, and of time and space, are upon me.
LG1867	2717	You poor koboo whom the meanest of the rest look down upon, for all your glimmering language and spirituality!
LG1867	2718	You low expiring aborigines of the hills of Utah,Oregon, California!
LG1867	2719	You dwarf'd Kamtschatkan, Greenlander, Lapp!
LG1867	2720	You Austral negro, naked, red, sooty, with protrusive lip, grovelling, seeking your food!
LG1867	2721	You Caffre, Berber, Soudanese!
LG1867	2722	You haggard, uncouth, untutor'd Bedowee!
LG1867	2723	You plague-swarms in Madras, Nankin, Kaubul, Cairo!
LG1867	2724	You bather bathing in the Ganges!
LG1867	2725	You benighted roamer of Amazonia! you Patagonian!you Fejee-man!
LG1867	2726	You peon of Mexico! you slave of Carolina, Texas,Tennessee!
LG1867	2727	I do not prefer others so very much before you either;
LG1867	2728	I do not say one word against you, away back there,where you stand;
LG1867	2729	(You will come forward in due time to my side.)
LG1867	2730	My spirit has pass'd in compassion and determina-tiondetermination around the whole earth;
LG1867	2731	I have look'd for equals and lovers, and found them ready for me in all lands;
LG1867	2732	I think some divine rapport has equalized me with them.
LG1867	2733	O vapors! I think I have risen with you, and moved away to distant continents, and fallen down there,for reasons;
LG1867	2734	I think I have blown with you, O winds;
LG1867	2735	O waters, I have finger'd every shore with you.
LG1867	2736	I have run through what any river or strait of the globe has run through;
LG1867	2737	I have taken my stand on the bases of peninsulas, and on the highest embedded rocks, to cry thence.
LG1867	2738	Salut au Monde!
LG1867	2739	What cities the light or warmth penetrates, I pen-etratepenetrate those cities myself;
LG1867	2740	All islands to which birds wing their way, I wing my way myself.
LG1867	2741	Toward all,
LG1867	2742	I raise high the perpendicular hand—I make the signal,
LG1867	2743	To remain after me in sight forever,
LG1867	2744	For all the haunts and homes of men.
LG1867	2745	WHAT place is besieged, and vainly tries to raise the siege?
LG1867	2746	Lo! I send to that place a commander, swift, brave, immortal;
LG1867	2747	And with him horse and foot—and parks of artillery,
LG1867	2748	And artillerymen, the deadliest that ever fired gun.
LG1867	2749	THERE was a child went forth every day;
LG1867	2750	And the first object he look'd upon, that object he be-camebecame;
LG1867	2751	And that object became part of him for the day, or a certain part of the day, or for many years, or stretching cycles of years.
LG1867	2752	The early lilacs became part of this child,
LG1867	2753	And grass, and white and red morning-glories, and white and red clover, and the song of the phoebe-birdphoebe-bird,
LG1867	2754	And the Third-month lambs, and the sow's pink-faint litter, and the mare's foal, and the cow's calf,
LG1867	2755	And the noisy brood of the barn-yard, or by the mire of the pond-side,
LG1867	2756	And the fish suspending themselves so curiously below there—and the beautiful curious liquid,
LG1867	2757	And the water-plants with their graceful flat heads— all became part of him.
LG1867	2758	The field-sprouts of Fourth-month and Fifth-month became part of him;
LG1867	2759	Winter-grain sprouts, and those of the light-yellow corn, and the esculent roots of the garden,
LG1867	2760	And the apple-trees cover'd with blossoms, and the fruit afterward, and wood-berries, and the com-monestcommonest weeds by the road;
LG1867	2761	And the old drunkard staggering home from the out-houseouthouse of the tavern, whence he had lately risen,
LG1867	2762	And the school-mistress that pass'd on her way to the school,
LG1867	2763	And the friendly boys that pass'd—and the quarrel-somequarrelsome boys,
LG1867	2764	And the tidy and fresh-cheek'd girls—and the bare-footbarefoot negro boy and girl,
LG1867	2765	And all the changes of city and country, wherever he went.
LG1867	2766	His own parents;
LG1867	2767	He that had father'd him, and she that had conceiv'd him in her womb, and birth'd him,
LG1867	2768	They gave this child more of themselves than that;
LG1867	2769	They gave him afterward every day—they became part of him.
LG1867	2770	The mother at home, quietly placing the dishes on the supper-table;
LG1867	2771	The mother with mild words—clean her cap and gown.a wholesome odor falling off her person and clothes as she walks by;
LG1867	2772	The father, strong, self-sufficient, manly, mean, anger'd.unjust;
LG1867	2773	The blow, the quick loud word, the tight bargain, the crafty lure,
LG1867	2774	The family usages, the language, the company, the fur-niturefurniture—the yearning and swelling heart,
LG1867	2775	Affection that will not be gainsay'd—the sense of what is real—the thought if, after all, it should prove unreal,
LG1867	2776	The doubts of day-time and the doubts of night-time —the curious whether and how,
LG1867	2777	Whether that which appears so is so, or is it all flashes and specks?
LG1867	2778	Men and women crowding fast in the streets—if they are not flashes and specks, what are they?
LG1867	2779	The streets themselves, and the façades of houses, and goods in the windows,
LG1867	2780	Vehicles, teams, the heavy-plank'd wharves—the huge crossing at the ferries,
LG1867	2781	The village on the highland, seen from afar at sun-setsunset—the river between,
LG1867	2782	Shadows, aureola and mist, light falling on roofs and gables of white or brown, three miles off,
LG1867	2783	The schooner near by, sleepily dropping down the tide—the little boat slack-tow'd astern,
LG1867	2784	The hurrying tumbling waves, quick-broken crests,slapping,
LG1867	2785	The strata of color'd clouds, the long bar of maroon-tintmaroon-tint, away solitary by itself—the spread of pur-itypurity it lies motionless in,
LG1867	2786	The horizon's edge, the flying sea-crow, the fragrance of salt-marsh and shore-mud;
LG1867	2787	These became part of that child who went forth every day, and who now goes, and will always go forth every day.
LG1867	2788	MYSELF and mine gymnastic ever,
LG1867	2789	To stand the cold or heat—to take good aim with a gun—to sail a boat—to manage horses—to be-getbeget superb children,
LG1867	2790	To speak readily and clearly—to feel at home among common people,
LG1867	2791	And to hold our own in terrible positions, on land and sea.
LG1867	2792	Not for an embroiderer;
LG1867	2793	(There will always be plenty of embroiderers—I wel-comewelcome them also;)
LG1867	2794	But for the fibre of things, and for inherent men and women.
LG1867	2795	Not to chisel ornaments,
LG1867	2796	But to chisel with free stroke the heads and limbs of plenteous Supreme Gods, that The States may realize them, walking and talking.
LG1867	2797	Let me have my own way;
LG1867	2798	Let others promulge the laws—I will make no account of the laws;
LG1867	2799	Let others praise eminent men and hold up peace— I hold up agitation and conflict;
LG1867	2800	I praise no eminent man—I rebuke to his face the one that was thought most worthy.
LG1867	2801	(Who are you? you mean devil! And what are you secretly guilty of, all your life?
LG1867	2802	Will you turn aside all your life? Will you grub and chatter all your life?)
LG1867	2803	(And who are you—blabbing by rote, years, pages,languages, reminiscences,
LG1867	2804	Unwitting to-day that you do not know how to speak a single word?)
LG1867	2805	Let others finish specimens—I never finish speci-mensspecimens;
LG1867	2806	I shower them by exhaustless laws, as nature does,fresh and modern continually.
LG1867	2807	I give nothing as duties;
LG1867	2808	What others give as duties, I give as living impulses;
LG1867	2809	(Shall I give the heart's action as a duty?)
LG1867	2810	Let others dispose of questions—I dispose of noth-ingnothing—I arouse unanswerable questions;
LG1867	2811	Who are they I see and touch, and what about them?
LG1867	2812	What about these likes of myself, that draw me so close by tender directions and indirections?
LG1867	2813	I call to the world to distrust the accounts of my friends, but listen to my enemies—as I myself do;
LG1867	2814	I charge you, too, forever, reject those who would ex-poundexpound me—for I cannot expound myself;
LG1867	2815	I charge that there be no theory or school founded out of me;
LG1867	2816	I charge you to leave all free, as I have left all free.
LG1867	2817	After me, vista!
LG1867	2818	O, I see life is not short, but immeasurably long;
LG1867	2819	I henceforth tread the world, chaste, temperate, an early riser, a steady grower,
LG1867	2820	Every hour the semen of centuries—and still of cen-turiescenturies.
LG1867	2821	I will follow up these continual lessons of the air,water, earth;
LG1867	2822	I perceive I have no time to lose.
LG1867	2823	WHO learns my lesson complete?
LG1867	2824	Boss, journeyman, apprentice—churchman and athe-istatheist,
LG1867	2825	The stupid and the wise thinker—parents and off-springoffspring—merchant, clerk, porter, and customer,
LG1867	2826	Editor, author, artist, and schoolboy—Draw nigh and commence;
LG1867	2827	It is no lesson—it lets down the bars to a good lesson,
LG1867	2828	And that to another, and every one to another still.
LG1867	2829	The great laws take and effuse without argument;
LG1867	2830	I am of the same style, for I am their friend,
LG1867	2831	I love them quits and quits—I do not halt and make salaams.
LG1867	2832	I lie abstracted, and hear beautiful tales of things,and the reasons of things
LG1867	2833	They are so beautiful, I nudge myself to listen.
LG1867	2834	I cannot say to any person what I hear—I cannot say it to myself—it is very wonderful.
LG1867	2835	It is no small matter, this round and delicious globe.moving so exactly in its orbit forever and ever,without one jolt, or the untruth of a single second;
LG1867	2836	I do not think it was made in six days, nor in ten thousand years, nor ten billions of years,
LG1867	2837	Nor plann'd and built one thing after another, as an architect plans and builds a house.
LG1867	2838	I do not think seventy years is the time of a man or woman,
LG1867	2839	Nor that seventy millions of years is the time of a man or woman,
LG1867	2840	Nor that years will ever stop the existence of me, or any one else.
LG1867	2841	Is it wonderful that I should be immortal? as every one is immortal;
LG1867	2842	I know it is wonderful—but my eye-sight is equally wonderful, and how I was conceived in my mother's womb is equally wonderful;
LG1867	2843	And pass'd from a babe, in the creeping trance of a couple of summers and winters, to articulate and walk—All this is equally wonderful.
LG1867	2844	And that my Soul embraces you this hour, and we affect each other without ever seeing each other,and never perhaps to see each other, is every bit as wonderful.
LG1867	2845	And that I can think such thoughts as these, is just as wonderful;
LG1867	2846	And that I can remind you, and you think them and know them to be true, is just as wonderful.
LG1867	2847	And that the moon spins round the earth, and on with the earth, is equally wonderful;
LG1867	2848	And that they balance themselves with the sun and stars, is equally wonderful.
LG1867	2849	WHOEVER you are, I fear you are walking the walks of dreams,
LG1867	2850	I fear those supposed realities are to melt from under your feet and hands;
LG1867	2851	Even now, your features, joys, speech, house, trade,manners, troubles, follies, costume, crimes,dissipate away from you,
LG1867	2852	Your true Soul and Body appear before me,
LG1867	2853	They stand forth out of affairs—out of commerce,shops, law, science, work, farms, clothes, the house, medicine, print, buying, selling, eating,drinking, suffering, dying.
LG1867	2854	Whoever you are, now I place my hand upon you,that you be my poem;
LG1867	2855	I whisper with my lips close to your ear,
LG1867	2856	I have loved many women and men, but I love none better than you.
LG1867	2857	O I have been dilatory and dumb;
LG1867	2858	I should have made my way straight to you long ago;
LG1867	2859	I should have blabb'd nothing but you, I should have chanted nothing but you.
LG1867	2860	I will leave all, and come and make the hymns of you;
LG1867	2861	None have understood you, but I understand you;
LG1867	2862	None have done justice to you—you have not done justice to yourself;
LG1867	2863	None but have found you imperfect—I only find no imperfection in you;
LG1867	2864	None but would subordinate you—I only am he who will never consent to subordinate you;
LG1867	2865	I only am he who places over you no master, owner,better, God, beyond what waits intrinsically in yourself.
LG1867	2866	Painters have painted their swarming groups, and the centre figure of all;
LG1867	2867	From the head of the centre figure spreading a nim-busnimbus of gold-color'd light;
LG1867	2868	But I paint myriads of heads, but paint no head with-outwithout its nimbus of gold-color'd light;
LG1867	2869	From my hand, from the brain of every man and woman it streams, effulgently flowing forever.
LG1867	2870	O I could sing such grandeurs and glories about you!
LG1867	2871	You have not known what you are—you have slum-berslumber'd upon yourself all your life;
LG1867	2872	Your eye-lids have been the same as closed most of the time;
LG1867	2873	What you have done returns already in mockeries;
LG1867	2874	(Your thrift, knowledge, prayers, if they do not return in mockeries, what is their return?)
LG1867	2875	The mockeries are not you;
LG1867	2876	Underneath them, and within them, I see you lurk;
LG1867	2877	I pursue you where none else has pursued you;
LG1867	2878	Silence, the desk, the flippant expression, the night,the accustom'd routine, if these conceal you from others, or from yourself, they do not conceal you from me;
LG1867	2879	The shaved face, the unsteady eye, the impure com-plexioncomplexion, if these balk others, they do not balk me,
LG1867	2880	The pert apparel, the deform'd attitude, drunkenness,greed, premature death, all these I part aside.
LG1867	2881	There is no endowment in man or woman that is not tallied in you;
LG1867	2882	There is no virtue, no beauty, in man or woman, but as good is in you;
LG1867	2883	No pluck, no endurance in others, but as good is in you;
LG1867	2884	No pleasure waiting for others, but an equal pleasure waits for you.
LG1867	2885	As for me, I give nothing to any one, except I give the like carefully to you;
LG1867	2886	I sing the songs of the glory of none, not God, sooner than I sing the songs of the glory of you.
LG1867	2887	Whoever you are! claim your own at any hazard!
LG1867	2888	These shows of the east and west are tame compared to you;
LG1867	2889	These immense meadows—these interminable rivers— you are immense and interminable as they;
LG1867	2890	These furies, elements, storms, motions of Nature,throes of apparent dissolution—you are he or she who is master or mistress over them,
LG1867	2891	Master or mistress in your own right over Nature,elements, pain, passion, dissolution.
LG1867	2892	The hopples fall from your ankles—you find an un-failingunfailing sufficiency;
LG1867	2893	Old or young, male or female, rude, low, rejected by the rest, whatever you are promulges itself;
LG1867	2894	Through birth, life, death, burial, the means are pro-videdprovided, nothing is scanted;
LG1867	2895	Through angers, losses, ambition, ignorance, ennui,what you are picks it way.
LG1867	2896	HOW they are provided for upon the earth, (appearing at intervals;)
LG1867	2897	How dear and dreadful they are to the earth;
LG1867	2898	How they inure to themselves as much as to any— What a paradox appears, their age;
LG1867	2899	How people respond to them, yet know them not;
LG1867	2900	How there is something relentless in their fate, all times;
LG1867	2901	How all times mischoose the objects of their adulation and reward,
LG1867	2902	And how the same inexorable price must still be paid for the same great purchase.
LG1867	2903	ALL submit to them, where they sit, inner, secure, unapproachable to analysis, in the Soul;
LG1867	2904	Not traditions—not the outer authorities are the judges—they are the judges of outer authori-tiesauthorities, and of all traditions;
LG1867	2905	They corroborate as they go, only whatever corrobo-ratescorroborates themselves, and touches themselves;
LG1867	2906	For all that, they have it forever in themselves to corroborate far and near, without one excep-tionexception.
LG1867	2907	ONLY themselves understand themselves, and the like of themselves,
LG1867	2908	As Souls only understand Souls.
LG1867	2909	WEAPON, shapely, naked, wan;
LG1867	2910	Head from the mother's bowels drawn!
LG1867	2911	Wooded flesh and metal bone! limb only one, and lip only one!
LG1867	2912	Gray-blue leaf by red-heat grown! helve produced from a little seed sown!
LG1867	2913	Resting the grass amid and upon,
LG1867	2914	To be lean'd, and to lean on.
LG1867	2915	Strong shapes, and attributes of strong shapes— masculine trades, sights and sounds;
LG1867	2916	Long varied train of an emblem, dabs of music;
LG1867	2917	Fingers of the organist skipping staccato over the keys of the great organ.
LG1867	2918	Welcome are all earth's lands, each for its kind;
LG1867	2919	Welcome are lands of pine and oak;
LG1867	2920	Welcome are lands of the lemon and fig;
LG1867	2921	Welcome are lands of gold;
LG1867	2922	Welcome are lands of wheat and maize—welcome those of the grape;
LG1867	2923	Welcome are lands of sugar and rice;
LG1867	2924	Welcome the cotton-lands—welcome those of the white potato and sweet potato;
LG1867	2925	Welcome are mountains, flats, sands, forests, prairies;
LG1867	2926	Welcome the rich borders of rivers, table-lands,openings;
LG1867	2927	Welcome the measureless grazing-lands—welcome the teeming soil of orchards, flax, honey, hemp;
LG1867	2928	Welcome just as much the other more hard-faced lands;
LG1867	2929	Lands rich as lands of gold, or wheat and fruit lands;
LG1867	2930	Lands of mines, lands of the manly and rugged ores;
LG1867	2931	Lands of coal, copper, lead, tin, zinc;
LG1867	2932	LANDS OF IRON! lands of the make of the axe!
LG1867	2933	The log at the wood-pile, the axe supported by it;
LG1867	2934	The sylvan hut, the vine over the doorway, the space clear'd for a garden,
LG1867	2935	The irregular tapping of rain down on the leaves,after the storm is lull'd,
LG1867	2936	The wailing and moaning at intervals, the thought of the sea,
LG1867	2937	The thought of ships struck in the storm, and put on their beam-ends, and the cutting away of masts;
LG1867	2938	The sentiment of the huge timbers of old-fashion'd houses and barns;
LG1867	2939	The remember'd print or narrative, the voyage at a venture of men, families, goods,
LG1867	2940	The disembarkation, the founding of a new city,
LG1867	2941	The voyage of those who sought a New England and found it—the outset anywhere,
LG1867	2942	The settlements of the Arkansas, Colorado, Ottawa,Willamette,
LG1867	2943	The slow progress, the scant fare, the axe, rifle, saddle-bagssaddle-bags;
LG1867	2944	The beauty of all adventurous and daring persons,
LG1867	2945	The beauty of wood-boys and wood-men, with their clear untrimm'd faces,
LG1867	2946	The beauty of independence, departure, actions that rely on themselves,
LG1867	2947	The American contempt for statutes and ceremonies,the boundless impatience of restraint,
LG1867	2948	The loose drift of character, the inkling through ran-domrandom types, the solidification;
LG1867	2949	The butcher in the slaughter-house, the hands aboard schooners and sloops, the raftsman, the pioneer,
LG1867	2950	Lumbermen in their winter camp, day-break in the woods, stripes of snow on the limbs of trees,the occasional snapping,
LG1867	2951	The glad clear sound of one's own voice, the merry song, the natural life of the woods, the strong day's work,
LG1867	2952	The blazing fire at night, the sweet taste of supper the talk, the bed of hemlock boughs, and the bear-skin;
LG1867	2953	—The house-builder at work in cities or anywhere,
LG1867	2954	The preparatory jointing, squaring, sawing, mortising,
LG1867	2955	The hoist-up of beams, the push of them in their places, laying them regular,
LG1867	2956	Setting the studs by their tenons in the mortises, ac-cordingaccording as they were prepared,
LG1867	2957	The blows of mallets and hammers, the attitudes of the men, their curv'd limbs,
LG1867	2958	Bending, standing, astride the beams, driving in pins,holding on by posts and braces,
LG1867	2959	The hook'd arm over the plate, the other arm wielding the axe,
LG1867	2960	The floor-men forcing the planks close, to be nail'd,
LG1867	2961	Their postures bringing their weapons downward on the bearers,
LG1867	2962	The echoes resounding through the vacant building;
LG1867	2963	The huge store-house carried up in the city, well under way,
LG1867	2964	The six framing-men, two in the middle, and two at each end, carefully bearing on their shoulders a heavy stick for a cross-beam,
LG1867	2965	The crowded line of masons with trowels in their right hands, rapidly laying the long side-wall,two hundred feet from front to rear,
LG1867	2966	The flexible rise and fall of backs, the continual click of the trowels striking the bricks,
LG1867	2967	The bricks, one after another, each laid so workman-likeworkman-like in its place, and set with a knock of the trowel-handle,
LG1867	2968	The piles of materials, the mortar on the mortar-boardsmortar-boards, and the steady replenishing by the hod-menhodmen;
LG1867	2969	—Spar-makers in the spar-yard, the swarming row of well-grown apprentices,
LG1867	2970	The swing of their axes on the square-hew'd log,shaping it toward the shape of a mast,
LG1867	2971	The brisk short crackle of the steel driven slantingly into the pine,
LG1867	2972	The butter-color'd chips flying off in great flakes and slivers,
LG1867	2973	The limber motion of brawny young arms and hips in easy costumes;
LG1867	2974	The constructor of wharves, bridges, piers, bulk-heads,floats, stays against the sea;
LG1867	2975	—The city fireman—the fire that suddenly bursts forth in the close-pack'd square,
LG1867	2976	The arriving engines, the hoarse shouts, the nimble stepping and daring,
LG1867	2977	The strong command through the fire-trumpets, the falling in line, the rise and fall of the arms forcing the water,
LG1867	2978	The slender, spasmic blue-white jets—the bringing to bear of the hooks and ladders, and their execution,
LG1867	2979	The crash and cut away of connecting wood-work, or through floors, if the fire smoulders under them,
LG1867	2980	The crowd with their lit faces, watching—the glare and dense shadows;
LG1867	2981	—The forger at his forge-furnace, and the user of iron after him,
LG1867	2982	The maker of the axe large and small, and the welder and temperer,
LG1867	2983	The chooser breathing his breath on the cold steel.and trying the edge with his thumb,
LG1867	2984	The one who clean-shapes the handle and sets it firmly in the socket;
LG1867	2985	The shadowy processions of the portraits of the past users also,
LG1867	2986	The primal patient mechanics, the architects and engineers,
LG1867	2987	The far-off Assyrian edifice and Mizra edifice,
LG1867	2988	The Roman lictors preceding the consuls,
LG1867	2989	The antique European warrior with his axe in combat,
LG1867	2990	The uplifted arm, the clatter of blows on the helmeted head,
LG1867	2991	The death-howl, the limpsey tumbling body, the rush of friend and foe thither,
LG1867	2992	The seigesiege of revolted lieges determin'd for liberty,
LG1867	2993	The summons to surrender, the battering at castle gates, the truce and parley;
LG1867	2994	The sack of an old city in its time,
LG1867	2995	The bursting in of mercenaries and bigots tumultuously and disorderly,
LG1867	2996	Roar, flames, blood, drunkenness, madness,
LG1867	2997	Goods freely rifled from houses and temples, screams of women in the gripe of brigands,
LG1867	2998	Craft and thievery of camp-followers, men running, old persons despairing,
LG1867	2999	The hell of war, the cruelties of creeds,
LG1867	3000	The list of all executive deeds and words, just or un-justunjust,
LG1867	3001	The power of personality, just or unjust.
LG1867	3002	Muscle and pluck forever!
LG1867	3003	What invigorates life, invigorates death,
LG1867	3004	And the dead advance as much as the living advance,
LG1867	3005	And the future is no more uncertain than the present,
LG1867	3006	And the roughness of the earth and of man encloses as much as the delicatesse of the earth and of man,
LG1867	3007	And nothing endures but personal qualities.
LG1867	3008	What do you think endures?
LG1867	3009	Do you think the great city endures?
LG1867	3010	Or a teeming manufacturing state? or a prepared con-stitutionconstitution? or the best built steamships?
LG1867	3011	Or hotels of granite and iron? or any chef-d'eouvres of engineering, forts, armaments?
LG1867	3012	Away! These are not to be cherish'd for themselves;
LG1867	3013	They fill their hour, the dancers dance, the musicians play for them;
LG1867	3014	The show passes, all does well enough of course,
LG1867	3015	All does very well till one flash of defiance.
LG1867	3016	The great city is that which has the greatest man or woman;
LG1867	3017	If it be a few ragged huts, it is still the greatest city in the whole world.
LG1867	3018	The place where the great city stands is not the place of stretch'd wharves, docks, manufactures,deposits of produce,
LG1867	3019	Nor the place of ceaseless salutes of new comers, or the anchor-lifters of the departing,
LG1867	3020	Nor the place of the tallest and costliest buildings, or shops selling goods from the rest of the earth,
LG1867	3021	Nor the place of the best libraries and schools—nor the place where money is plentiest,
LG1867	3022	Nor the place of the most numerous population.
LG1867	3023	Where the city stands with the brawniest breed of orators and bards;
LG1867	3024	Where the city stands that is beloved by these, and loves them in return, and understands them;
LG1867	3025	Where no monuments exist to heroes, but in the common words and deeds;
LG1867	3026	Where thrift is in its place, and prudence is in its place;
LG1867	3027	Where the men and women think lightly of the laws;
LG1867	3028	Where the slave ceases, and the master of slaves ceases;
LG1867	3029	Where the populace rise at once against the never-ending audacity of elected persons;
LG1867	3030	Where fierce men and women pour forth, as the sea to the whistle of death pours its sweeping and unript waves;
LG1867	3031	Where outside authority enters always after the pre-cedenceprecedence of inside authority;
LG1867	3032	Where the citizen is always the head and ideal—and President, Mayor, Governor, and what not, are agents for pay;
LG1867	3033	Where children are taught to be laws to themselves,and to depend on themselves;
LG1867	3034	Where equanimity is illustrated in affairs;
LG1867	3035	Where speculations on the Soul are encouraged;
LG1867	3036	Where women walk in public processions in the streets,the same as the men,
LG1867	3037	Where they enter the public assembly and take places the same as the men;
LG1867	3038	Where the city of the faithfulest friends stands;
LG1867	3039	Where the city of the cleanliness of the sexes stands;
LG1867	3040	Where the city of the healthiest fathers stands;
LG1867	3041	Where the city of the best-bodied mothers stands,
LG1867	3042	There the great city stands.
LG1867	3043	How beggarly appear arguments, before a defiant deed!
LG1867	3044	How the floridness of the materials of cities shrivels before a man's or woman's look!
LG1867	3045	All waits, or goes by default, till a strong being ap-pearsappears;
LG1867	3046	A strong being is the proof of the race, and of the ability of the universe;
LG1867	3047	When he or she appears, materials are overaw'd,
LG1867	3048	The dispute on the Soul stops,
LG1867	3049	The old customs and phrases are confronted, turn'd back, or laid away.
LG1867	3050	What is your money-making now? What can it do now?
LG1867	3051	What is your respectability now?
LG1867	3052	What are your theology, tuition, society, traditions,statute-books, now?
LG1867	3053	Where are your jibes of being now?
LG1867	3054	Where are your cavils about the Soul now?
LG1867	3055	Was that your best? Were those your vast and solid?
LG1867	3056	Riches, opinions, politics, institutions, to part obedi-entlyobediently from the path of one man or woman!
LG1867	3057	The centuries, and all authority, to be trod under the foot-soles of one man or woman!
LG1867	3058	A sterile landscape covers the ore—there is as good as the best, for all the forbidding appearance;
LG1867	3059	There is the mine, there are the miners;
LG1867	3060	The forge-furnace is there, the melt is accomplish'd; the hammers-men are at hand with their tongs and hammers;
LG1867	3061	What always served and always serves, is at hand.
LG1867	3062	Than this nothing has better served—it has served all:
LG1867	3063	Served the fluent-tongued and subtle-sensed Greek,and long ere the Greek:
LG1867	3064	Served in building the buildings that last longer than any;
LG1867	3065	Served the Hebrew, the Persian, the most ancient Hindostanee;
LG1867	3066	Served the mound-raiser on the Mississippi—served those whose relics remain in Central America;
LG1867	3067	Served Albic temples in woods or on plains, with un-hewnunhewn pillars, and the druids;
LG1867	3068	Served the artificial clefts, vast, high, silent, on the snow-cover'd hills of Scandinavia;
LG1867	3069	Served those who, time out of mind, made on the granite walls rough sketches of the sun, moon,stars, ships, ocean-waves;
LG1867	3070	Served the paths of the irruptions of the Goths— served the pastoral tribes and nomads;
LG1867	3071	Served the long, long distant Kelt—served the hardy pirates of the Baltic;
LG1867	3072	Served before any of those, the venerable and harm-lessharmless men of Ethiopia;
LG1867	3073	Served the making of helms for the galleys of plea-surepleasure, and the making of those for war;
LG1867	3074	Served all great works on land, and all great works on the sea;
LG1867	3075	For the mediæval ages, and before the mediæval ages;
LG1867	3076	Served not the living only, then as now, but served the dead.
LG1867	3077	I see the European headsman;
LG1867	3078	He stands mask'd, clothed in red, with huge legs, and strong naked arms,
LG1867	3079	And leans on a ponderous axe.
LG1867	3080	Whom have you slaughter'd lately, European heads-manheadsman?
LG1867	3081	Whose is that blood upon you, so wet and sticky?
LG1867	3082	I see the clear sunsets of the martyrs;
LG1867	3083	I see from the scaffolds the descending ghosts,
LG1867	3084	Ghosts of dead lords, uncrown'd ladies, impeach'd ministers, rejected kings,
LG1867	3085	Rivals, traitors, poisoners, disgraced chieftains, and the rest.
LG1867	3086	I see those who in any land have died for the good cause;
LG1867	3087	The seed is spare, nevertheless the crop shall never run out;
LG1867	3088	(Mind you, O foreign kings, O priests, the crop shall never run out.)
LG1867	3089	I see the blood wash'd entirely away from the axe;
LG1867	3090	Both blade and helve are clean;
LG1867	3091	They spirt no more the blood of European nobles— they clasp no more the necks of queens.
LG1867	3092	I see the headsman withdraw and become useless;
LG1867	3093	I see the scaffold untrodden and mouldy—I see no longer any axe upon it;
LG1867	3094	I see the mighty and friendly emblem of the power of my own race—the newest, largest race.
LG1867	3095	& America! I do not vaunt my love for you;
LG1867	3096	I have what I have.
LG1867	3097	The axe leaps!
LG1867	3098	The solid forest gives fluid utterances;
LG1867	3099	They tumble forth, they rise and form,
LG1867	3100	Hut, tent, landing, survey,
LG1867	3101	Flail, plough, pick, crowbar, spade,
LG1867	3102	Shingle, rail, prop, wainscot, jamb, lath, panel, gable,
LG1867	3103	Citadel, ceiling, saloon, academy, organ, exhibition-house, library,
LG1867	3104	Cornice, trellis, pilaster, balcony, window, shutter, tur-retturret, porch,
LG1867	3105	Hoe, rake, pitch-fork, pencil, wagon, staff, saw, jack-plane, mallet, wedge, rounce,
LG1867	3106	Chair, tub, hoop, table, wicket, vane, sash, floor,
LG1867	3107	Work-box, chest, string'd instrument, boat, frame, and what not,
LG1867	3108	Capitols of States, and capitol of the nation of States,
LG1867	3109	Long stately rows in avenues, hospitals for orphans, or for the poor or sick,
LG1867	3110	Manhattan steamboats and clippers, taking the meas-uremeasure of all seas.
LG1867	3111	The shapes arise!
LG1867	3112	Shapes of the using of axes anyhow, and the users,and all that neighbors them,
LG1867	3113	Cutters down of wood, and haulers of it to the Penob-scotPenobscot or Kennebec,
LG1867	3114	Dwellers in cabins among the Californian mountains,or by the little lakes, or on the Columbia,
LG1867	3115	Dwellers south on the banks of the Gila or Rio Grande —friendly gatherings, the characters and fun,
LG1867	3116	Dwellers up north in Minnesota and by the Yellow-stoneYellowstone river—dwellers on coasts and off coasts,
LG1867	3117	Seal-fishers, whalers, arctic seamen breaking passages through the ice.
LG1867	3118	The shapes arise!
LG1867	3119	Shapes of factories, arsenals, foundries, markets;
LG1867	3120	Shapes of the two-threaded tracks of railroads;
LG1867	3121	Shapes of the sleepers of bridges, vast frameworks,girders, arches;
LG1867	3122	Shapes of the fleets of barges, tows, lake craft, river craft.
LG1867	3123	The shapes arise!
LG1867	3124	Ship-yards and dry-docks along the Eastern and West-ernWestern Seas, and in many a bay and by-place,
LG1867	3125	The live-oak kelsons, the pine planks, the spars, the hackmatack-roots for knees,
LG1867	3126	The ships themselves on their ways, the tiers of scaf-foldsscaffolds, the workmen busy outside and inside,
LG1867	3127	The tools lying around, the great auger and little au-gerauger, the adze, bolt, line, square, gouge, and bead-plane.
LG1867	3128	The shapes arise!
LG1867	3129	The shape measur'd, saw'd, jack'd, join'd, stain'd,
LG1867	3130	The coffin-shape for the dead to lie within in his shroud;
LG1867	3131	The shape got out in posts, in the bedstead posts, in the posts of the bride's bed;
LG1867	3132	The shape of the little trough, the shape of the rockers beneath, the shape of the babe's cradle;
LG1867	3133	The shape of the floor-planks, the floor-planks for dancers' feet;
LG1867	3134	The shape of the planks of the family home, the home of the friendly parents and children,
LG1867	3135	The shape of the roof of the home of the happy young man and woman, the roof over the well-married young man and woman,
LG1867	3136	The roof over the supper joyously cook'd by the chaste wife, and joyously eaten by the chaste husband,content after his day's work.
LG1867	3137	The shapes arise!
LG1867	3138	The shape of the prisoner's place in the court-room,and of him or her seated in the place;
LG1867	3139	The shape of the liquor-bar lean'd against by the young rum-drinker and the old rum drinker;
LG1867	3140	The shape of the shamed and angry stairs, trod by sneaking footsteps;
LG1867	3141	The shape of the sly settee, and the adulterous un-wholesomeunwholesome couple;
LG1867	3142	The shape of the gambling-board with its devilish winnings and losings;
LG1867	3143	The shape of the step-ladder for the convicted and sentenced murderer, the murderer with hag-gardhaggard face and pinion'd arms,
LG1867	3144	The sheriff at hand with his deputies, the silent and white-lipp'd crowd, the sickening dangling of the rope.
LG1867	3145	The shapes arise!
LG1867	3146	Shapes of doors giving many exits and entrances;
LG1867	3147	The door passing the dissever'd friend, flush'd and in haste;
LG1867	3148	The door that admits good news and bad news;
LG1867	3149	The door whence the son left home, confident and puff'd up;
LG1867	3150	The door he enter'd again from a long and scandalous absence, diseas'd, broken down, without inno-cenceinnocence, without means.
LG1867	3151	Her shape arises,
LG1867	3152	She, less guarded than ever, yet more guarded than ever;
LG1867	3153	The gross and soil'd she moves among do not make her gross and soil'd;
LG1867	3154	She knows the thoughts as she passes—nothing is con-cealconceal'd from her;
LG1867	3155	She is none the less considerate or friendly therefor;
LG1867	3156	She is the best-beloved—it is without exception—she has no reason to fear, and she does not fear;
LG1867	3157	Oaths, quarrels, hiccupp'd songs, smutty expressions,are idle to her as she passes;
LG1867	3158	She is silent—she is possess'd of herself—they do not offend her;
LG1867	3159	She receives them as the laws of nature receive them —she is strong,
LG1867	3160	She too is a law of nature—there is no law stronger than she is.
LG1867	3161	The main shapes arise!
LG1867	3162	Shapes of Democracy, total—result of centuries;
LG1867	3163	Shapes, ever projecting other shapes;
LG1867	3164	Shapes of a hundred Free States, begetting another hundred;
LG1867	3165	Shapes of turbulent manly cities;
LG1867	3166	Shapes of the women fit for These States,
LG1867	3167	Shapes of the friends and home-givers of the whole earth,
LG1867	3168	Shapes bracing the earth, and braced with the whole earth.
LG1867	3169	WITH antecedents;
LG1867	3170	With my fathers and mothers, and the accumulations of past ages;
LG1867	3171	With all which, had it not been, I would not now be here, as I am:
LG1867	3172	With Egypt, India, Phenicia, Greece and Rome;
LG1867	3173	With the Kelt, the Scandinavian, the Alb, and the Saxon;
LG1867	3174	With antique maritime ventures,—with laws, artizan-shipartisanship, wars and journeys;
LG1867	3175	With the poet, the skald, the saga, the myth, and the oracle;
LG1867	3176	With the sale of slaves—with enthusiasts—with the troubadour, the crusader, and the monk;
LG1867	3177	With those old continents whence we have come to this new continent;
LG1867	3178	With the fading kingdoms and kings over there;
LG1867	3179	With the fading religions and priests;
LG1867	3180	With the small shores we look back to from our own large and present shores;
LG1867	3181	With countless years drawing themselves onward, and arrived at these years;
LG1867	3182	You and Me arrived—America arrived, and making this year;
LG1867	3183	This year! sending itself ahead countless years to come.
LG1867	3184	O but it is not the years—it is I—it is You;
LG1867	3185	We touch all laws, and tally all antecedents;
LG1867	3186	We are the skald, the oracle, the monk, and the knight—we easily include them, and more;
LG1867	3187	We stand amid time, beginningless and endless—we stand amid evil and good;
LG1867	3188	All swings around us—there is as much darkness as light;
LG1867	3189	The very sun swings itself and its system of planets around us:
LG1867	3190	Its sun, and its again, all swing around us.
LG1867	3191	As for me, (torn, stormy, even as I, amid these ve-hementvehement days;)
LG1867	3192	I have the idea of all, and am all, and believe in all;
LG1867	3193	I believe materialism is true, and spiritualism is true— I reject no part.
LG1867	3194	Have I forgotten any part?
LG1867	3195	Come to me, whoever and whatever, till I give you recognition.
LG1867	3196	I respect Assyria, China, Teutonia, and the He-brewsHebrews;
LG1867	3197	I adopt each theory, myth, god, and demi-god;
LG1867	3198	I see that the old accounts, bibles, genealogies, are true, without exception;
LG1867	3199	I assert that all past days were what they should have been;
LG1867	3200	And that they could no-how have been better than they were,
LG1867	3201	And that to-day is what it should be—and that America is,
LG1867	3202	And that to-day and America could no-how be better than they are.
LG1867	3203	In the name of These States, and in your and my name, the Past,
LG1867	3204	And in the name of These States, and in your and my name, the Present time.
LG1867	3205	I know that the past was great, and the future will be great,
LG1867	3206	And I know that both curiously conjoint in the pres-entpresent time,
LG1867	3207	(For the sake of him I typify—for the common aver-ageaverage man's sake—your sake, if you are he;)
LG1867	3208	And that where I am, or you are, this present day, there is the centre of all days, all races,
LG1867	3209	And there is the meaning, to us, of all that has ever come of races and days, or ever will come.
LG1867	3210	THITHER, as I look, I see each result and glory re-tracingretracing itself and nestling close, always obli-gatedobligated;
LG1867	3211	Thither hours, months, years—thither trades, com-pactscompacts, establishments, even the most minute;
LG1867	3212	Thither every-day life, speech, utensils, politics, per-sonspersons, estates;
LG1867	3213	Thither we also, I with my leaves and songs, trustful, admirant,
LG1867	3214	As a father, to his father going, takes his children along with him.
LG1867	3215	FLOOD-TIDE below me! I watch you face to face;
LG1867	3216	Clouds of the west! sun there half an hour high! I see you also face to face.
LG1867	3217	Crowds of men and women attired in the usual cos-tumescostumes! how curious you are to me!
LG1867	3218	On the ferry-boats, the hundreds and hundreds that cross, returning home, are more curious to me than you suppose;
LG1867	3219	And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence, are more to me, and more in my meditations, than you might suppose.
LG1867	3220	The impalpable sustenance of me from all things, at all hours of the day;
LG1867	3221	The simple, compact, well-join'd scheme—myself dis-integrateddisintegrated, every one disintegrated, yet part of the scheme;
LG1867	3222	The similitudes of the past, and those of the future;
LG1867	3223	The glories strung like beads on my smallest sights and hearings—on the walk in the street, and the passage over the river;
LG1867	3224	The current rushing so swiftly, and swimming with me far away;
LG1867	3225	The others that are to follow me, the ties between me and them;
LG1867	3226	The certainty of others—the life, love, sight, hearing of others.
LG1867	3227	Others will enter the gates of the ferry, and cross from shore to shore;
LG1867	3228	Others will watch the run of the flood-tide;
LG1867	3229	Others will see the shipping of Manhattan north and west, and the heights of Brooklyn to the south and east;
LG1867	3230	Others will see the islands large and small;
LG1867	3231	Fifty years hence, others will see them as they cross, the sun half an hour high;
LG1867	3232	A hundred years hence, or ever so many hundred years hence, others will see them,
LG1867	3233	Will enjoy the sunset, the pouring in of the flood-tide, the falling back to the sea of the ebb-tide.
LG1867	3234	It avails not, neither time or place—distance avails not;
LG1867	3235	I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations hence;
LG1867	3236	I project myself—also I return—I am with you, and know how it is.
LG1867	3237	Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky so I felt;
LG1867	3238	Just as any of you is one of a living crowd, I was one of a crowd;
LG1867	3239	Just as you are refresh'd by the gladness of the river and the bright flow, I was refresh'd;
LG1867	3240	Just as you stand and lean on the rail, yet hurry with the swift current, I stood, yet was hurried;
LG1867	3241	Just as you look on the numberless masts of ships, and the thick-stem'd pipes of steamboats, I look'd.
LG1867	3242	I too many and many a time cross'd the river, the sun half an hour high;
LG1867	3243	I watched the Twelfth-month sea-gulls—I saw them high in the air, floating with motionless wings, oscillating their bodies,
LG1867	3244	I saw how the glistening yellow lit up parts of their bodies, and left the rest in strong shadow,
LG1867	3245	I saw the slow-wheeling circles, and the gradual edging toward the south.
LG1867	3246	I too saw the reflection of the summer sky in the water,
LG1867	3247	Had my eyes dazzled by the shimmering track of beams,
LG1867	3248	Look'd at the fine centrifugal spokes of light round the shape of my head in the sun-lit water,
LG1867	3249	Look'd on the haze on the hills southward and south-westwardsouth-westward,
LG1867	3250	Look'd on the vapor as it flew in fleeces tinged with violet,
LG1867	3251	Look'd toward the lower bay to notice the arriving ships,
LG1867	3252	Saw their approach, saw aboard those that were near me,
LG1867	3253	Saw the white sails of schooners and sloops, saw the ships at anchor,
LG1867	3254	The sailors at work in the rigging, or out astride the spars,
LG1867	3255	The round masts, the swinging motion of the hulls, the slender serpentine pennants,
LG1867	3256	The large and small steamers in motion, the pilots in their pilot-houses,
LG1867	3257	The white wake left by the passage, the quick trem-uloustremulous whirl of the wheels,
LG1867	3258	The flags of all nations, the falling of them at sun-set,
LG1867	3259	The scallop-edged waves in the twilight, the ladled cups, the frolicsome crests and glistening,
LG1867	3260	The stretch afar growing dimmer and dimmer, the gray walls of the granite store-houses by the docks,
LG1867	3261	On the river the shadowy group, the big steam-tug closely flank'd on each side by the barges—the hay-boat, the belated lighter,
LG1867	3262	On the neighboring shore, the fires from the foundry chimneys burning high and glaringly into the night,
LG1867	3263	Casting their flicker of black, contrasted with wild red and yellow light, over the tops of houses, and down into the clefts of streets.
LG1867	3264	These, and all else, were to me the same as they are to you;
LG1867	3265	I project myself a moment to tell you—also I return.
LG1867	3266	I loved well those cities;
LG1867	3267	I loved well the stately and rapid river;
LG1867	3268	The men and women I saw were all near to me;
LG1867	3269	Others the same—others who look back on me, because I look'd forward to them;
LG1867	3270	(The time will come, though I stop here to-day and to-night.)
LG1867	3271	What is it, then, between us?
LG1867	3272	What is the count of the scores or hundreds of years between us?
LG1867	3273	Whatever it is, it avails not—distance avails not, and place avails not.
LG1867	3274	I too lived—Brooklyn, of ample hills, was mine;
LG1867	3275	I too walked the streets of Manhattan Island, and bathed in the waters around it;
LG1867	3276	I too felt the curious abrupt questionings stir within me,
LG1867	3277	In the day, among crowds of people, sometimes they came upon me,
LG1867	3278	In my walks home late at night, or as I lay in my bed, they came upon me.
LG1867	3279	I too had been struck from the float forever held in solution;
LG1867	3280	I too had receiv'd identity by my Body;
LG1867	3281	That I was, I knew was of my body—and what I should be, I knew I should be of my body.
LG1867	3282	It is not upon you alone the dark patches fall,
LG1867	3283	The dark threw patches down upon me also;
LG1867	3284	The best I had done seem'd to me blank and sus-picioussuspicious;
LG1867	3285	My great thoughts, as I supposed them, were they not in reality meagre? would not people laugh at me?
LG1867	3286	It is not you alone who know what it is to be evil;
LG1867	3287	I am he who knew what it was to be evil;
LG1867	3288	I too knitted the old knot of contrariety,
LG1867	3289	Blabb'd, blush'd, resented, lied, stole, grudg'd,
LG1867	3290	Had guile, anger, lust, hot wishes I dared not speak,
LG1867	3291	Was wayward, vain, greedy, shallow, sly, cowardly, malignant,;
LG1867	3292	The wolf, the snake, the hog, not wanting in me,
LG1867	3293	The cheating look, the frivolous word, the adulterous wish, not wanting,
LG1867	3294	Refusals, hates, postponements, meanness, laziness, none of these wanting.
LG1867	3295	But I was Manhattanese, friendly and proud!
LG1867	3296	I was call'd by my nighest name by clear loud voices of young men as they saw me approaching or passing,
LG1867	3297	Felt their arms on my neck as I stood, or the negligent leaning of their flesh against me as I sat,
LG1867	3298	Saw many I loved in the street, or ferry-boat, or public assembly, yet never told them a word,
LG1867	3299	Lived the same life with the rest, the same old laugh-inglaughing, gnawing, sleeping,
LG1867	3300	Play'd the part that still looks back on the actor or actress,
LG1867	3301	The same old role, the role that is what we make it, as great as we like,
LG1867	3302	Or as small as we like, or both great and small.
LG1867	3303	Closer yet I approach you;
LG1867	3304	What thought you have of me, I had as much of you —I laid in my stores in advance;
LG1867	3305	I consider'd long and seriously of you before you were born.
LG1867	3306	Who was to know what should come home to me?
LG1867	3307	Who knows but I am enjoying this?
LG1867	3308	Who knows but I am as good as looking at you now, for all you cannot see me?
LG1867	3309	It is not you alone, nor I alone;
LG1867	3310	Not a few races, nor a few generations, nor a few centuries;
LG1867	3311	It is that each came, or comes, or shall come, from its due emission, without fail, either now, or then, or henceforth.
LG1867	3312	Every thing indicates—the smallest does, and the largest does;
LG1867	3313	A necessary film envelops all, and envelops the Soul for a proper time.
LG1867	3314	Now I am curious what sight can ever be more stately and admirable to me than my mast-hemm'd Manhatta,
LG1867	3315	My river and sun-set, and my scallop-edg'd waves of flood-tide,
LG1867	3316	The sea-gulls oscillating their bodies, the hay-boat in the twilight, and the belated lighter;
LG1867	3317	Curious what Gods can exceed these that clasp me by the hand, and with voices I love call me promptly and loudly by my nighest name as I approach;
LG1867	3318	Curious what is more subtle than this which ties me to the woman or man that looks in my face,
LG1867	3319	Which fuses me into you now, and pours my meaning into you.
LG1867	3320	We understand, then, do we not?
LG1867	3321	What I promis'd without mentioning it, have you not accepted?
LG1867	3322	What the study could not teach—what the preaching could not accomplish, is accomplish'd, is it not?
LG1867	3323	What the push of reading could not start, is started by me personally, is it not?
LG1867	3324	Flow on, river! flow with the flood-tide, and ebb with the ebb-tide!
LG1867	3325	Frolic on, crested and scallop-edged waves!
LG1867	3326	Gorgeous clouds of the sun-set! drench with your splendor me, or the men and women generations after me;
LG1867	3327	Cross from shore to shore, countless crowds of pas-sengerspassengers!
LG1867	3328	Stand up, tall masts of Mannahatta!—stand up, beauti-fulbeautiful hills of Brooklyn!
LG1867	3329	Bully for you! you proud, friendly, free Manhat-taneseManhattanese!
LG1867	3330	Throb, baffled and curious brain! throw out questions and answers!
LG1867	3331	Suspend here and everywhere, eternal float of solu-tionsolution!
LG1867	3332	Blab, blush, lie, steal, you or I or any one after us!
LG1867	3333	Gaze, loving and thirsting eyes, in the house, or street, or public assembly!
LG1867	3334	Sound out, voices of young men! loudly and musically call me by my nighest name!
LG1867	3335	Live, old life! play the part that looks back on the actor or actress!
LG1867	3336	Play the old role, the role that is great or small, according as one makes it!
LG1867	3337	Consider, you who peruse me, whether I may not in unknown ways be looking upon you;
LG1867	3338	Be firm, rail over the river, to support those who lean idly, yet haste with the hasting current;
LG1867	3339	Fly on, sea-birds! fly sideways, or wheel in large cir-clescircles high in the air;
LG1867	3340	Receive the summer sky, you water! and faithfully hold it, till all downcast eyes have time to take it from you;
LG1867	3341	Diverge, fine spokes of light, from the shape of my head, or any one's head, in the sun-lit water;
LG1867	3342	Come on, ships from the lower bay! pass up or down, white-sail'd schooners, sloops, lighters!
LG1867	3343	Flaunt away, flags of all nations! be duly lower'd at sunset;
LG1867	3344	Burn high your fires, foundry chimneys! cast black shadows at nightfall! cast red and yellow light over the tops of the houses;
LG1867	3345	Appearances, now or henceforth, indicate what you are;
LG1867	3346	You necessary film, continue to envelop the soul;
LG1867	3347	About my body for me, and your body for you, be hung our divinest aromas;
LG1867	3348	Thrive, cities! bring your freight, bring your shows, ample and sufficient rivers;
LG1867	3349	Expand, being than which none else is perhaps more spiritual;
LG1867	3350	Keep your places, objects than which none else is more lasting.
LG1867	3351	We descend upon you and all things—we arrest you all;
LG1867	3352	We realize the soul only by you, you faithful solids and fluids;
LG1867	3353	Through you color, form, location, sublimity, ideality;
LG1867	3354	Through you every proof, comparison, and all the sug-gestionssuggestions and determinations of ourselves.
LG1867	3355	You have waited, you always wait, you dumb, beau-tifulbeautiful ministers! you novices!
LG1867	3356	We receive you with free sense at last, and are insati-ateinsatiate henceforward;
LG1867	3357	Not you any more shall be able to foil us, or with-holdwithhold yourselves from us;
LG1867	3358	We use you, and do not cast you aside—we plant you permanently within us;
LG1867	3359	We fathom you not—we love you—there is perfection in you also;
LG1867	3360	You furnish your parts toward eternity;
LG1867	3361	Great or small, you furnish your parts toward the soul.
LG1867	3362	COURAGE! my brother or my sister!
LG1867	3363	Keep on! Liberty is to be subserved, whatever occurs;
LG1867	3364	That is nothing, that is quell'd by one or two failures, or any number of failures,
LG1867	3365	Or by the indifference or ingratitude of the people, or by any unfaithfulness,
LG1867	3366	Or the show of the tushes of power, soldiers, cannon, penal statutes.
LG1867	3367	What we believe in waits latent forever through all the continents, and all the islands and archi-pelagosarchipelagos of the sea.
LG1867	3368	What we believe in invites no one, promises nothing, sits in calmness and light, is positive and com-posedcomposed, knows no discouragement,
LG1867	3369	Waiting patiently, waiting its time.
LG1867	3370	The battle rages with many a loud alarm, and fre-quentfrequent advance and retreat,
LG1867	3371	The infidel triumphs—or supposes he triumphs,
LG1867	3372	The prison, scaffold, garrote, hand-cuffs, iron necklace and anklet, lead-balls, do their work,
LG1867	3373	The named and unnamed heroes pass to other spheres,
LG1867	3374	The great speakers and writers are exiled—they lie sick in distant lands,
LG1867	3375	The cause is asleep—the strongest throats are still, choked with their own blood,
LG1867	3376	The young men drop their eyelashes toward the ground when they meet;
LG1867	3377	But for all this, liberty has not gone out of the place, nor the infidel enter'd into possession.
LG1867	3378	When liberty goes out of a place, it is not the first to go, nor the second or third to go,
LG1867	3379	It waits for all the rest to go—it is the last.
LG1867	3380	When there are no more memories of heroes and martyrs,
LG1867	3381	And when all life, and all the souls of men and women are discharged from any part of the earth,
LG1867	3382	Then only shall liberty be discharged from that part of the earth,
LG1867	3383	And the infidel and the tyrant come into possession.
LG1867	3384	Then courage! revolter! revoltress!
LG1867	3385	For till all ceases, neither must you cease.
LG1867	3386	I do not know what you are for, (I do not know what I am for myself, nor what anything is for,)
LG1867	3387	But I will search carefully for it even in being foil'd,
LG1867	3388	In defeat, poverty, imprisonment—for they too are great.
LG1867	3389	Did we think victory great?
LG1867	3390	So it is—But now it seems to me, when it cannot be help'd, that defeat is great,
LG1867	3391	And that death and dismay are great.
LG1867	3392	TO get betimes in Boston town, I rose this morning early;
LG1867	3393	Here's a good place at the corner—I must stand and see the show.
LG1867	3394	Clear the way there, Jonathan!
LG1867	3395	Way for the President's marshal! Way for the gov-ernmentgovernment cannon!
LG1867	3396	Way for the Federal foot and dragoons—and the appa-ritionsapparitions copiously tumbling.
LG1867	3397	I love to look on the stars and stripes—I hope the fifes will play Yankee Doodle.
LG1867	3398	How bright shine the cutlasses of the foremost troops!
LG1867	3399	Every man holds his revolver, marching stiff through Boston town.
LG1867	3400	A fog follows—antiques of the same come limping,
LG1867	3401	Some appear wooden-legged, and some appear ban-dagedbandaged and bloodless.
LG1867	3402	Why this is indeed a show! It has call'd the dead out of the earth!
LG1867	3403	The old grave-yards of the hills have hurried to see!
LG1867	3404	Phantoms! phantoms countless by flank and rear!
LG1867	3405	Cock'd hats of mothy mould! crutches made of mist!
LG1867	3406	Arms in slings! old men leaning on young men's shoulders!
LG1867	3407	What troubles you, Yankee phantoms? What is all this chattering of bare gums?
LG1867	3408	Does the ague convulse your limbs? Do you mistake your crutches for fire-locks, and level them?
LG1867	3409	If you blind your eyes with tears, you will not see the President's marshal;
LG1867	3410	If you groan such groans you might balk the govern-mentgovernment cannon.
LG1867	3411	For shame, old maniacs! Bring down those toss'd arms, and let your white hair be;
LG1867	3412	Here gape your great grand-sons—their wives gaze at them from the windows,
LG1867	3413	See how well-dress'd—see how orderly they conduct themselves.
LG1867	3414	Worse and worse! Can't you stand it? Are you retreating?
LG1867	3415	Is this hour with the living too dead for you?
LG1867	3416	Retreat then! Pell-mell!
LG1867	3417	To your graves! Back! back to the hills, old limpers!
LG1867	3418	I do not think you belong here, anyhow.
LG1867	3419	But there is one thing that belongs here—shall I tell you what it is, gentlemen of Boston?
LG1867	3420	I will whisper it to the Mayor—he shall send a committee to England;
LG1867	3421	They shall get a grant from the Parliament, go with a cart to the royal vault—haste!
LG1867	3422	Dig out King George's coffin, unwrap him quick from the grave-clothes, box up his bones for a journey;
LG1867	3423	Find a swift Yankee clipper—here is freight for you, black-bellied clipper,
LG1867	3424	Up with your anchor! shake out your sails! steer straight toward Boston bay.
LG1867	3425	Now call for the President's marshal again, bring out the government cannon,
LG1867	3426	Fetch home the roarers from Congress, make another procession, guard it with foot and dragoons.
LG1867	3427	This centre-piece for them:
LG1867	3428	Look! all orderly citizens—look from the windows, women!
LG1867	3429	The committee open the box, set up the regal ribs, glue those that will not stay,
LG1867	3430	Clap the skull on top of the ribs, and clap a crown on top of the skull.
LG1867	3431	You have got your revenge, old buster! The crown is come to its own, and more than its own.
LG1867	3432	Stick your hands in your pockets, Jonathan—you are a made man from this day;
LG1867	3433	You are mighty cute—and here is one of your bargains.
LG1867	3434	BE composed—be at ease with me—I am Walt Whitman, liberal and lusty as Nature;
LG1867	3435	Not till the sun excludes you, do I exclude you;
LG1867	3436	Not till the waters refuse to glisten for you, and the leaves to rustle for you, do my words refuse to glisten and rustle for you.
LG1867	3437	My girl, I appoint with you an appointment—and I charge you that you make preparation to be worthy to meet me,
LG1867	3438	And I charge you that you be patient and perfect till I come.
LG1867	3439	Till then, I salute you with a significant look, that you do not forget me.
LG1867	3440	IS reform needed? Is it through you?
LG1867	3441	The greater the reform needed, the greater PER-SONALITYPERSONALITY you need to accomplish it.
LG1867	3442	You! do you not see how it would serve to have eyes, blood, complexion, clean and sweet?
LG1867	3443	Do you not see how it would serve to have such a Body and Soul, that when you enter the crowd, an atmosphere of desire and command enters with you, and every one is impress'd with your per-sonalitypersonality?
LG1867	3444	O the magnet! the flesh over and over!
LG1867	3445	Go, dear friend! if need be, give up all else, and com-mencecommence to-day to inure yourself to pluck, reality, self-esteem, definiteness, elevatedness;
LG1867	3446	Rest not, till you rivet and publish yourself of your own personality.
LG1867	3447	WHAT you give me, I cheerfully accept,
LG1867	3448	A little sustenance, a hut and garden, a little money— these, as I rendezvous with my poems,
LG1867	3449	A traveler's lodging and breakfast as I journey through The States—Why should I be ashamed to own such gifts? Why to advertise for them?
LG1867	3450	For I myself am not one who bestows nothing upon man and woman;
LG1867	3451	For I bestow upon any man or woman the entrance to all the gifts of the universe.
LG1867	3452	OUT of the rock'd cradle,
LG1867	3453	Out of the mocking-bird's throat, the musical shuttle,
LG1867	3454	Out of the Ninth-month midnight,
LG1867	3455	Over the sterile sands, and the fields beyond, where the child, leaving his bed, wander'd alone, bare-headedbare-headed, barefoot,
LG1867	3456	Down from the shower'd halo,
LG1867	3457	Up from the mystic play of shadows, twining and twisting as if they were alive,
LG1867	3458	Out from the patches of briers and blackberries,
LG1867	3459	From the memories of the bird that chanted to me,
LG1867	3460	From your memories, sad brother—from the fitful risings and fallings I heard,
LG1867	3461	From under that yellow half-moon, late-risen, and swollen as if with tears,
LG1867	3462	From those beginning notes of sickness and love,there in the transparent mist,
LG1867	3463	From the thousand responses of my heart, never to cease,
LG1867	3464	From the myriad thence-arous'd words,
LG1867	3465	From the word stronger and more delicious than any,
LG1867	3466	From such, as now they start, the scene revisiting,
LG1867	3467	As a flock, twittering, rising, or overhead passing,
LG1867	3468	Borne hither—ere all eludes me, hurriedly,
LG1867	3469	A man—yet by these tears a little boy again,
LG1867	3470	Throwing myself on the sand, confronting the waves,
LG1867	3471	I, chanter of pains and joys, uniter of here and hereafter,
LG1867	3472	Taking all hints to use them—but swiftly leaping beyond them,
LG1867	3473	A reminiscence sing.
LG1867	3474	Once, Paumanok,
LG1867	3475	When the snows had melted, and the Fifth-month grass was growing,
LG1867	3476	Up this sea-shore, in some briers,
LG1867	3477	Two guests from Alabama—two together,
LG1867	3478	And their nest, and four light-green eggs, spotted with brown,
LG1867	3479	And every day the he-bird, to and fro, near at hand,
LG1867	3480	And every day the she-bird, crouch'd on her nest,silent, with bright eyes,
LG1867	3481	And every day I, a curious boy, never too close, never disturbing them,
LG1867	3482	Cautiously peering, absorbing, translating.
LG1867	3483	Shine! shine! shine!
LG1867	3484	Pour down your warmth, great Sun!
LG1867	3485	While we bask—we two together.
LG1867	3486	Two together!
LG1867	3487	Winds blow South, or winds blow North,
LG1867	3488	Day come white, or night come black,
LG1867	3489	Home, or rivers and mountains from home,
LG1867	3490	Singing all time, minding no time,
LG1867	3491	If we two but keep together.
LG1867	3492	Till of a sudden,
LG1867	3493	May-be kill'd, unknown to her mate,
LG1867	3494	One forenoon the she-bird crouch'd not on the nest,
LG1867	3495	Nor return'd that afternoon, nor the next,
LG1867	3496	Nor ever appear'd again.
LG1867	3497	And thenceforward, all summer, in the sound of the sea,
LG1867	3498	And at night, under the full of the moon, in calmer weather,
LG1867	3499	Over the hoarse surging of the sea,
LG1867	3500	Or flitting from brier to brier by day,
LG1867	3501	I saw, I heard at intervals, the remaining one, the he-bird,
LG1867	3502	The solitary guest from Alabama.
LG1867	3503	Blow! blow! blow!
LG1867	3504	Blow up, sea-winds, along Paumanok's shore!
LG1867	3505	I wait and I wait, till you blow my mate to me.
LG1867	3506	Yes, when the stars glisten'd,
LG1867	3507	All night long, on the prong of a moss-scallop'd stake,
LG1867	3508	Down, almost amid the slapping waves,
LG1867	3509	Sat the lone singer, wonderful, causing tears.
LG1867	3510	He call'd on his mate;
LG1867	3511	He pour'd forth the meanings which I, of all men,know.
LG1867	3512	Yes, my brother, I know;
LG1867	3513	The rest might not—but I have treasur'd every note;
LG1867	3514	For once, and more than once, dimly, down to the beach gliding,
LG1867	3515	Silent, avoiding the moonbeams, blending myself with the shadows,
LG1867	3516	Recalling now the obscure shapes, the echoes, the sounds and sights after their sorts,
LG1867	3517	The white arms out in the breakers tirelessly tossing,
LG1867	3518	I, with bare feet, a child, the wind wafting my hair,
LG1867	3519	Listen'd long and long.
LG1867	3520	Listen'd, to keep, to sing—now translating the notes,
LG1867	3521	Following you, my brother.
LG1867	3522	Soothe! soothe! soothe!
LG1867	3523	Close on its wave soothes the wave behind,
LG1867	3524	And again another behind, embracing and lapping, every one close,
LG1867	3525	But my love soothes not me, not me.
LG1867	3526	Low hangs the moon—it rose late;
LG1867	3527	O it is lagging—O I think it is heavy with love, with love.
LG1867	3528	O madly the sea pushes, pushes upon the land.
LG1867	3529	With love—with love.
LG1867	3530	O night! do I not see my love fluttering out there among the breakers?
LG1867	3531	What is that little black thing I see there in the white?
LG1867	3532	Loud! loud! loud!
LG1867	3533	Loud I call to you, my love!
LG1867	3534	High and clear I shoot my voice over the waves;
LG1867	3535	Surely you must know who is here, is here;
LG1867	3536	You must know who I am, my love.
LG1867	3537	Low-hanging moon!
LG1867	3538	What is that dusky spot in your brown yellow?
LG1867	3539	O it is the shape, the shape of my mate!
LG1867	3540	O moon, do not keep her from me any longer.
LG1867	3541	Land! land! O land!
LG1867	3542	Whichever way I turn, O I think you could give me my mate back again, if you only would;
LG1867	3543	For I am almost sure I see her dimly whichever way I look.
LG1867	3544	O rising stars!
LG1867	3545	Perhaps the one I want so much will rise, will rise with some of you.
LG1867	3546	O throat! O trembling throat!
LG1867	3547	Sound clearer through the atmosphere!
LG1867	3548	Pierce the woods, the earth;
LG1867	3549	Somewhere listening to catch you, must be the one I want.
LG1867	3550	Shake out, carols!
LG1867	3551	Solitary here—the night's carols!
LG1867	3552	Carols of lonesome love! Death's carols!
LG1867	3553	Carols under that lagging, yellow, waning moon!
LG1867	3554	O, under that moon, where she droops almost down into the sea!
LG1867	3555	O reckless, despairing carols.
LG1867	3556	But soft! sink low;
LG1867	3557	Soft! let me just murmur;
LG1867	3558	And do you wait a moment, you husky-noised sea;
LG1867	3559	For somewhere I believe I heard my mate responding to me,
LG1867	3560	So faint—I must be still, be still to listen;
LG1867	3561	But not altogether still, for then she might not come immediately tome.
LG1867	3562	Hither, my love!
LG1867	3563	Here I am! Here!
LG1867	3564	With this just-sustain'd note I announce myself to you;
LG1867	3565	This gentle call is for you, my love, for you.
LG1867	3566	Do not be decoy'd elsewhere!
LG1867	3567	That is the whistle of the wind—it is not my voice;
LG1867	3568	That is the fluttering, the fluttering of the spray;
LG1867	3569	Those are the shadows of leaves.
LG1867	3570	O darkness! O in vain!
LG1867	3571	O I am very sick and sorrowful.
LG1867	3572	O brown halo in the sky, near the moon, drooping upon the sea!
LG1867	3573	O troubled reflection in the sea!
LG1867	3574	O throat! O throbbing heart!
LG1867	3575	O all—and I singing uselessly, uselessly all the night.
LG1867	3576	Yet I murmur, murmur on!
LG1867	3577	O murmurs—you yourselves make me continue to sing, I know not why.
LG1867	3578	O past! O life! O songs of joy!
LG1867	3579	In the air—in the woods—over fields;
LG1867	3580	Loved! loved! loved! loved! loved!
LG1867	3581	But my love no more, no more with me!
LG1867	3582	We two together no more.
LG1867	3583	The aria sinking;
LG1867	3584	All else continuing—the stars shining,
LG1867	3585	The winds blowing—the notes of the bird continuous echoing,
LG1867	3586	With angry moans the fierce old mother incessantly moaning,
LG1867	3587	On the sands of Paumanok's shore, gray and rustling;
LG1867	3588	The yellow half-moon enlarged, sagging down, droop-ingdrooping, the face of the sea almost touching;
LG1867	3589	The boy extatic—with his bare feet the waves, with his hair the atmosphere dallying,
LG1867	3590	The love in the heart long pent, now loose, now at last tumultuously bursting,
LG1867	3591	The aria's meaning, the ears, the Soul, swiftly deposit-ingdepositing,
LG1867	3592	The strange tears down the cheeks coursing,
LG1867	3593	The colloquy there—the trio—each uttering,
LG1867	3594	The undertone—the savage old mother, incessantly crying,
LG1867	3595	To the boy's Soul's questions sullenly timing—some drown'd secret hissing,
LG1867	3596	To the outsetting bard of love.
LG1867	3597	Demon or bird! (said the boy's soul,)
LG1867	3598	Is it indeed toward your mate you sing? or is it mostly to me?
LG1867	3599	For I, that was a child, my tongue's use sleeping,
LG1867	3600	Now I have heard you,
LG1867	3601	Now in a moment I know what I am for—I awake,
LG1867	3602	And already a thousand singers—a thousand songs,clearer, louder and more sorrowful than yours,
LG1867	3603	A thousand warbling echoes have started to life within me,
LG1867	3604	Never to die.
LG1867	3605	O you singer, solitary, singing by yourself—project-ingprojecting me;
LG1867	3606	O solitary me, listening—never more shall I cease per-petuatingperpetuating you;
LG1867	3607	Never more shall I escape, never more the reverbera-tionsreverberations,
LG1867	3608	Never more the cries of unsatisfied love be absent from me,
LG1867	3609	Never again leave me to be the peaceful child I was before what there, in the night,
LG1867	3610	By the sea, under the yellow and sagging moon,
LG1867	3611	The messenger there aroused—the fire, the sweet hell within,
LG1867	3612	The unknown want, the destiny of me.
LG1867	3613	O give me the clew! (it lurks in the night here somewhere;)
LG1867	3614	O if I am to have so much, let me have more!
LG1867	3615	O a word! O what is my destination? (I fear it is henceforth chaos;)
LG1867	3616	O how joys, dreads, convolutions, human shapes, and all shapes, spring as from graves around me!
LG1867	3617	O phantoms! you cover all the land and all the sea!
LG1867	3618	O I cannot see in the dimness whether you smile or frown upon me;
LG1867	3619	O vapor, a look, a word! O well-beloved!
LG1867	3620	O you dear women's and men's phantoms!
LG1867	3621	A word then, (for I will conquer it,)
LG1867	3622	The word final, superior to all,
LG1867	3623	Subtle, sent up—what is it?—I listen;
LG1867	3624	Are you whispering it, and have been all the time, you sea-waves?
LG1867	3625	Is that it from your liquid rims and wet sands?
LG1867	3626	Whereto answering, the sea,
LG1867	3627	Delaying not, hurrying not,
LG1867	3628	Whisper'd me through the night, and very plainly be-forebefore daybreak,
LG1867	3629	Lisp'd to me the low and delicious word DEATH;
LG1867	3630	And again Death—ever Death, Death, Death,
LG1867	3631	Hissing melodious, neither like the bird, nor like my arous'd child's heart,
LG1867	3632	But edging near, as privately for me, rustling at my feet,
LG1867	3633	Creeping thence steadily up to my ears, and laving me softly all over,
LG1867	3634	Death, Death, Death, Death, Death.
LG1867	3635	Which I do not forget,
LG1867	3636	But fuse the song of my dusky demon and brother,
LG1867	3637	That he sang to me in the moonlight on Paumanok's gray beach,
LG1867	3638	With the thousand responsive songs, at random,
LG1867	3639	My own songs, awaked from that hour;
LG1867	3640	And with them the key, the word up from the waves,
LG1867	3641	The word of the sweetest song, and all songs,
LG1867	3642	That strong and delicious word which, creeping to my feet,
LG1867	3643	The sea whisper'd me.
LG1867	3644	SAUNTERING the pavement, or riding the country by-roadby-road—lo! such faces!
LG1867	3645	Faces of friendship, precision, caution, suavity,ideality;
LG1867	3646	The spiritual prescient face—the always welcome,common, benevolent face,
LG1867	3647	The face of the singing of music—the grand faces of natural lawyers and judges, broad at the back-top;
LG1867	3648	The faces of hunters and fishers, bulged at the brows— the shaved blanch'd faces of orthodox citizens;
LG1867	3649	The pure, extravagant, yearning, questioning artist's face;
LG1867	3650	The ugly face of some beautiful Soul, the handsome detested or despised face;
LG1867	3651	The sacred faces of infants, the illuminated face of the mother of many children;
LG1867	3652	The face of an amour, the face of veneration;
LG1867	3653	The face as of a dream, the face of an immobile rock;
LG1867	3654	The face withdrawn of its good and bad, a castrated face;
LG1867	3655	A wild hawk, his wings clipp'd by the clipper;
LG1867	3656	A stallion that yielded at last to the thongs and knife of the gelder.
LG1867	3657	Sauntering the pavement, thus, or crossing the ceaseless ferry, faces, and faces, and faces:
LG1867	3658	I see them, and complain not, and am content with all.
LG1867	3659	Do you suppose I could be content with all, if I thought them their own finale?
LG1867	3660	This now is too lamentable a face for a man;
LG1867	3661	Some abject louse, asking leave to be—cringing for it;
LG1867	3662	Some milk-nosed maggot, blessing what lets it wrig to its hole.
LG1867	3663	This face is a dog's snout, sniffing for garbage;
LG1867	3664	Snakes nest in that mouth—I hear the sibilant threat.
LG1867	3665	This face is a haze more chill than the arctic sea;
LG1867	3666	Its sleepy and wobbling icebergs crunch as they go.
LG1867	3667	This is a face of bitter herbs—this an emetic—they need no label;
LG1867	3668	And more of the drug-shelf, laudanum, caoutchouc, or hog's-lard.
LG1867	3669	This face is an epilepsy, its wordless tongue gives out the unearthly cry,
LG1867	3670	Its veins down the neck distend, its eyes roll till they show nothing but their whites,
LG1867	3671	Its teeth grit, the palms of the hands are cut by the turn'd-in nails,
LG1867	3672	The man falls struggling and foaming to the ground while he speculates well.
LG1867	3673	This face is bitten by vermin and worms,
LG1867	3674	And this is some murderer's knife with a half-pull'd scabbard.
LG1867	3675	This face owes to the sexton his dismalest fee;
LG1867	3676	An unceasing death-bell tolls there.
LG1867	3677	Those then are really men—the bosses and tufts of the great round globe!
LG1867	3678	Features of my equals, would you trick me with your creas'd and cadaverous march?
LG1867	3679	Well, you cannot trick me.
LG1867	3680	I see your rounded never-erased flow;
LG1867	3681	I see neath the rims of your haggard and mean dis-guisesdisguises.
LG1867	3682	Splay and twist as you like—poke with the tangling fores of fishes or rats;
LG1867	3683	You'll be unmuzzled, you certainly will.
LG1867	3684	I saw the face of the most smear'd and slobbering idiot they had at the asylum;
LG1867	3685	And I knew for my consolation what they knew not;
LG1867	3686	I knew of the agents that emptied and broke my brother,
LG1867	3687	The same wait to clear the rubbish from the fallen tenement;
LG1867	3688	And I shall look again in a score or two of ages,
LG1867	3689	And I shall meet the real landlord, perfect and un-harmunharm'd, every inch as good as myself.
LG1867	3690	The Lord advances, and yet advances;
LG1867	3691	Always the shadow in front—always the reach'd hand bringing up the laggards.
LG1867	3692	Out of this face emerge banners and horses—O su-perbsuperb! I see what is coming;
LG1867	3693	I see the high pioneer-caps—I see the staves of run-nersrunners clearing the way,
LG1867	3694	I hear victorious drums.
LG1867	3695	This face is a life-boat;
LG1867	3696	This is the face commanding and bearded, it asks no odds of the rest;
LG1867	3697	This face is flavor'd fruit, ready for eating;
LG1867	3698	This face of a healthy honest boy is the programme of all good.
LG1867	3699	These faces bear testimony slumbering or awake;
LG1867	3700	They show their descent from the Master himself.
LG1867	3701	Off the word I have spoken I except not one—red,white, black, are all deific;
LG1867	3702	In each house is the ovum—it comes forth after a thousand years.
LG1867	3703	Spots or cracks at the windows do not disturb me;
LG1867	3704	Tall and sufficient stand behind, and make signs to me;
LG1867	3705	I read the promise, and patiently wait.
LG1867	3706	This is a full-grown lily's face,
LG1867	3707	She speaks to the limber-hipp'd man near the garden pickets,
LG1867	3708	Come here, she blushingly cries—Come nigh to me, lim-ber-hipp'dlimber-hipp'd man,
LG1867	3709	Stand at my side till I lean as high as I can upon you,
LG1867	3710	Fill me with albescent honey, bend down to me,
LG1867	3711	Rub to me with your chafing beard, rub to my breast and shoulders.
LG1867	3712	The old face of the mother of many children!
LG1867	3713	Whist! I am fully content.
LG1867	3714	Lull'd and late is the smoke of the First-day morning,
LG1867	3715	It hangs low over the rows of trees by the fences,
LG1867	3716	It hangs thin by the sassafras, the wild-cherry, and the cat-brier under them.
LG1867	3717	I saw the rich ladies in full dress at the soiree,
LG1867	3718	I heard what the singers were singing so long,
LG1867	3719	Heard who sprang in crimson youth from the white froth and the water-blue.
LG1867	3720	Behold a woman!
LG1867	3721	She looks out from her quaker cap—her face is clearer and more beautiful than the sky.
LG1867	3722	She sits in an arm-chair, under the shaded porch of the farm-house,
LG1867	3723	The sun just shines on her old white head.
LG1867	3724	Her ample gown is of cream-hued linen,
LG1867	3725	Her grandsons raised the flax, and her grand-daugh-tersgrand-daughters spun it with the distaff and the wheel.
LG1867	3726	The melodious character of the earth,
LG1867	3727	The finish beyond which philosophy cannot go, and does not wish to go,
LG1867	3728	The justified mother of men.
LG1867	3729	HAVE you learned lessons only of those who admired you, and were tender with you, and stood aside for you?
LG1867	3730	Have you not learned the great lessons of those who rejected you, and braced themselves against you? or who treated you with contempt, or disputed the passage with you?
LG1867	3731	SUDDENLY, out of its stale and drowsy lair, the lair of slaves,
LG1867	3732	Like lightning it le'pt forth, half startled at itself,
LG1867	3733	Its feet upon the ashes and the rags—its hands tight to the throats of kings.
LG1867	3734	O hope and faith!
LG1867	3735	O aching close of exiled patriots' lives!
LG1867	3736	O many a sicken'd heart!
LG1867	3737	Turn back unto this day, and make yourselves afresh.
LG1867	3738	And you, paid to defile the People! you liars, mark!
LG1867	3739	Not for numberless agonies, murders, lusts,
LG1867	3740	For court thieving in its manifold mean forms, worm-ingworming from his simplicity the poor man's wages,
LG1867	3741	For many a promise sworn by royal lips, and broken, and laugh'd at in the breaking,
LG1867	3742	Then in their power, not for all these did the blow. strike revenge, or the heads of the nobles fall;
LG1867	3743	The People scorn'd the ferocity of kings.
LG1867	3744	But the sweetness of mercy brew'd bitter destruc-tiondestruction, and the frighten'd rulers come back;
LG1867	3745	Each comes in state with his train—hangman, priest, tax-gatherer,
LG1867	3746	Soldier, lawyer, lord, jailer, and sycophant.
LG1867	3747	Yet behind all, lowering, stealing—lo, a Shape,
LG1867	3748	Vague as the night, draped interminably, head, front and form, in scarlet folds,
LG1867	3749	Whose face and eyes none may see,
LG1867	3750	Out of its robes only this—the red robes, lifted by the arm,
LG1867	3751	One finger, crook'd, pointed high over the top, like the head of a snake appears.
LG1867	3752	Meanwhile, corpses lie in new-made graves—bloody corpses of young men;
LG1867	3753	The rope of the gibbet hangs heavily, the bullets of princes are flying, the creatures of power laugh aloud,
LG1867	3754	And all these things bear fruits—and they are good.
LG1867	3755	Those corpses of young men,
LG1867	3756	Those martyrs that hang from the gibbets—those hearts pierc'd by the gray lead,
LG1867	3757	Cold and motionless as they seem, live elsewhere with unslaughter'd vitality.
LG1867	3758	They live in other youngmen, O kings!
LG1867	3759	They live in brothers, again ready to defy you!
LG1867	3760	They were purified by death—they were taught and exalted.
LG1867	3761	Not a grave of the murder'd for freedom, but grows seed for freedom, in its turn to bear seed,
LG1867	3762	Which the winds carry afar and re-sow, and the rains and the snows nourish.
LG1867	3763	Not a disembodied spirit can the weapons of tyrants let loose,
LG1867	3764	But it stalks invisibly over the earth, whispering, counseling, cautioning.
LG1867	3765	Liberty! let others despair of you! I never despair of you.
LG1867	3766	Is the house shut? Is the master away?
LG1867	3767	Nevertheless, be ready—be not weary of watching;
LG1867	3768	He will soon return—his messengers come anon.
LG1867	3769	OF Public Opinion;
LG1867	3770	Of a calm and cool fiat, sooner or later, (How im-passiveimpassive! How certain and final!)
LG1867	3771	Of the President with pale face asking secretly to himself, What will the people say at last?
LG1867	3772	Of the frivolous Judge—Of the corrupt Congressman, Governor, Mayor—Of such as these, standing helpless and exposed;
LG1867	3773	Of the mumbling and screaming priest—(soon, soon deserted;)
LG1867	3774	Of the lessening, year by year, of venerableness, and of the dicta of officers, statutes, pulpits, schools;
LG1867	3775	Of the rising forever taller and stronger and broader, of the intuitions of men and women, and of self-esteem, and of personality;
LG1867	3776	—Of the New World—Of the Democracies, resplendent, en-masse;
LG1867	3777	Of the conformity of politics, armies, navies, to them and to me,
LG1867	3778	Of the shining sun by them—Of the inherent light, greater than the rest,
LG1867	3779	Of the envelopment of all by them, and of the effusion of all from them.
LG1867	3780	ON a flat road runs the well-train'd runner;
LG1867	3781	He is lean and sinewy, with muscular legs;
LG1867	3782	He is thinly clothed—he leans forward as he runs,
LG1867	3783	With lightly closed fists, and arms partially rais'd.
LG1867	3784	EARTH, round, rolling, compact—suns, moons, ani-malsanimals—all these are words to be said;
LG1867	3785	Watery, vegetable, sauroid advances—beings, premoni-tionspremonitions, lispings of the future,
LG1867	3786	Behold! these are vast words to be said.
LG1867	3787	Were you thinking that those were the words— those upright lines? those curves, angles, dots?
LG1867	3788	No, those are not the words—the substantial words are in the ground and sea,
LG1867	3789	They are in the air—they are in you.
LG1867	3790	Were you thinking that those were the words— those delicious sounds out of your friends' mouths?
LG1867	3791	No, the real words are more delicious than they.
LG1867	3792	Human bodies are words, myriads of words;
LG1867	3793	In the best poems re-appears the body, man's or wo-manwoman's, well-shaped, natural, gay,
LG1867	3794	Every part able, active, receptive, without shame or the need of shame.
LG1867	3795	Air, soil, water, fire—these are words;
LG1867	3796	I myself am a word with them—my qualities inter-penetrateinterpenetrate with theirs—my name is nothing to them;
LG1867	3797	Though it were told in the three thousand languages,what would air, soil, water, fire, know of my name?
LG1867	3798	A healthy presence, a friendly or commanding ges-turegesture, are words, sayings, meanings;
LG1867	3799	The charms that go with the mere looks of some men and women, are sayings and meanings also.
LG1867	3800	The workmanship of souls is by the inaudible words of the earth;
LG1867	3801	The great masters know the earth's words, and use them more than the audible words.
LG1867	3802	Amelioration is one of the earth's words;
LG1867	3803	The earth neither lags nor hastens;
LG1867	3804	It has all attributes, growths, effects, latent in itself from the jump;
LG1867	3805	It is not half beautiful only—defects and excrescences show just as much as perfections show.
LG1867	3806	The earth does not withhold, it is generous enough;
LG1867	3807	The truths of the earth continually wait, they are not so conceal'd either;
LG1867	3808	They are calm, subtle, untransmissible by print;
LG1867	3809	They are imbued through all things, conveying them-selvesthemselves willingly,
LG1867	3810	Conveying a sentiment and invitation of the earth—I utter and utter,
LG1867	3811	I speak not, yet if you hear me not, of what avail am I to you?
LG1867	3812	To bear—to better—lacking these, of what avail am I?
LG1867	3813	(Accouche! Accouchez!
LG1867	3814	Will you rot your own fruit in yourself there?
LG1867	3815	Will you squat and stifle there?)
LG1867	3816	The earth does not argue,
LG1867	3817	Is not pathetic, has no arrangements,
LG1867	3818	Does not scream, haste, persuade, threaten, promise,
LG1867	3819	Makes no discriminations, has no conceivable failures,
LG1867	3820	Closes nothing, refuses nothing, shuts none out,
LG1867	3821	Of all the powers, objects, states, it notifies, shuts none out.
LG1867	3822	The earth does not exhibit itself, nor refuse to ex-hibitexhibit itself—possesses still underneath;
LG1867	3823	Underneath the ostensible sounds, the august chorus of heroes, the wail of slaves,
LG1867	3824	Persuasions of lovers, curses, gasps of the dying,laughter of young people, accents of bar-gainersbargainers,
LG1867	3825	Underneath these, possessing the words that never fail.
LG1867	3826	To her children, the words of the eloquent dumb great mother never fail;
LG1867	3827	The true words do not fail, for motion does not fail,and reflection does not fail;
LG1867	3828	Also the day and night do not fail, and the voyage we pursue does not fail.
LG1867	3829	Of the interminable sisters,
LG1867	3830	Of the ceaseless cotillions of sisters,
LG1867	3831	Of the centripetal and centrifugal sisters, the elder and younger sisters,
LG1867	3832	The beautiful sister we know dances on with the rest.
LG1867	3833	With her ample back towards every beholder,
LG1867	3834	With the fascinations of youth, and the equal fascina-tionsfascinations of age,
LG1867	3835	Sits she whom I too love like the rest—sits undis-turbundisturb'd,
LG1867	3836	Holding up in her hand what has the character of a mirror, while her eyes glance back from it,
LG1867	3837	Glance as she sits, inviting none, denying none,
LG1867	3838	Holding a mirror day and night tirelessly before her own face.
LG1867	3839	Seen at hand, or seen at a distance,
LG1867	3840	Duly the twenty-four appear in public every day,
LG1867	3841	Duly approach and pass with their companions, or a companion,
LG1867	3842	Looking from no countenances of their own, but from the countenances of those who are with them,
LG1867	3843	From the countenances of children or women, or the manly countenance,
LG1867	3844	From the open countenances of animals, or from in-animateinanimate things,
LG1867	3845	From the landscape or waters, or from the exquisite apparition of the sky,
LG1867	3846	From our countenances, mine and yours, faithfully re-turningreturning them,
LG1867	3847	Every day in public appearing without fail, but never twice with the same companions.
LG1867	3848	Embracing man, embracing all, proceed the three hundred and sixty-five resistlessly round the sun;
LG1867	3849	Embracing all, soothing, supporting, follow close three hundred and sixty-five offsets of the first, sure and necessary as they.
LG1867	3850	Tumbling on steadily, nothing dreading,
LG1867	3851	Sunshine, storm, cold, heat, forever withstanding.passing, carrying,
LG1867	3852	The Soul's realization and determination still inherit-inginheriting;
LG1867	3853	The fluid vacuum around and ahead still entering and dividing,
LG1867	3854	No balk retarding, no anchor anchoring, on no rock striking,
LG1867	3855	Swift, glad, content, unbereav'd, nothing losing,
LG1867	3856	Of all able and ready at any time to give strict ac-countaccount,
LG1867	3857	The divine ship sails the divine sea.
LG1867	3858	Whoever you are! motion and reflection are especi-allyespecially for you;
LG1867	3859	The divine ship sails the divine sea for you.
LG1867	3860	Whoever you are! you are he or she for whom the earth is solid and liquid,
LG1867	3861	You are he or she for whom the sun and moon hang in the sky,
LG1867	3862	For none more than you are the present and the past,
LG1867	3863	For none more than you is immortality.
LG1867	3864	Each man to himself, and each woman to herself,such is the word of the past and present, and the word of immortality;
LG1867	3865	No one can acquire for another—not one!
LG1867	3866	Not one can grow for another—not one!
LG1867	3867	The song is to the singer, and comes back most to him;
LG1867	3868	The teaching is to the teacher, and comes back most to him;
LG1867	3869	The murder is to the murderer, and comes back most to him;
LG1867	3870	The theft is to the thief, and comes back most to him;
LG1867	3871	The love is to the lover, and comes back most to him;
LG1867	3872	The gift is to the giver, and comes back most to him —it cannot fail;
LG1867	3873	The oration is to the orator, the acting is to the actor and actress, not to the audience;
LG1867	3874	And no man understands any greatness or goodness but his own, or the indication of his own.
LG1867	3875	I swear the earth shall surely be complete to him or her who shall be complete!
LG1867	3876	I swear the earth remains jagged and broken only to him or her who remains broken and jagged!
LG1867	3877	I swear there is no greatness or power that does not emulate those of the earth!
LG1867	3878	I swear there can be no theory of any account, unless it corroborate the theory of the earth!
LG1867	3879	No politics, art, religion, behavior, or what not, is of account, unless it compare with the amplitude of the earth,
LG1867	3880	Unless it face the exactness; vitality, impartiality, rec-tituderectitude of the earth.
LG1867	3881	I swear I begin to see love with sweeter spasms than that which responds love!
LG1867	3882	It is that which contains itself—which never invites,and never refuses.
LG1867	3883	I swear I begin to see little or nothing in audible words!
LG1867	3884	I swear I think all merges toward the presentation of the unspoken meanings of the earth!
LG1867	3885	Toward him who sings the songs of the Body, and of the truths of the earth;
LG1867	3886	Toward him who makes the dictionaries of words that print cannot touch.
LG1867	3887	I swear I see what is better than to tell the best;
LG1867	3888	It is always to leave the best untold.
LG1867	3889	When I undertake to tell the best, I find I cannot,
LG1867	3890	My tongue is ineffectual on its pivots,
LG1867	3891	My breath will not be obedient to its organs,
LG1867	3892	I become a dumb man.
LG1867	3893	The best of the earth cannot be told anyhow—all or any is best;
LG1867	3894	It is not what you anticipated—it is cheaper, easier nearer;
LG1867	3895	Things are not dismiss'd from the places they held before;
LG1867	3896	The earth is just as positive and direct as it was be-forebefore;
LG1867	3897	Facts, religions, improvements, politics, trades, are as real as before;
LG1867	3898	But the Soul is also real,—it too is positive and direct;
LG1867	3899	No reasoning, no proof has establish'd it,
LG1867	3900	Undeniable proof has establish'd it.
LG1867	3901	This is a poem for the sayers of words—these are hints of meanings,
LG1867	3902	These are they that echo the tones of Souls, and the phrases of Souls;
LG1867	3903	If they did not echo the phrases of Souls, what were they then ?
LG1867	3904	If they had not reference to you in especial, what were they then?
LG1867	3905	I swear I will never henceforth have to do with the faith that tells the best!
LG1867	3906	I will have to do only with that faith that leaves the best untold.
LG1867	3907	Say on, sayers!
LG1867	3908	Delve! mould! pile the words of the earth!
LG1867	3909	Work on—it is materials you bring, not breaths;
LG1867	3910	Work on, age after age! nothing is to be lost;
LG1867	3911	It may have to wait long, but it will certainly come in use;
LG1867	3912	When the materials are all prepared, the architects shall appear.
LG1867	3913	I swear to you the architects shall appear without fail! I announce them and lead them;
LG1867	3914	I swear to you they will understand you and justify you;
LG1867	3915	I swear to you the greatest among them shall be he who best knows you, and encloses all, and is faithful to all;
LG1867	3916	I swear to you, he and the rest shall not forget you— they shall perceive that you are not an iota less than they;
LG1867	3917	I swear to you, you shall be glorified in them.
LG1867	3918	O MAGNET-SOUTH! O glistening, perfumed South! My South!
LG1867	3919	O quick mettle, rich blood, impulse, and love! Good and evil! O all dear to me!
LG1867	3920	O dear to me my birth-things—All moving things, and the trees where I was born—the grains, plants, rivers;
LG1867	3921	Dear to me my own slow sluggish rivers where they flow, distant, over flats of silvery sands, or through swamps;
LG1867	3922	Dear to me the Roanoke, the Savannah, the Altama-hawAltamahaw, the Pedee, the Tombigbee, the Santee, the Coosa, and the Sabine;
LG1867	3923	O pensive, far away wandering, I return with my Soul to haunt their banks again;
LG1867	3924	Again in Florida I float on transparent lakes—I float on the Okeechobee—I cross the hummock land, or through pleasant openings, or dense forests;
LG1867	3925	I see the parrots in the woods—I see the papaw tree and the blossoming titi;
LG1867	3926	Again, sailing in my coaster, on deck, I coast off Georgia—I coast up the Carolinas,
LG1867	3927	I see where the live-oak is growing—I see where the yellow-pine, the scented bay-tree, the lemon and orange, the cypress, the graceful palmetto;
LG1867	3928	I pass rude sea-headlands and enter Pamlico Sound through an inlet, and dart my vision inland;
LG1867	3929	O the cotton plant! the growing fields of rice, sugar, hemp!
LG1867	3930	The cactus, guarded with thorns—the laurel-tree, with large white flowers;
LG1867	3931	The range afar—the richness and barrenness—the old woods charged with mistletoe and trailing moss,
LG1867	3932	The piney odor and the gloom—the awful natural stillness, (Here in these dense swamps the free-booterfree-booter carries his gun, and the fugitive slave has his conceal'd hut;)
LG1867	3933	O the strange fascination of these half-known, half-impassablehalf-impassable swamps, infested by reptiles, re-soundingresounding with the bellow of the alligator, the sad noises of the night-owl and the wild-cat, and the whirr of the rattlesnake;
LG1867	3934	The mocking-bird, the American mimic, singing all the forenoon—singing through the moon-lit night,
LG1867	3935	The humming-bird, the wild-turkey, the raccoon, the opossum;
LG1867	3936	A Tennessee corn-field—the tall, graceful, long-leav'd corn—slender, flapping, bright green, with tassels—with beautiful ears, each well-sheath'd in its husk;
LG1867	3937	An Arkansas prairie—a sleeping lake, or still bayou;
LG1867	3938	O my heart! O tender and fierce pangs—I can stand them not—I will depart;
LG1867	3939	O to be a Virginian, where I grew up! O to be a Carolinian!
LG1867	3940	O longings irrepressible! O I will go back to old Ten-nesseeTennessee, and never wander more!
LG1867	3941	ALL you are doing and saying is to America dangled mirages;
LG1867	3942	You have not learn'd of Nature—of the politics of Nature, you have not learn'd the great ampli-tudeamplitude, rectitude, impartiality;
LG1867	3943	You have not seen that only such as they are for These States,
LG1867	3944	And that what is less than they, must sooner or later lift off from These States.
LG1867	3945	TO The States, or any one of them, or any city of The States, Resist much, obey little;
LG1867	3946	Once unquestioning obedience, once fully enslaved;
LG1867	3947	Once fully enslaved, no nation, state, city, of this earth, ever afterward resumes its liberty.
LG1867	3948	I HEAR you have been asking for something to repre-sentrepresent the new race, our self-poised Democracy,
LG1867	3949	Therefore I send you my poems, that you behold in them what you wanted.
LG1867	3950	AFOOT and light-hearted, I take to the open road,
LG1867	3951	Healthy, free, the world before me,
LG1867	3952	The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose.
LG1867	3953	Henceforth I ask not good-fortune—I myself am good-fortune;
LG1867	3954	Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more,need nothing,
LG1867	3955	Strong and content, I travel the open road.
LG1867	3956	The earth—that is sufficient;
LG1867	3957	I do not want the constellations any nearer;
LG1867	3958	I know they are very well where they are;
LG1867	3959	I know they suffice for those who belong to them.
LG1867	3960	Still here I carry my old delicious burdens;
LG1867	3961	I carry them, men and women—I carry them with me wherever I go;
LG1867	3962	I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them;
LG1867	3963	I am fill'd with them, and I will fill them in return.
LG1867	3964	You road I enter upon and look around! I believe you are not all that is here; I believe that much unseen is also here.
LG1867	3965	Here is the profound lesson of reception, neither preference or denial;
LG1867	3966	The black with his woolly head, the felon, the dis-easdiseas'd, the illiterate person, are not denied;
LG1867	3967	The birth, the hasting after the physician, the beggar's tramp, the drunkard's stagger, the laughing party of mechanics,
LG1867	3968	The escaped youth, the rich person's carriage, the fop,the eloping couple,
LG1867	3969	The early market-man, the hearse, the moving of furniture into the town, the return back from the town,
LG1867	3970	They pass, I also pass, anything passes—none can be interdicted,
LG1867	3971	None but are accepted, none but are dear to me.
LG1867	3972	You air that serves me with breath to speak!
LG1867	3973	You objects that call from diffusion my meanings and give them shape!
LG1867	3974	You light that wraps me and all things in delicate equable showers!
LG1867	3975	You animals moving serenely over the earth!
LG1867	3976	You birds that wing yourselves through the air! you insects!
LG1867	3977	You sprouting growths from the farmers' fields! you stalks and weeds by the fences!
LG1867	3978	You paths worn in the irregular hollows by the road-sidesroadsides!
LG1867	3979	I think you are latent with unseen existences—you are so dear to me.
LG1867	3980	You flagg'd walks of the cities! you strong curbs at the edges!
LG1867	3981	You ferries! you planks and posts of wharves! you timber-lined sides! you distant ships!
LG1867	3982	You rows of houses! you window-pierc'd façades! you roofs!
LG1867	3983	You porches and entrances! you copings and iron guards!
LG1867	3984	You windows whose transparent shells might expose so much!
LG1867	3985	You doors and ascending steps! you arches!
LG1867	3986	You gray stones of interminable pavements! you trod-dentrodden crossings!
LG1867	3987	From all that has been near you, I believe you have im-partedimparted to yourselves, and now would impart the same secretly to me;
LG1867	3988	From the living and the dead I think you have peopled your impassive surfaces, and the spirits thereof would be evident and amicable with me.
LG1867	3989	The earth expanding right hand and left hand,
LG1867	3990	The picture alive, every part in its best light,
LG1867	3991	The music falling in where it is wanted, and stopping where it is not wanted,
LG1867	3992	The cheerful voice of the public road—the gay fresh sentiment of the road.
LG1867	3993	O highway I travel! O public road! do you say to me, Do not leave me?
LG1867	3994	Do you say, Venture not? If you leave me, you are lost?
LG1867	3995	Do you say, I am already prepared—I am well-beaten and undenied—adhere to me?
LG1867	3996	O public road! I say back, I am not afraid to leave you—yet I love you;
LG1867	3997	You express me better than I can express myself;
LG1867	3998	You shall be more to me than my poem.
LG1867	3999	I think heroic deeds were all conceiv'd in the open air;
LG1867	4000	I think I could stop here myself, and do miracles;
LG1867	4001	I think whatever I shall meet on the road I shall like,and whoever beholds me shall like me;
LG1867	4002	I think whoever I see must be happy.
LG1867	4003	From this hour, freedom!
LG1867	4004	From this hour I ordain myself loosed of limits and imaginary lines,
LG1867	4005	Going where I list—my own master, total and abso-luteabsolute,
LG1867	4006	Listening to others, and considering well what they say,
LG1867	4007	Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
LG1867	4008	Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.
LG1867	4009	I inhale great draughts of air;
LG1867	4010	The east and the west are mine, and the north and the south are mine.
LG1867	4011	I am larger than I thought;
LG1867	4012	I did not know I held so much goodness.
LG1867	4013	All seems beautiful to me;
LG1867	4014	I can repeat over to men and women, You have done such good to me, I would do the same to you.
LG1867	4015	I will recruit for myself and you as I go;
LG1867	4016	I will scatter myself among men and women as I go;
LG1867	4017	I will toss the new gladness and roughness among them;
LG1867	4018	Whoever denies me, it shall not trouble me;
LG1867	4019	Whoever accepts me, he or she shall be blessed, and shall bless me.
LG1867	4020	Now if a thousand perfect men were to appear, it would not amaze me;
LG1867	4021	Now if a thousand beautiful forms of women appear'd,it would not astonish me.
LG1867	4022	Now I see the secret of the making of the best per-sonspersons,
LG1867	4023	It is to grow in the open air, and to eat and sleep with the earth.
LG1867	4024	Here is space—here a great personal deed has room;
LG1867	4025	A great deed seizes upon the hearts of the whole race of men,
LG1867	4026	Its effusion of strength and will overwhelms law, and mocks all authority and all argument against it.
LG1867	4027	Here is the test of wisdom;
LG1867	4028	Wisdom is not finally tested in schools;
LG1867	4029	Wisdom cannot be pass'd from one having it, to an-otheranother not having it;
LG1867	4030	Wisdom is of the Soul, is not susceptible of proof, is its own proof,
LG1867	4031	Applies to all stages and objects and qualities, and is content,
LG1867	4032	Is the certainty of the reality and immortality of things, and the excellence of things;
LG1867	4033	Something there is in the float of the sight of things that provokes it out of the Soul.
LG1867	4034	Now I reëxamine philosophies and religions,
LG1867	4035	They may prove well in lecture-rooms, yet not prove at all under the spacious clouds, and along the land-scapelandscape and flowing currents.
LG1867	4036	Here is realization;
LG1867	4037	Here is a man tallied—he realizes here what he has in him;
LG1867	4038	The animals, the past, the future, light, space, majesty,love, if they are vacant of you, you are vacant of them.
LG1867	4039	Only the kernel of every object nourishes;
LG1867	4040	Where is he who tears off the husks for you and me?
LG1867	4041	Where is he that undoes stratagems and envelopes for you and me?
LG1867	4042	Here is adhesiveness—it is not previously fashion'd —it is apropos;
LG1867	4043	Do you know what it is, as you pass, to be loved by strangers?
LG1867	4044	Do you know the talk of those turning eye-balls?
LG1867	4045	Here is the efflux of the Soul;
LG1867	4046	The efflux of the Soul comes from within, through em-bowerembower'd gates, ever provoking questions:
LG1867	4047	These yearnings, why are they? These thoughts in the darkness, why are they?
LG1867	4048	Why are there men and women that while they are nigh me, the sun-light expands my blood?
LG1867	4049	Why, when they leave me, do my pennants of joy sink flat and lank?
LG1867	4050	Why are there trees I never walk under, but large and melodious thoughts descend upon me?
LG1867	4051	(I think they hang there winter and summer on those trees, and always drop fruit as I pass;)
LG1867	4052	What is it I interchange so suddenly with strangers?
LG1867	4053	What with some driver, as I ride on the seat by his side?
LG1867	4054	What with some fisherman, drawing his seine by the shore, as I walk by, and pause?
LG1867	4055	What gives me to be free to a woman's or man's good-willgood-will? What gives them to be free to mine?
LG1867	4056	The efflux of the Soul is happiness—here is happi-nesshappiness;
LG1867	4057	I think it pervades the air, waiting at all times;
LG1867	4058	Now it flows into us—we are rightly charged.
LG1867	4059	Here rises the fluid and attaching character;
LG1867	4060	The fluid and attaching character is the freshness and sweetness of man and woman;
LG1867	4061	(The herbs of the morning sprout no fresher and sweeter every day out of the roots of them-selvesthemselves, than it sprouts fresh and sweet contin-uallycontinually out of itself.)
LG1867	4062	Toward the fluid and attaching character exudes the sweat of the love of young and old;
LG1867	4063	From it falls distill'd the charm that mocks beauty and attainments;
LG1867	4064	Toward it heaves the shuddering longing ache of contact.
LG1867	4065	Allons! whoever you are, come travel with me!
LG1867	4066	Traveling with me, you find what never tires.
LG1867	4067	The earth never tires;
LG1867	4068	The earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first— Nature is rude and incomprehensible at first;
LG1867	4069	Be not discouraged—keep on—there are divine things,well envelop'd;
LG1867	4070	I swear to you there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell.
LG1867	4071	Allons! We must not stop here!
LG1867	4072	However sweet these laid-up stores—however con-venientconvenient this dwelling, we cannot remain here;
LG1867	4073	However shelter'd this port, and however calm these waters, we must not anchor here;
LG1867	4074	However welcome the hospitality that surrounds us,we are permitted to receive it but a little while.
LG1867	4075	Allons! The inducements shall be great to you;
LG1867	4076	We will sail pathless and wild seas;
LG1867	4077	We will go where winds blow, waves dash, and the Yankee clipper speeds by under full sail.
LG1867	4078	Allons! With power, liberty, the earth, the ele-mentselements!
LG1867	4079	Health, defiance, gayety, self-esteem, curiosity;
LG1867	4080	Allons! from all formules!
LG1867	4081	From your formules, O bat-eyed and materialistic priests!
LG1867	4082	The stale cadaver blocks up the passage—the burial waits no longer.
LG1867	4083	Allons! Yet take warning!
LG1867	4084	He traveling with me needs the best blood, thews,endurance;
LG1867	4085	None may come to the trial, till he or she bring courage and health.
LG1867	4086	Come not here if you have already spent the best of yourself;
LG1867	4087	Only those may come, who come in sweet and de-termindetermin'd bodies;
LG1867	4088	No diseas'd person—no rum-drinker or venereal taint is permitted here.
LG1867	4089	I and mine do not convince by arguments, similes,rhymes;
LG1867	4090	We convince by our presence.
LG1867	4091	Listen! I will be honest with you;
LG1867	4092	I do not offer the old smooth prizes, but offer rough new prizes;
LG1867	4093	These are the days that must happen to you:
LG1867	4094	You shall not heap up what is call'd riches,
LG1867	4095	You shall scatter with lavish hand all that you earn or achieve,
LG1867	4096	You but arrive at the city to which you were des-tineddestined—you hardly settle yourself to satisfaction,before you are call'd by an irresistible call to depart,
LG1867	4097	You shall be treated to the ironical smiles and mock-ingsmockings of those who remain behind you;
LG1867	4098	What beckonings of love you receive, you shall only answer with passionate kisses of parting,
LG1867	4099	You shall not allow the hold of those who spread their reach'd hands toward you.
LG1867	4100	Allons! After the GREAT COMPANIONS! and to belong to them!
LG1867	4101	They too are on the road! they are the swift and majestic men! they are the greatest women.
LG1867	4102	Over that which hinder'd them—over that which retarded—passing impediments large or small,
LG1867	4103	Committers of crimes, committers of many beautiful virtues,
LG1867	4104	Enjoyers of calms of seas, and storms of seas,
LG1867	4105	Sailors of many a ship, walkers of many a mile of land,
LG1867	4106	Habitués of many different countries, habitués of far-distantfar-distant dwellings,
LG1867	4107	Trusters of men and women, observers of cities, soli-tarysolitary toilers,
LG1867	4108	Pausers and contemplators of tufts, blossoms, shells of the shore,
LG1867	4109	Dancers at wedding-dances, kissers of brides, tender helpers of children, bearers of children,
LG1867	4110	Soldiers of revolts, standers by gaping graves, lower-erslowerers down of coffins,
LG1867	4111	Jouneyers over consecutive seasons, over the years— the curious years, each emerging from that which preceded it,
LG1867	4112	Journeyers as with companions, namely, their own diverse phases,
LG1867	4113	Forth-steppers from the latent unrealized baby-days,
LG1867	4114	Journeyers gayly with their own youth—Journeyers with their bearded and well-grain'd manhood,
LG1867	4115	Journeyers with their womanhood, ample, unsur-passunsurpass'd, content,
LG1867	4116	Journeyers with their own sublime old age of man-hoodmanhood or womanhood,
LG1867	4117	Old age, calm, expanded, broad with the haughty breadth of the universe,
LG1867	4118	Old age, flowing free with the delicious near-by free-domfreedom of death.
LG1867	4119	Allons! To that which is endless, as it was begin-ninglessbeginningless,
LG1867	4120	To undergo much, tramps of days, rests of nights,
LG1867	4121	To merge all in the travel they tend to, and the days and nights they tend to,
LG1867	4122	Again to merge them in the start of superior jour-neysjourneys;
LG1867	4123	To see nothing anywhere but what you may reach it and pass it,
LG1867	4124	To conceive no time, however distant, but what you may reach it and pass it,
LG1867	4125	To look up or down no road but it stretches and waits for you—however long, but it stretches and waits for you;
LG1867	4126	To see no being, not God's or any, but you also go thither,
LG1867	4127	To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoy-ingenjoying all without labor or purchase—abstracting the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;
LG1867	4128	To take the best of the farmer's farm and the rich man's elegant villa, and the chaste blessings of the well-married couple, and the fruits of or-chardsorchards and flowers of gardens,
LG1867	4129	To take to your use out of the compact cities as you pass through,
LG1867	4130	To carry buildings and streets with you afterward wherever you go,
LG1867	4131	To gather the minds of men out of their brains as you encounter them—to gather the love out of their hearts,
LG1867	4132	To take your lovers on the road with you, for all that you leave them behind you,
LG1867	4133	To know the universe itself as a road—as many roads —as roads for traveling souls.
LG1867	4134	The soul travels;
LG1867	4135	The body does not travel as much as the soul;
LG1867	4136	The body has just as great a work as the soul, and parts away at last for the journeys of the soul.
LG1867	4137	All parts away for the progress of souls;
LG1867	4138	All religion, all solid things, arts, governments,—all that was or is apparent upon this globe or any globe, falls into niches and corners before the procession of Souls along the grand roads of the universe.
LG1867	4139	Of the progress of the souls of men and women along the grand roads of the universe, all other progress is the needed emblem and sus-tenancesustenance.
LG1867	4140	Forever alive, forever forward,
LG1867	4141	Stately, solemn, sad, withdrawn, baffled, mad, turbu-lentturbulent, feeble, dissatisfied,
LG1867	4142	Desperate, proud, fond, sick, accepted by men, re-jectedrejected by men,
LG1867	4143	They go! they go! I know that they go, but I know not where they go;
LG1867	4144	But I know that they go toward the best—toward something great.
LG1867	4145	Allons! Whoever you are! come forth!
LG1867	4146	You must not stay sleeping and dallying there in the house, though you built it, or though it has been built for you.
LG1867	4147	Allons! out of the dark confinement!
LG1867	4148	It is useless to protest—I know all, and expose it.
LG1867	4149	Behold, through you as bad as the rest,
LG1867	4150	Through the laughter, dancing, dining, supping, of people,
LG1867	4151	Inside of dresses and ornaments, inside of those wash'd and trimm'd faces,
LG1867	4152	Behold a secret silent loathing and despair.
LG1867	4153	No husband, no wife, no friend, trusted to hear the confession;
LG1867	4154	Another self, a duplicate of every one, skulking and hiding it goes,
LG1867	4155	Formless and wordless through the streets of the cities, polite and bland in the parlors,
LG1867	4156	In the cars of rail-roads, in steamboats, in the public assembly,
LG1867	4157	Home to the houses of men and women, at the table,in the bed-room everywhere,
LG1867	4158	Smartly attired, countenance smiling, form upright,death under the breast-bones, hell under the skull-bones,
LG1867	4159	Under the broadcloth and gloves, under the ribbons and artificial flowers,
LG1867	4160	Keeping fair with the customs, speaking not a syllable of itself,
LG1867	4161	Speaking of anything else, but never of itself.
LG1867	4162	Allons! Through struggles and wars!
LG1867	4163	The goal that was named cannot be countermanded.
LG1867	4164	Have the past struggles succeeded?
LG1867	4165	What has succeeded? Yourself? Your nation? Na-tureNature?
LG1867	4166	Now understand me well—It is provided in the es-senceessence of things, that from any fruition of suc-cesssuccess, no matter what, shall come forth some-thingsomething to make a greater struggle necessary.
LG1867	4167	My call is the call of battle—I nourish active re-bellionrebellion?
LG1867	4168	He going with me must go well armed;
LG1867	4169	He going with me goes often with spare diet, poverty,angry enemies, desertions.
LG1867	4170	Allons! The road is before us!
LG1867	4171	It is safe—I have tried it—my own feet have tried it well.
LG1867	4172	Allons! Be not detain'd!
LG1867	4173	Let the paper remain on the desk unwritten, and the book on the shelf unopen'd!
LG1867	4174	Let the tools remain in the workshop! let the money remain unearn'd!
LG1867	4175	Let the school stand! mind not the cry of the teacher!
LG1867	4176	Let the preacher preach in the pulpit! let the lawyer plead in the court, and the judge expound the law.
LG1867	4177	Mon enfant! I give you my hand!
LG1867	4178	I give you my love, more precious than money,
LG1867	4179	I give you myself, before preaching or law;
LG1867	4180	Will you give me yourself? Will you come travel with me?
LG1867	4181	Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?
LG1867	4182	WHY reclining, interrogating? Why myself and all drowsing?
LG1867	4183	What deepening twilight! Scum floating atop of the waters!
LG1867	4184	Who are they, as bats and night-dogs, askant in the Capitol?
LG1867	4185	What a filthy Presidentiad! (O south, your torrid suns! O north, your arctic freezings!)
LG1867	4186	Judges? Is that the President?
LG1867	4187	Then I will sleep a while yet—for I see that These States sleep, for reasons;
LG1867	4188	(With gathering murk—with muttering thunder and lambent shoots, we all duly awake,
LG1867	4189	South, north, east, west, inland and seaboard, we will surely awake.)
LG1867	4190	HERE, take this gift!
LG1867	4191	I was reserving it for some hero, orator, or general,
LG1867	4192	One who should serve the good old cause, the great Idea, the progress and freedom of the race;
LG1867	4193	But I see that what I was reserving belongs to you just as much as to any.
LG1867	4194	COME closer to me;
LG1867	4195	Push close, my lovers, and take the best I possess;
LG1867	4196	Yield closer and closer, and give me the best you possess.
LG1867	4197	This is unfinish'd business with me—How is it with you?
LG1867	4198	(I was chill'd with the cold types, cylinder, wet paper between us.)
LG1867	4199	Male and Female!
LG1867	4200	I pass so poorly with paper and types, I must pass with the contact of bodies and souls.
LG1867	4201	American masses!
LG1867	4202	I do not thank you for liking me as I am, and liking the touch of me—I know that it is good for you to do so.
LG1867	4203	This is the poem of occupations;
LG1867	4204	In the labor of engines and trades, and the labor of fields, I find the developments,
LG1867	4205	And find the eternal meanings.
LG1867	4206	Workmen and Workwomen!
LG1867	4207	Were all educations, practical and ornamental, well display'd out of me, what would it amount to?
LG1867	4208	Were I as the head teacher, charitable proprietor,wise statesman, what would it amount to?
LG1867	4209	Were I to you as the boss employing and paying you,would that satisfy you?
LG1867	4210	The learn'd, virtuous, benevolent, and the usual terms;
LG1867	4211	A man like me, and never the usual terms.
LG1867	4212	Neither a servant nor a master am I;
LG1867	4213	I take no sooner a large price than a small price—I will have my own, whoever enjoys me;
LG1867	4214	I will be even with you, and you shall be even with me.
LG1867	4215	If you stand at work in a shop, I stand as nigh as the nighest in the same shop;
LG1867	4216	If you bestow gifts on your brother or dearest friend,I demand as good as your brother or dearest friend;
LG1867	4217	If your lover, husband, wife, is welcome by day or night, I must be personally as welcome;
LG1867	4218	If you become degraded, criminal, ill, then I become so for your sake;
LG1867	4219	If you remember your foolish and outlaw'd deeds, do you think I cannot remember my own foolish and outlaw'd deeds?
LG1867	4220	If you carouse at the table, I carouse at the opposite side of the table;
LG1867	4221	If you meet some stranger in the streets, and love him or her—why I often meet strangers in the street, and love them.
LG1867	4222	Why, what have you thought of yourself?
LG1867	4223	Is it you then that thought yourself less?
LG1867	4224	Is it you that thought the President greater than you?
LG1867	4225	Or the rich better off than you? or the educated wiser than you?
LG1867	4226	Because you are greasy or pimpled, or that you was once drunk, or a thief,
LG1867	4227	Or diseas'd, or rheumatic, or a prostitute, or are so now;
LG1867	4228	Or from frivolity or impotence, or that you are no scholar, and never saw your name in print,
LG1867	4229	Do you give in that you are any less immortal?
LG1867	4230	Souls of men and women! it is not you I call un-seenunseen, unheard, untouchable and untouching;
LG1867	4231	It is not you I go argue pro and con about, and to settle whether you are alive or no;
LG1867	4232	I own publicly who you are, if nobody else owns.
LG1867	4233	Grown, half-grown, and babe, of this country and every country, indoors and outdoors, one just as much as the other, I see,
LG1867	4234	And all else behind or through them.
LG1867	4235	The wife—and she is not one jot less than the husband;
LG1867	4236	The daughter—and she is just as good as the son;
LG1867	4237	The mother—and she is every bit as much as the father.
LG1867	4238	Offspring of ignorant and poor, boys apprenticed to trades,
LG1867	4239	Young fellows working on farms, and old fellows working on farms,
LG1867	4240	Sailor-men, merchant-men, coasters, immigrants,
LG1867	4241	All these I see—but nigher and farther the same I see;
LG1867	4242	None shall escape me, and none shall wish to escape me.
LG1867	4243	I bring what you much need, yet always have,
LG1867	4244	Not money, amours, dress, eating, but as good;
LG1867	4245	I send no agent or medium, offer no representative of value, but offer the value itself.
LG1867	4246	There is something that comes home to one now and perpetually;
LG1867	4247	It is not what is printed, preach'd, discuss'd—it eludes discussion and print;
LG1867	4248	It is not to be put in a book—it is not in this book;
LG1867	4249	It is for you, whoever you are—it is no farther from you than your hearing and sight are from you;
LG1867	4250	It is hinted by nearest, commonest; readiest—it is ever provoked by them.
LG1867	4251	You may read in many languages, yet read nothing about it;
LG1867	4252	You may read the President's Message, and read nothing about it there;
LG1867	4253	Nothing in the reports from the State department or Treasury department, or in the daily papers or the weekly papers,
LG1867	4254	Or in the census or revenue returns, prices current,or any accounts of stock.
LG1867	4255	The sun and stars that float in the open air;
LG1867	4256	The apple-shaped earth, and we upon it—surely the drift of them is something grand!
LG1867	4257	I do not know what it is, except that it is grand, and that it is happiness,
LG1867	4258	And that the enclosing purport of us here is not a speculation, or bon-mot, or reconnoissance,
LG1867	4259	And that it is not something which by luck may turn out well for us, and without luck must be a failure for us,
LG1867	4260	And not something which may yet be retracted in a certain contingency.
LG1867	4261	The light and shade, the curious sense of body and identity, the greed that with perfect complais-ancecomplaisance devours all things, the endless pride and out-stretching of man, unspeakable joys and sorrows,
LG1867	4262	The wonder every one sees in every one else he sees,and the wonders that fill each minute of time forever,
LG1867	4263	What have you reckon'd them for, camerado?
LG1867	4264	Have you reckon'd them for a trade, or farm-work?or for the profits of a store?
LG1867	4265	Or to achieve yourself a position? or to fill a gentle-mangentleman's leisure, or a lady's leisure?
LG1867	4266	Have you reckon'd the landscape took substance and form that it might be painted in a picture?
LG1867	4267	Or men and women that they might be written of,and songs sung?
LG1867	4268	Or the attraction of gravity, and the great laws and harmonious combinations, and the fluids of the air, as subjects for the savans?
LG1867	4269	Or the brown land and the blue sea for maps and charts?
LG1867	4270	Or the stars to be put in constellations and named fancy names?
LG1867	4271	Or that the growth of seeds is for agricultural tables,or agriculture itself?
LG1867	4272	Old institutions—these arts, libraries, legends, col-lectionscollections, and the practice handed along in man-ufacturesmanufactures—will we rate them so high?
LG1867	4273	Will we rate our cash and business high ?—I have no objection;
LG1867	4274	I rate them as high as the highest—then a child born of a woman and man I rate beyond all rate.
LG1867	4275	We thought our Union grand, and our Constitution grand;
LG1867	4276	I do not say they are not grand and good, for they are;
LG1867	4277	I am this day just as much in love with them as you;
LG1867	4278	Then I am in love with you, and with all my fellows upon the earth.
LG1867	4279	We consider bibles and religions divine—I do not say they are not divine;
LG1867	4280	I say they have all grown out of you, and may grow out of you still;
LG1867	4281	It is not they who give the life—it is you who give the life;
LG1867	4282	Leaves are not more shed from the trees, or trees from the earth, than they are shed out of you.
LG1867	4283	When the psalm sings instead of the singer;
LG1867	4284	When the script preaches, instead of the preacher;
LG1867	4285	When the pulpit descends and goes, instead of the carver that carved the supporting desk;
LG1867	4286	When I can touch the body of books, by night or by day, and when they touch my body back again;
LG1867	4287	When a university course convinces, like a slumber-ingslumbering woman and child convince;
LG1867	4288	When the minted gold in the vault smiles like the night-watchman's daughter;
LG1867	4289	When warrantee deeds loafe in chairs opposite, and are my friendly companions;
LG1867	4290	I intend to reach them my hand, and make as much of them as I do of men and women like you.
LG1867	4291	The sum of all known reverence I add up in you,whoever you are;
LG1867	4292	The President is there in the White House for you— it is not you who are here for him;
LG1867	4293	The Secretaries act in their bureaus for you—not you here for them;
LG1867	4294	The Congress convenes every Twelfth-month for you;
LG1867	4295	Laws, courts, the forming of States, the charters of cities, the going and coming of commerce and mails, are all for you.
LG1867	4296	List close, my scholars dear!
LG1867	4297	All doctrines, all politics and civilization, exurge from you;
LG1867	4298	All sculpture and monuments, and anything inscribed anywhere, are tallied in you;
LG1867	4299	The gist of histories and statistics as far back as the records reach, is in you this hour, and myths and tales the same;
LG1867	4300	If you were not breathing and walking here, where would they all be?
LG1867	4301	The most renown'd poems would be ashes, orations and plays would be vacuums.
LG1867	4302	All architecture is what you do to it when you look upon it;
LG1867	4303	(Did you think it was in the white or gray stone? or the lines of the arches and cornices?)
LG1867	4304	All music is what awakes from you, when you are reminded by the instruments;
LG1867	4305	It is not the violins and the cornets—it is not the oboe nor the beating drums, nor the score of the baritone singer singing his sweet romanza—nor that of the men's chorus, nor that of the wo-menwomen's chorus,
LG1867	4306	It is nearer and farther than they.
LG1867	4307	Will the whole come back then?
LG1867	4308	Can each see signs of the best by a look in the look-inglooking-glass-glass? is there nothing greater or more?
LG1867	4309	Does all sit there with you, with the mystic, unseen Soul?
LG1867	4310	Strange and hard that paradox true I give;
LG1867	4311	Objects gross and the unseen Soul are one.
LG1867	4312	House-building, measuring, sawing the boards;
LG1867	4313	Blacksmithing, glass-blowing, nail-making, coopering,tin-rooting, shingle-dressing,
LG1867	4314	Ship-joining, dock-building, fish-curing, ferrying, flag-gingflagging of side-walks by flaggers,
LG1867	4315	The pump, the pile-driver, the great derrick, the coal-kilncoal-kiln and brick-kiln,
LG1867	4316	Coal-mines, and all that is down there,—the lamps in the darkness, echoes, songs, what meditations,what vast native thoughts looking through smutch'd faces,
LG1867	4317	Iron-works, forge-fires in the mountains, or by the river-banks—men around feeling the melt with huge crowbars—lumps of ore, the due com-biningcombining of ore, limestone, coal—the blast-fur-naceblast-furnace and the puddling-furnace, the loup-lump at the bottom of the melt at last—the rolling-millrolling-mill, the stumpy bars of pig-iron, the strong,clean-shaped T-rail for railroads;
LG1867	4318	Oil-works, silk-works, white-lead-works, the sugar-housesugar-house, steam-saws, the great mills and factories;
LG1867	4319	Stone-cutting, shapely trimmings, for façades, or win-dowwindow or door-lintels—the mallet, the tooth-chisel, the jib to protect the thumb,
LG1867	4320	Oakum, the oakum-chisel, the caulking-iron—the kettle of boiling vault-cement, and the fire un-derunder the kettle,
LG1867	4321	The cotton-bale, the stevedore's hook, the saw and buck of the sawyer, the mould of the moulder,the working-knife of the butcher, the ice-saw,and all the work with ice,
LG1867	4322	The implemementsimplements for daguerreotyping—the tools of the rigger, grappler, sail-maker, block-maker,
LG1867	4323	Goods of gutta-percha, papier-mache, colors, brushes,brush-making, glazier's implements,
LG1867	4324	The veneer and glue-pot, the confectioner's ornaments,the decanter and glasses, the shears and flat-iron,
LG1867	4325	The awl and knee-strap, the pint measure and quart measure, the counter and stool, the writing-penwriting-pen of quill or metal—the making of all sorts of edged tools,
LG1867	4326	The brewery, brewing, the malt, the vats, every thing that is done by brewers, also by wine-makers,also vinegar-makers,
LG1867	4327	Leather-dressing, coach-making, boiler-making, rope-twistingrope-twisting, distilling, sign-painting, lime-burning,cotton-picking—electro-plating, electrotyping,stereotyping,
LG1867	4328	Stave-machines, planing-machines, reaping-machines,ploughing-machines, thrashing-machines, steam wagons,
LG1867	4329	The cart of the carman, the omnibus, the ponderous dray;
LG1867	4330	Pyrotechny, letting off color'd fire-works at night,fancy figures and jets,
LG1867	4331	Beef on the butcher's stall, the slaughter-house of the butcher, the butcher in his killing-clothes,
LG1867	4332	The pens of live pork, the killing-hammer, the hog-hookhog-hook, the scalder's tub, gutting, the cutter's cleaver, the packer's maul, and the plenteous winter-work of pork-packing,
LG1867	4333	Flour-works, grinding of wheat, rye, maize, rice—the barrels and the half and quarter barrels, the loaded barges, the high piles on wharves and levees,
LG1867	4334	The men, and the work of the men, on railroads,coasters, fish-boats, canals;
LG1867	4335	The daily routine of your own or any man's life—the shop, yard, store, or factory;
LG1867	4336	These shows all near you by day and night—work-menworkmen! whoever you are, your daily life!
LG1867	4337	In that and them the heft of the heaviest—in them far more than you estimated, and far less also;
LG1867	4338	In them realities for you and me—in them poems for you and me;
LG1867	4339	In them, not yourself—you and your Soul enclose all things, regardless of estimation;
LG1867	4340	In them the development good—in them, all themes and hints.
LG1867	4341	I do not affirm what you see beyond is futile—I do not advise you to stop;
LG1867	4342	I do not say leadings you thought great are not great;
LG1867	4343	But I say that none lead to greater, than those lead to.
LG1867	4344	Will you seek afar off? You surely come back at last,
LG1867	4345	In things best known to you, finding the best, or as good as the best,
LG1867	4346	In folks nearest to you finding the sweetest, strongest,lovingest;
LG1867	4347	Happiness, knowledge, not in another place, but this place—not for another hour, but this hour;
LG1867	4348	Man in the first you see or touch—always in friend,brother, nighest neighbor—Woman in mother,lover, wife;
LG1867	4349	The popular tastes and employments taking precedence in poems or any where,
LG1867	4350	You workwomen and workmen of these States having your own divine and strong life,
LG1867	4351	And all else giving place to men and women like you.
LG1867	4352	HE is wisest who has the most caution;
LG1867	4353	He only wins who goes far enough.
LG1867	4354	ANY thing is as good as established, when that is estab-lishedestablished that will produce it and continue it.
LG1867	4355	O HASTENING light!
LG1867	4356	O free and extatic! O what I here, preparing, warble for!
LG1867	4357	O the sun of the world will ascend, dazzling, and take his height—and you too will ascend!
LG1867	4358	O so amazing and broad—up there resplendent, dart-ingdarting and burning!
LG1867	4359	O vision prophetic, stagger'd with weight of light! with pouring glories!
LG1867	4360	O lips of my soul, already becoming powerless!
LG1867	4361	O ample and grand Presidentiads!
LG1867	4362	New history! new heroes! I project you!
LG1867	4363	Visions of poets! only you really last! O sweep on! sweep on!
LG1867	4364	O heights too swift and dizzy yet!
LG1867	4365	O purged and luminous! you threaten me more than I can stand!
LG1867	4366	(I must not venture—the ground under my feet men-acesmenaces me—it will not support me;)
LG1867	4367	O present! I return to you while yet I may!
LG1867	4368	TEARS! tears! tears!
LG1867	4369	In the night, in solitude, tears;
LG1867	4370	On the white shore dripping, dripping, suck'd in by the sand;
LG1867	4371	Tears—not a star shining—all dark and desolate;
LG1867	4372	Moist tears from the eyes of a muffled head:
LG1867	4373	—O who is that ghost?—that form in the dark, with tears?
LG1867	4374	What shapeless lump is that, bent, crouch'd there on the sand?
LG1867	4375	Streaming tears—sobbing tears—throes, choked with wild cries;
LG1867	4376	O storm, embodied, rising, careering, with swift steps along the beach;
LG1867	4377	O wild and dismal night storm, with wind! O belch-ingbelching and desperate!
LG1867	4378	O shade, so sedate and decorous by day, with calm countenance and regulated pace;
LG1867	4379	But away, at night, as you fly, none looking—O then the unloosen'd ocean,
LG1867	4380	Of tears! tears! tears!
LG1867	4381	ABOARD, at the ship's helm,
LG1867	4382	A young steersman, steering with care.
LG1867	4383	A bell through fog on a sea-coast dolefully ringing,
LG1867	4384	An ocean-bell—O a warning bell, rock'd by the waves.
LG1867	4385	O you give good notice indeed, you bell by the sea-reefssea-reefs ringing,
LG1867	4386	Ringing, ringing, to warn the ship from its wreck-placewreck-place.
LG1867	4387	For, as on the alert, O steersman, you mind the bell's admonition,
LG1867	4388	The bows turn,—the freighted ship, tacking, speeds away under her gray sails,
LG1867	4389	The beautiful and noble ship, with all her precious wealth, speeds away gaily and safe.
LG1867	4390	But O the ship, the immortal ship! O ship aboard the ship!
LG1867	4391	O ship of the body—ship of the soul—voyaging, voy-agingvoyaging, voyaging.
LG1867	4392	AMERICA always!
LG1867	4393	Always our own feuillage!
LG1867	4394	Always Florida's green peninsula! Always the price-lesspriceless delta of Louisiana! Always the cotton-fields of Alabama and Texas!
LG1867	4395	Always California's golden hills and hollows—and the silver mountains of New Mexico! Always soft-breath'dsoft-breath'd Cuba!
LG1867	4396	Always the vast slope drain'd by the Southern Sea— inseparable with the slopes drain'd by the Eastern and Western Seas;
LG1867	4397	The area the eighty-third year of These States—the three and a half millions of square miles;
LG1867	4398	The eighteen thousand miles of sea-coast and bay-coastbay-coast on the main—the thirty thousand miles of river navigation,
LG1867	4399	The seven millions of distinct families, and the same number of dwellings—Always these, and more, branching forth into numberless branches;
LG1867	4400	Always the free range and diversity! Always the continent of Democracy!
LG1867	4401	Always the prairies, pastures, forests, vast cities, travelers, Kanada, the snows;
LG1867	4402	Always these compact lands—lands tied at the hips with the belt stringing the huge oval lakes;
LG1867	4403	Always the West, with strong native persons—the increasing density there—the habitans, friendly, threatening, ironical, scorning invaders;
LG1867	4404	All sights, South, North, East—all deeds, promis-cuouslypromiscuously done at all times,
LG1867	4405	All characters, movements, growths—a few noticed, myriads unnoticed,
LG1867	4406	Through Mannahatta's streets I walking, these things gathering;
LG1867	4407	On interior rivers, by night, in the glare of pine knots, steamboats wooding up;
LG1867	4408	Sunlight by day on the valley of the Susquehanna, and on the valleys of the Potomac and Rappa-hannockRappahannock, and the valleys of the Roanoke and Delaware;
LG1867	4409	In their northerly wilds beasts of prey haunting the Adirondacks, the hills—or lapping the Saginaw waters to drink;
LG1867	4410	In a lonesome inlet, a sheldrake, lost from the flock, sitting on the water, rocking silently;
LG1867	4411	In farmers' barns, oxen in the stable, their harvest la-borlabor done—they rest standing—they are too tired;
LG1867	4412	Afar on arctic ice, the she-walrus lying drowsily, while her cubs play around;
LG1867	4413	The hawk sailing where men have not yet sail'd—the farthest polar sea, ripply, crystalline, open, beyond the floes;
LG1867	4414	White drift spooning ahead, where the ship in the tempest dashes;
LG1867	4415	On solid land, what is done in cities, as the bells all strike midnight together;
LG1867	4416	In primitive woods, the sounds there also sounding— the howl of the wolf, the scream of the panther, and the hoarse bellow of the elk;
LG1867	4417	In winter beneath the hard blue ice of Moosehead Lake—in summer visible through the clear waters, the great trout swimming;
LG1867	4418	In lower latitudes, in warmer air, in the Carolinas, the large black buzzard floating slowly, high beyond the tree tops,
LG1867	4419	Below, the red cedar, festoon'd with tylandria—the pines and cypresses, growing out of the white sand that spreads far and flat;
LG1867	4420	Rude boats descending the big Pedee—climbing plants, parasites, with color'd flowers and ber-riesberries, enveloping huge trees,
LG1867	4421	The waving drapery on the live oak, trailing long and low, noiselessly waved by the wind;
LG1867	4422	The camp of Georgia wagoners, just after dark—the supper-fires, and the cooking and eating by whites and negroes,
LG1867	4423	Thirty or forty great wagons—the mules, cattle, horses, feeding from troughs,
LG1867	4424	The shadows, gleams, up under the leaves of the old sycamore-trees—the flames—also the black smoke from the pitch-pine, curling and rising;
LG1867	4425	Southern fishermen fishing—the sounds and inlets of North Carolina's coast—the shad-fishery and the herring-fishery—the large sweep-seines— the windlasses on shore work'd by horses—the clearing, curing, and packing-houses;
LG1867	4426	Deep in the forest, in piney woods, turpentine drop-pingdropping from the incisions in the trees—There are the turpentine works,
LG1867	4427	There are the negroes at work, in good health—the ground in all directions is cover'd with pine straw.
LG1867	4428	—In Tennessee and Kentucky, slaves busy in the coalings, at the forge, by the furnace-blaze, or at the corn-shucking;
LG1867	4429	In Virginia, the planter's son returning after a long absence, joyfully welcom'd and kiss'd by the aged mulatto nurse;
LG1867	4430	On rivers, boatmen safely moor'd at night-fall, in their boats, under shelter of high banks,
LG1867	4431	Some of the younger men dance to the sound of the banjo or fiddle—others sit on the gunwale, smoking and talking;
LG1867	4432	Late in the afternoon, the mocking-bird, the Ameri-canAmerican mimic, singing in the Great Dismal Swamp —there are the greenish waters, the resinous odor, the plenteous moss, the cypress tree, and the juniper tree;
LG1867	4433	—Northward, young men of Mannahatta—the target company from an excursion returning home at evening—the musket-muzzles all bear bunches of flowers presented by women;
LG1867	4434	Children at play—or on his father's lap a young boy fallen asleep, (how his lips move! how he smiles in his sleep!)
LG1867	4435	The scout riding on horseback over the plains west of the Mississippi—he ascends a knoll and sweeps his eye around;
LG1867	4436	California life—the miner, bearded, dress'd in his rude costume—the stanch California friendship —the sweet air—the graves one, in passing, meets, solitary, just aside the horse-path;
LG1867	4437	Down in Texas, the cotton-field, the negro-cabins— drivers driving mules or oxen before rude carts —cotton-bales piled on banks and wharves;
LG1867	4438	Encircling all, vast-darting, up and wide, the American Soul, with equal hemisphere—one love, one Dilation or Pride;
LG1867	4439	—In arriere, the peace-talk with the Iroquois, the aborigines—the calumet, the pipe of good-will arbitration, and indorsement,
LG1867	4440	The sachem blowing the smoke first toward the sum and then toward the earth,
LG1867	4441	The drama of the scalp-dance enacted with painted faces and guttural exclamations,
LG1867	4442	The setting out of the war-party—the long and stealthy march,
LG1867	4443	The single-file—the swinging hatchets—the surprise and slaughter of enemies;
LG1867	4444	—All the acts, scenes, ways, persons, attitudes of These States—reminiscences, all institutions,
LG1867	4445	All These States, compact—Every square mile of These States, without excepting a particle—you also—me also,
LG1867	4446	Me pleased, rambling in lanes and country fields, Paumanok's fields,
LG1867	4447	Me, observing the spiral flight of two little yellow butterflies, shuffling between each other, ascend-ingascending high in the air;
LG1867	4448	The darting swallow, the destroyer of insects—the fall traveler southward, but returning north-wardnorthward early in the spring;
LG1867	4449	The country boy at the close of the day, driving the herd of cows, and shouting to them as they loiter to browse by the road-side;
LG1867	4450	The city wharf—Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, New Orleans, San Francisco,
LG1867	4451	The departing ships, when the sailors heave at the capstan;
LG1867	4452	Evening—me in my room—the setting sun,
LG1867	4453	The setting summer sun shining in my open window, showing the swarm of flies, suspended, balanc-ingbalancing in the air in the centre of the room, darting athwart, up and down, casting swift shadows in specks on the opposite wall, where the shine is;
LG1867	4454	The athletic American matron speaking in public to crowds of listeners;
LG1867	4455	Males, females, immigrants, combinations—the co-piousnesscopiousness—the individuality of The States, each for itself—the money-makers;
LG1867	4456	Factories, machinery, the mechanical forces—the windlass, lever, pulley—All certainties,
LG1867	4457	The certainty of space, increase, freedom, futurity,
LG1867	4458	In space, the sporades, the scattered islands, the stars —on the firm earth, the lands, my lands,
LG1867	4459	O lands! all so dear to me—what you are, (whatever it is), I become a part of that, whatever it is
LG1867	4460	Southward there, I screaming, with wings slow flap-pingflapping, with the myriads of gulls wintering along the coasts of Florida—or in Louisiana, with pelicans breeding,
LG1867	4461	Otherways, there, atwixt the banks of the Arkansaw, the Rio Grande, the Nueces, the Brazos, the Tombigbee, the Red River, the Saskatchawan, or the Osage, I with the spring waters laughing and skipping and running;
LG1867	4462	Northward, on the sands, on some shallow bay of Pau-manokPaumanok, I, with parties of snowy herons wading in the wet to seek worms and aquatic plants;
LG1867	4463	Retreating, triumphantly twittering, the king-bird, from piercing the crow with its bill, for amuse-mentamusement—And I triumphantly twittering;
LG1867	4464	The migrating flock of wild geese alighting in autumn to refresh themselves—the body of the flock feed—the sentinels outside move around with erect heads watching, and are from time to time reliev'd by other sentinels—And I feeding and taking turns with the rest;
LG1867	4465	In Kanadian forests, the moose, large as an ox, cor-ner'dcorner'd by hunters, rising desperately on his hind-feethind-feet, and plunging with his fore-feet, the hoofs as sharp as knives—And I, plunging at the hunters, corner'd and desperate;
LG1867	4466	In the Mannahatta, streets, piers, shipping, store-housesstorehouses, and the countless workmen working in the shops,
LG1867	4467	And I too of the Mannahatta, singing thereof—and no less in myself than the whole of the Manna-hattaMannahatta in itself,
LG1867	4468	Singing the song of These, my ever-united lands—my body no more inevitably united, part to part, and made one identity, any more than my lands are inevitably united, and made ONE IDENTITY;
LG1867	4469	Nativities, climates, the grass of the great Pastoral Plains,
LG1867	4470	Cities, labors, death, animals, products, good and evil —these me,
LG1867	4471	These affording, in all their particulars, endless feuillage to me and to America, how can I do less than pass the clew of the union of them, to afford the like to you?
LG1867	4472	Whoever you are! how can I but offer you divine leaves, that you also be eligible as I am?
LG1867	4473	How can I but, as here, chanting, invite you for your-selfyourself to collect bouquets of the incomparable feuillage of These States?
LG1867	4474	I WAS asking for something specific and perfect for my city,
LG1867	4475	Whereupon, lo! upsprang the aboriginal name!
LG1867	4476	Now I see what there is in a name, a word, liquid, sane, unruly, musical, self-sufficient;
LG1867	4477	I see that the word of my city is that word up there,
LG1867	4478	Because I see that word nested in nests of water-bays, superb, with tall and wonderful spires,
LG1867	4479	Rich, hemm'd thick all around with sailships and steamships—an island sixteen miles long, solid-foundedsolid-founded,
LG1867	4480	Numberless crowded streets—high growths of iron, slender, strong, light, splendidly uprising to-wardtoward clear skies;
LG1867	4481	Tides swift and ample, well-loved by me, toward sun-downsundown,
LG1867	4482	The flowing sea-currents, the little islands, larger ad-joiningadjoining islands, the heights, the villas,
LG1867	4483	The countless masts, the white shore-steamers, the lighters, the ferry-boats, the black sea-steam-erssea-steamers, well model'd;
LG1867	4484	The down-town streets, the jobbers' houses of busi-nessbusiness—the houses of business of the ship-mer-chantsship-merchants, and money-brokers—the river-streets;
LG1867	4485	Immigrants arriving, fifteen or twenty thousand in a week;
LG1867	4486	The carts hauling goods—the manly race of drivers of horses—the brown-faced sailors;
LG1867	4487	The summer-air, the bright sun shining, and the sail-ingsailing clouds aloft;
LG1867	4488	The winter snows, the sleigh-bells—the broken ice in the river, passing along, up or down, with the flood-tide or-ebb tideor ebb-tide;
LG1867	4489	The mechanics of the city, the masters, well-form'd, beautiful-faced, looking you straight in the eyes;
LG1867	4490	Trottoirs throng'd—vehicles—Broadway—the women —the shops and shows,
LG1867	4491	The parades, processions, bugles playing, flags flying, drums beating;
LG1867	4492	A million people—manners free and superb—open voices—hospitality—the most courageous and friendly young men;
LG1867	4493	The free city! no slaves! no owners of slaves!
LG1867	4494	The beautiful city, the city of hurried and sparkling waters! the city of spires and masts!
LG1867	4495	The city nested in bays! my city!
LG1867	4496	The city of such women, I am mad to be with them! I will return after death to be with them!
LG1867	4497	The city of such young men, I swear I cannot live happy, without I often go talk, walk, eat, drink, sleep, with them!
LG1867	4498	LET us twain walk aside from the rest;
LG1867	4499	Now we are together privately, do you discard cere-monyceremony;
LG1867	4500	Come! vouchsafe to me what has yet been vouch-safedvouchsafed to none—Tell me the whole story,
LG1867	4501	Tell me what you would not tell your brother, wife, husband, or physician.
LG1867	4502	A GREAT year and place;
LG1867	4503	A harsh, discordant, natal scream out-sounding, to touch the mother's heart closer than any yet.
LG1867	4504	I walk'd the shores of my Eastern Sea,
LG1867	4505	Heard over the waves the little voice,
LG1867	4506	Saw the divine infant, where she woke, mournfully wailing, amid the roar of cannon, curses, shouts, crash of falling buildings;
LG1867	4507	Was not so sick from the blood in the gutters running —nor from the single corpses, nor those in heaps, nor those borne away in the tumbrils;
LG1867	4508	Was not so desperate at the battues of death—was not so shock'd at the repeated fusillades of the guns.
LG1867	4509	Pale, silent, stern, what could I say to that long-accruedlong-accrued retribution?
LG1867	4510	Could I wish humanity different?
LG1867	4511	Could I wish the people made of wood and stone?
LG1867	4512	Or that there be no justice in destiny or time?
LG1867	4513	O Liberty! O mate for me!
LG1867	4514	Here too the blaze, the bullet and the axe, in reserve, to fetch them out in case of need;
LG1867	4515	Here too, though long represt, can never be destroy'd;
LG1867	4516	Here too could rise at last, murdering and extatic;
LG1867	4517	Here too demanding full arrears of vengeance.
LG1867	4518	Hence I sign this salute over the sea,
LG1867	4519	And I do not deny that terrible red birth and baptism,
LG1867	4520	But remember the little voice that I heard wailing— and wait with perfect trust, no matter how long;
LG1867	4521	And from to-day, sad and cogent, I maintain the be-queathbequeath'd cause, as for all lands,
LG1867	4522	And I send these words to Paris with my love,
LG1867	4523	And I guess some chansonniers there will understand them,
LG1867	4524	For I guess there is latent music yet in France— floods of it;
LG1867	4525	O I hear already the bustle of instruments—they will soon be drowning all that would interrupt them;
LG1867	4526	O I think the east wind brings a triumphal and free march,
LG1867	4527	It reaches hither—it swells me to joyful madness,
LG1867	4528	I will run transpose it in words, to justify it,
LG1867	4529	I will yet sing a song for you, ma femme.
LG1867	4530	HOLD it up sternly! See this it sends back! (Who is it? Is it you?)
LG1867	4531	Outside fair costume—within ashes and filth,
LG1867	4532	No more a flashing eye—no more a sonorous voice or springy step;
LG1867	4533	Now some slave's eye, voice, hands, step,
LG1867	4534	A drunkard's breath, unwholesome eater's face, venerealee's flesh,
LG1867	4535	Lungs rotting away piecemeal, stomach sour and can-kerouscankerous,
LG1867	4536	Joints rheumatic, bowels clogged with abomination,
LG1867	4537	Blood circulating dark and poisonous streams,
LG1867	4538	Words babble, hearing and touch callous,
LG1867	4539	No brain, no heart left—no magnetism of sex;
LG1867	4540	Such, from one look in this looking-glass ere you go hence,
LG1867	4541	Such a result so soon—and from such a beginning!
LG1867	4542	OF the visages of things—And of piercing through to the accepted hells beneath;
LG1867	4543	Of ugliness—To me there is just as much in it as there is in beauty—And now the ugliness of human beings is acceptable to me;
LG1867	4544	Of detected persons—To me, detected persons are not, in any respect, worse than undetected per-sonspersons—and are not in any respect worse than I am myself;
LG1867	4545	Of criminals—To me, any judge, or any juror, is equally criminal—and any reputable person is also—and the President is also.
LG1867	4546	OF waters, forests, hills;
LG1867	4547	Of the earth at large, whispering through medium of me;
LG1867	4548	Of vista—Suppose some sight in arriere, through the formative chaos, presuming the growth, fulness, life, now attain'd on the journey;
LG1867	4549	(But I see the road continued, and the journey ever continued;)
LG1867	4550	Of what was once lacking on earth, and in due time has become supplied—And of what will yet be supplied,
LG1867	4551	Because all I see and know, I believe to have purport in what will yet be supplied.
LG1867	4552	OF persons arrived at high positions, ceremonies, wealth, scholarships, and the like;
LG1867	4553	To me, all that those persons have arrived at, sinks away from them, except as it results to their Bodies and Souls,
LG1867	4554	So that often to me they appear gaunt and naked;
LG1867	4555	And often, to me, each one mocks the others, and mocks himself or herself,
LG1867	4556	And of each one, the core of life, namely happiness, is full of the rotten excrement of maggots,
LG1867	4557	And often, to me, those men and women pass unwit-tinglyunwittingly the true realities of life, and go toward false realities,
LG1867	4558	And often, to me, they are alive after what custom has served them, but nothing more,
LG1867	4559	And often, to me, they are sad, hasty, unwaked son- nambules, walking the dusk.
LG1867	4560	OF ownership—As if one fit to own things could not at pleasure enter upon all, and incorporate them into himself or herself;
LG1867	4561	Of Equality—As if it harm'd me, giving others the same chances and rights as myself—As if it were not indispensable to my own rights that others possess the same;
LG1867	4562	Of Justice—As if Justice could be anything but the same ample law, expounded by natural judges and saviors,
LG1867	4563	As if it might be this thing or that thing, according to decisions.
LG1867	4564	AS I sit with others, at a great feast, suddenly, while the music is playing,
LG1867	4565	To my mind, (whence it comes I know not,) spectral, in mist, of a wreck at sea,
LG1867	4566	Of the flower of the marine science of fifty generations, founder'd off the Northeast coast, and going down—Of the steamship Arctic going down,
LG1867	4567	Of the veil'd tableau—Women gather'd together on deck, pale, heroic, waiting the moment that draws so close—O the moment!
LG1867	4568	O the huge sob—A few bubbles—the white foam spirting up—And then the women gone,
LG1867	4569	Sinking there, while the passionless wet flows on— And I now pondering, Are those women indeed gone?
LG1867	4570	Are Souls drown'd and destroy'd so?
LG1867	4571	Is only matter triumphant?
LG1867	4572	OF what I write from myself—As if that were not the resumé;
LG1867	4573	Of Histories—As if such, however complete, were not less complete than my poems;
LG1867	4574	As if the shreds, the records of nations, could possibly be as lasting as my poems;
LG1867	4575	As if here were not the amount of all nations, and of all the lives of heroes.
LG1867	4576	OF obedience, faith, adhesiveness;
LG1867	4577	As I stand aloof and look, there is to me something profoundly affecting in large masses of men, following the lead of those who do not believe in men.
LG1867	4578	MY spirit to yours, dear brother;
LG1867	4579	Do not mind because many, sounding your name, do not understand you;
LG1867	4580	I do not sound your name, but I understand you, (there are others also;)
LG1867	4581	I specify you with joy, O my comrade, to salute you, and to salute those who are with you, before and since—and those to come also,
LG1867	4582	That we all labor together, transmitting the same charge and succession;
LG1867	4583	We few, equals, indifferent of lands, indifferent of times;
LG1867	4584	We, enclosers of all continents, all castes—allowers of all theologies,
LG1867	4585	Compassionaters, perceivers, rapport of men,
LG1867	4586	We walk silent among disputes and assertions, but reject not the disputers, nor any thing that is asserted;
LG1867	4587	We hear the bawling and din—we are reach'd at by divisions, jealousies, recriminations on every side,
LG1867	4588	They close peremptorily upon us, to surround us, my comrade,
LG1867	4589	Yet we walk unheld, free, the whole earth over, journeying up and down, till we make our in-effaceableineffaceable mark upon time and the diverse eras,
LG1867	4590	Till we saturate time and eras, that the men and women of races, ages to come, may prove brethren and lovers, as we are.
LG1867	4591	I SEE in you the estuary that enlarges and spreads itself grandly as it pours in the great Sea.
LG1867	4592	FROM all the rest I single out you, having a message for you:
LG1867	4593	You are to die—Let others tell you what they please, I cannot prevaricate,
LG1867	4594	I am exact and merciless, but I love you—There is no escape for you.
LG1867	4595	Softly I lay my right hand upon you—you just feel it,
LG1867	4596	I do not argue—I bend my head close, and half-envelophalf-envelop it,
LG1867	4597	I sit quietly by—I remain faithful,
LG1867	4598	I am more than nurse, more than parent or neighbor,
LG1867	4599	I absolve you from all except yourself, spiritual, bodily —that is eternal,
LG1867	4600	(The corpse you will leave will be but excrementitious.)
LG1867	4601	The sun bursts through in unlooked-for directions!
LG1867	4602	Strong thoughts fill you, and confidence—you smile!
LG1867	4603	You forget you are sick, as I forget you are sick,
LG1867	4604	You do not see the medicines—you do not mind the weeping friends—I am with you,
LG1867	4605	I exclude others from you—there is nothing to be commiserated,
LG1867	4606	I do not commiserate—I congratulate you.
LG1867	4607	STRANGER! if you, passing, meet me, and desire to speak to me, why should you not speak to me?
LG1867	4608	And why should I not speak to you?
LG1867	4609	NATIONS ten thousand years before These States, and many times ten thousand years before These States;
LG1867	4610	Garner'd clusters of ages, that men and women like us grew up and travel'd their course, and pass'd on;
LG1867	4611	What vast-built cities—what orderly republics—what pastoral tribes and nomads;
LG1867	4612	What histories, rulers, heroes, perhaps trancendingtranscending all others;
LG1867	4613	What laws, customs, wealth, arts, traditions;
LG1867	4614	What sort of marriage—what costumes—what phy-siologyphysiology and phrenology;
LG1867	4615	What of liberty and slavery among them—what they thought of death and the soul;
LG1867	4616	Who were witty and wise—who beautiful and poetic— who brutish and undevelop'd;
LG1867	4617	Not a mark, not a record remains—And yet all re-mainsremains.
LG1867	4618	O I know that those men and women were not for nothing, any more than we are for nothing;
LG1867	4619	I know that they belong to the scheme of the world every bit as much as we now belong to it, and as all will henceforth belong to it.
LG1867	4620	Afar they stand—yet near to me they stand,
LG1867	4621	Some with oval countenances, learn'd and calm,
LG1867	4622	Some naked and savage—Some like huge collections of insects,
LG1867	4623	Some in tents—herdsmen, patriarchs, tribes, horse-menhorsemen,
LG1867	4624	Some prowling through woods—Some living peacea-blypeaceably on farms, laboring, reaping, filling barns,
LG1867	4625	Some traversing paved avenues, amid temples, pala-cespalaces, factories, libraries, shows, courts, theatres, wonderful monuments.
LG1867	4626	Are those billions of men really gone?
LG1867	4627	Are those women of the old experience of the earth gone?
LG1867	4628	Do their lives, cities, arts, rest only with us?
LG1867	4629	Did they achieve nothing for good, for themselves?
LG1867	4630	I believe of all those billions of men and women that fill'd the unnamed lands, every one exists this hour, here or elsewhere, invisible to us, in exact proportion to what he or she grew from in life, and out of what he or she did, felt, be-camebecame, loved, sinned, in life.
LG1867	4631	I believe that was not the end of those nations, or any person of them, any more than this shall be the end of my nation, or of me;
LG1867	4632	Of their languages, governments, marriage, literature, products, games, wars, manners, crimes, pris-onsprisons, slaves, heroes, poets, I suspect their re-sultsresults curiously await in the yet unseen world— counterparts of what accrued to them in the seen world,
LG1867	4633	I suspect I shall meet them there,
LG1867	4634	I suspect I shall there find each old particular of those unnamed lands.
LG1867	4635	WHO includes diversity, and is Nature,
LG1867	4636	Who is the amplitude of the earth, and the coarseness and sexuality of the earth, and the great char-itycharity of the earth, and the equilibrium also,
LG1867	4637	Who has not look'd forth from the windows, the eyes, for nothing, or whose brain held audience with messengers for nothing;
LG1867	4638	Who contains believers and disbelievers—Who is the most majestic lover;
LG1867	4639	Who holds duly his or her triune proportion of real-ismrealism, spiritualism, and of the æsthetic, or in-tellectualintelltual,
LG1867	4640	Who, having consider'd the Body, finds all its organs and parts good;
LG1867	4641	Who, out of the theory of the earth, and of his or her body, understands by subtle analogies all other theories,
LG1867	4642	The theory of a city, a poem, and of the large poli-ticspolitics of These States;
LG1867	4643	Who believes not only in our globe, with its sun and moon, but in other globes, with their suns and moons;
LG1867	4644	Who, constructing the house of himself or herself, not for a day, but for all time, sees races, eras, dates, generations,
LG1867	4645	The past, the future, dwelling there, like space, insep-arableinseparable together.
LG1867	4646	WHEN I read the book, the biography famous;
LG1867	4647	And is this, then, (said I,) what the author calls a man's life?
LG1867	4648	And so will some one, when I am dead and gone, write my life?
LG1867	4649	(As if any man really knew aught of my life;
LG1867	4650	As if you, O cunning Soul, did not keep your secret well!)
LG1867	4651	I SAY whatever tastes sweet to the most perfect person —That is finally right.
LG1867	4652	I SAY the human shape or face is so great, it must never be made ridiculous;
LG1867	4653	I say for ornaments nothing outré can be allowed,
LG1867	4654	And that anything is most beautiful without orna-mentornament,
LG1867	4655	And that exaggerations will be sternly revenged in your own physiology; and in other persons' phys-iologyphysiology also;
LG1867	4656	And I say that clean-shaped children can be jetted and conceiv'd only where natural forms prevail in public, and the human face and form are never caricatured;
LG1867	4657	And I say that genius need never more be turn'd to romances,
LG1867	4658	(For facts properly told, how mean appear all ro-mancesromances.)
LG1867	4659	I HAVE said many times that materials and the Soul are great, and that all depends on physique;
LG1867	4660	Now I reverse what I said, and affirm that all depends on the æsthetic, or intellectual,
LG1867	4661	And that criticism is great—and that refinement is greatest of all;
LG1867	4662	And I affirm now that the mind governs—and that all depends on the mind.
LG1867	4663	WITH one man or woman—(no matter which one—I even pick out the lowest,)
LG1867	4664	With him or her I now illustrate the whole law;
LG1867	4665	I say that every right, in politics or what-not, shall be eligible to that one man or woman, on the same terms as any.
LG1867	4666	DESPAIRING cries float ceaselessly toward me, day and night,
LG1867	4667	The sad voice of Death—the call of my nearest lover, putting forth, alarm'd, uncertain,
LG1867	4668	The Sea I am quickly to sail, come tell me,
LG1867	4669	Come tell me where I am speeding—tell me my destina-tiondestination.
LG1867	4670	I understand your anguish, but I cannot help you,
LG1867	4671	I approach, hear, behold—the sad mouth, the look out of the eyes, your mute inquiry,
LG1867	4672	Whither I go from the bed I recline on, come tell me:
LG1867	4673	Old age, alarm'd, uncertain—A young woman's voice, appealing to me for comfort;
LG1867	4674	A young man's voice, Shall I not escape?
LG1867	4675	A THOUSAND perfect men and women appear,
LG1867	4676	Around each gathers a cluster of friends, and gay children and youths, with offerings.
LG1867	4677	O TO make the most jubilant poems!
LG1867	4678	O full of music! Full of manhood, womanhood, in-fancyinfancy!
LG1867	4679	O full of common employments! Full of grain and trees.
LG1867	4680	O for the voices of animals! O for the swiftness and balance of fishes!
LG1867	4681	O for the dropping of rain-drops in a poem!
LG1867	4682	O for the sunshine, and motion of waves in a poem.
LG1867	4683	O to be on the sea! the wind, the wide waters around;
LG1867	4684	O to sail in a ship under full sail at sea.
LG1867	4685	O the joy of my spirit! It is uncaged! It darts like lightning!
LG1867	4686	It is not enough to have this globe, or a certain time —I will have thousands of globes, and all time.
LG1867	4687	O the engineer's joys
LG1867	4688	To go with a locomotive!
LG1867	4689	To hear the hiss of steam—the merry shriek—the steam-whistle—the laughing locomotive!
LG1867	4690	To push with resistless way, and speed off in the dis-tancedistance.
LG1867	4691	O the horseman's and horsewoman's joys!
LG1867	4692	The saddle—the gallop—the pressure upon the seat —the cool gurgling by the ears and hair.
LG1867	4693	O the fireman's joys!
LG1867	4694	I hear the alarm at dead of night,
LG1867	4695	I hear bells—shouts!—I pass the crowd—I run!
LG1867	4696	The sight of the flames maddens me with pleasure.
LG1867	4697	O the joy of the strong-brawn'd fighter, towering in the arena, in perfect condition, conscious of power, thirsting to meet his opponent.
LG1867	4698	O the joy of that vast elemental sympathy which only the human Soul is capable of generating and emitting in steady and limitless floods.
LG1867	4699	O the mother's joys!
LG1867	4700	The watching—the endurance—the precious love— the anguish—the patiently yielded life.
LG1867	4701	O the joy of increase, growth, recuperation,
LG1867	4702	The joy of soothing and pacifying—the joy of con-cordconcord and harmony.
LG1867	4703	O to go back to the place where I was born!
LG1867	4704	To hear the birds sing once more!
LG1867	4705	To ramble about the house and barn, and over the fields, once more,
LG1867	4706	And through the orchard and along the old lanes once more.
LG1867	4707	O male and female!
LG1867	4708	O the presence of women! (I swear there is nothing more exquisite than the presence of women;)
LG1867	4709	O for the girl, my mate! O for the happiness with my mate!
LG1867	4710	O the young man as I pass! O I am sick after the friendship of him who, I fear, is indifferent to me.
LG1867	4711	O the streets of cities!
LG1867	4712	The flitting faces—the expressions, eyes, feet, cos-tumescostumes! O I cannot tell how welcome they are to me;
LG1867	4713	O, of the men—of women toward me as I pass—The memory of only one look—the boy lingering and waiting.
LG1867	4714	O to have been brought up on bays, lagoons, creeks or along the coast!
LG1867	4715	O to continue and be employ'd there all my life!
LG1867	4716	O the briny and damp smell—the shore—the salt weeds exposed at low water,
LG1867	4717	The work of fishermen—the work of the eel-fisher and clam-fisher.
LG1867	4718	O it is I!
LG1867	4719	I come with my clam-rake and spade! I come with my eel-spear;
LG1867	4720	Is the tide out? I join the group of clam-diggers on the flats,
LG1867	4721	I laugh and work with them—I joke at my work, like a mettlesome young man.
LG1867	4722	In winter I take my eel-basket and eel-spear and travel out on foot on the ice—I have a small axe to cut holes in the ice;
LG1867	4723	Behold me, well-clothed, going gaily, or returning in the afternoon—my brood of tough boys accom-panyingaccompanying me,
LG1867	4724	My brood of grown and part-grown boys, who love to be with no one else so well as they love to be with me,
LG1867	4725	By day to work with me, and by night to sleep with me.
LG1867	4726	Or, another time, in warm weather, out in a boat,to lift the lobster-pots, where they are sunk with heavy stones, (I know the buoys;)
LG1867	4727	O the sweetness of the Fifth-month morning upon the water, as I row, just before sunrise, toward the buoys;
LG1867	4728	I pull the wicker pots up slantingly—the dark green lobsters are desperate with their claws, as I take them out—I insert wooden pegs in the joints of their pincers,
LG1867	4729	I go to all the places, one after another, and then row back to the shore,
LG1867	4730	There, in a huge kettle of boiling water, the lobsters shall be boil'd till their color becomes scarlet.
LG1867	4731	Or, another time, mackerel-taking,
LG1867	4732	Voracious, mad for the hook, near the surface, they seem to fill the water for miles;
LG1867	4733	Or, another time, fishing for rock-fish in Chesapeake Bay—I one of the brown-faced crew;
LG1867	4734	Or, another time, trailing for blue-fish off Paumanok,I stand with braced body,
LG1867	4735	My left foot is on the gunwale—my right arm throws the coils of slender rope,
LG1867	4736	In sight around me the quick veering and darting of fifty skiffs, my companions.
LG1867	4737	O boating on the rivers!
LG1867	4738	The voyage down the Niagara, (the St. Lawrence,)— the superb scenery—the steamers,
LG1867	4739	The ships sailing—the Thousand Islands—the occa-sionaloccasional timber-raft, and the raftsmen with long-reachinglong-reaching sweep-oars,
LG1867	4740	The little huts on the rafts, and the stream of smoke when they cook supper at evening.
LG1867	4741	O something pernicious and dread!
LG1867	4742	Something far away from a puny and pious life!
LG1867	4743	Something unproved! Something in a trance!
LG1867	4744	Something escaped from the anchorage, and driving free.
LG1867	4745	O to work in mines, or forging iron!
LG1867	4746	Foundry casting—the foundry itself—the rude high roof—the ample and shadow'd space,
LG1867	4747	The furnace—the hot liquid pour'd out and running.
LG1867	4748	O the joys of the soldier!
LG1867	4749	To feel the presence of a brave general! to feel his sympathy!
LG1867	4750	To behold his calmness! to be warm'd in the rays of his smile!
LG1867	4751	To go to battle! to hear the bugles play, and the drums beat!
LG1867	4752	To hear the crash of artillery! to see the glittering of the bayonets and musket-barrels in the sun!
LG1867	4753	To see men fall and die and not complain!
LG1867	4754	To taste the savage taste of blood! to be so devilish!
LG1867	4755	To gloat so over the wounds and deaths of the enemy.
LG1867	4756	O the whaleman's joys! O I cruise my old cruise again!
LG1867	4757	I feel the ship's motion under me—I feel the Atlan-ticAtlantic breezes fanning me,
LG1867	4758	I hear the cry again sent down from the mast-head, There she blows,
LG1867	4759	Again I spring up the rigging, to look with the rest— We see—we descend, wild with excitement,
LG1867	4760	I leap in the lower'd boat—We row toward our prey,where he lies,
LG1867	4761	We approach, stealthy and silent—I see the moun-tainousmountainous mass, lethargic, basking,
LG1867	4762	I see the harpooner standing up—I see the weapon dart from his vigorous arm;
LG1867	4763	O swift, again, now, far out in the ocean, the wounded whale, settling, running to windward, tows me,
LG1867	4764	Again I see him rise to breathe—We row close again,
LG1867	4765	I see a lance driven through his side, press'd deep,turn'd in the wound,
LG1867	4766	Again we back off—I see him settle again—the life is leaving him fast,
LG1867	4767	As he rises, he spouts blood—I see him swim in circles narrower and narrower, swiftly cutting the water—I see him die,
LG1867	4768	He gives one convulsive leap in the centre of the cir-clecircle, and then falls flat and still in the bloody foam.
LG1867	4769	O the old manhood of me, my joy!
LG1867	4770	My children and grand-children—my white hair and beard,
LG1867	4771	My largeness, calmness, majesty, out of the long stretch of my life.
LG1867	4772	O the ripen'd joy of womanhood!
LG1867	4773	O perfect happiness at last!
LG1867	4774	I am more than eighty years of age—my hair, too, is pure white—I am the most venerable mother;
LG1867	4775	How clear is my mind! how all people draw nigh to me!
LG1867	4776	What attractions are these, beyond any before? what bloom, more than the bloom of youth?
LG1867	4777	What beauty is this that descends upon me, and rises out of me?
LG1867	4778	O the joy of my soul leaning poised on itself—re-ceivingreceiving identity through materials, and loving them—observing characters, and absorbing them;
LG1867	4779	O my soul, vibrated back to me, from them—from facts, sight, hearing, touch, my phrenology,reason, articulation, comparison, memory, and the like;
LG1867	4780	O the real life of my senses and flesh, transcending my senses and flesh;
LG1867	4781	O my body, done with materials—my sight, done with my material eyes;
LG1867	4782	O what is proved to me this day, beyond cavil, that it is not my material eyes which finally see,
LG1867	4783	Nor my material body which finally loves, walks,laughs, shouts, embraces, procreates.
LG1867	4784	O the farmer's joys!
LG1867	4785	Ohioan's, Illinoisian's, Wisconsinese', Kanadian's, Io-wanIowan's, Kansian's, Missourian's, Oregonese' joys,
LG1867	4786	To rise at peep of day, and pass forth nimbly to work,
LG1867	4787	To plow land in the fall for winter-sown crops,
LG1867	4788	To plough land in the spring for maize,
LG1867	4789	To train orchards—to graft the trees—to gather ap-plesapples in the fall.
LG1867	4790	O the pleasure with trees!
LG1867	4791	The orchard—the forest—the oak, cedar, pine, pekan-treepekan-tree,
LG1867	4792	The honey-locust, black-walnut, cottonwood, and mag-noliamagnolia.
LG1867	4793	O Death!
LG1867	4794	O the beautiful touch of Death, soothing and be-numbingbenumbing a few moments, for reasons;
LG1867	4795	O that of myself, discharging my excrementitious body, to be burn'd, or render'd to powder, or buried,
LG1867	4796	My real body doubtless left to me for other spheres,
LG1867	4797	My voided body, nothing more to me, returning to the purifications, further offices, eternal uses of the earth.
LG1867	4798	O to bathe in the swimming-bath, or in a good place along shore!
LG1867	4799	To splash the water! to walk ankle-deep—to race naked along the shore.
LG1867	4800	O to realize space!
LG1867	4801	The plenteousness of all—that there are no bounds;
LG1867	4802	To emerge, and be of the sky—of the sun and moon,and the flying clouds, as one with them.
LG1867	4803	O, while I live, to be the ruler of life—not a slave,
LG1867	4804	To meet life as a powerful conquerer,
LG1867	4805	No fumes—no ennui—no more complaints or scornful criticisms.
LG1867	4806	O me repellent and ugly!
LG1867	4807	To these proud laws of the air, the water, and the ground, proving my interior Soul impregnable,And nothing exterior shall ever take command of me.
LG1867	4808	O to attract by more than attraction!
LG1867	4809	How it is I know not—yet behold! the something which obeys none of the rest,
LG1867	4810	It is offensive, never defensive—yet how magnetic it draws.
LG1867	4811	O the joy of suffering!
LG1867	4812	To struggle against great odds! to meet enemies un-dauntedundaunted!
LG1867	4813	To be entirely alone with them! to find how much one can stand!
LG1867	4814	To look strife, torture, prison, popular odium, death,face to face!
LG1867	4815	To mount the scaffold! to advance to the muzzles of guns with perfect nonchalance!
LG1867	4816	To be indeed a God!
LG1867	4817	O the gleesome saunter over fields and hill-sides!
LG1867	4818	The leaves and flowers of the commonest weeds—the moist fresh stillness of the woods,
LG1867	4819	The exquisite smell of the earth at day-break, and all through the forenoon.
LG1867	4820	O love-branches! love-root! love-apples!
LG1867	4821	O chaste and electric torrents! O mad-sweet drops.
LG1867	4822	O the orator's joys!
LG1867	4823	To inflate the chest—to roll the thunder of the voice out from the ribs and throat,
LG1867	4824	To make the people rage, weep, hate, desire, with yourself,
LG1867	4825	To lead America—to quell America with a great tongue.
LG1867	4826	O the joy of a manly self-hood!
LG1867	4827	Personality—to be servile to none—to defer to none —not to any tyrant, known or unknown,
LG1867	4828	To walk with erect carriage, a step springy and elastic,
LG1867	4829	To look with calm gaze, or with a flashing eye,
LG1867	4830	To speak with a full and sonorous voice, out of a broad chest,
LG1867	4831	To confront with your personality all the other per-sonalitiespersonalities of the earth.
LG1867	4832	O to have my life henceforth my poem of joys!
LG1867	4833	To dance, clap hands, exult, shout, skip, leap, roll on,float on,
LG1867	4834	An athlete—full of rich words—full of joys.
LG1867	4835	RESPONDEZ! Respondez!
LG1867	4836	Let every one answer! let those who sleep be waked! let none evade!
LG1867	4837	(How much longer must we go on with our affectations and sneaking?
LG1867	4838	Let me bring this to a close—I pronounce openly for a new distribution of roles;)
LG1867	4839	Let that which stood in front go behind! and let that which was behind advance to the front and speak;
LG1867	4840	Let murderers, thieves, bigots, fools, unclean persons, offer new propositions!
LG1867	4841	Let the old propositions be postponed!
LG1867	4842	Let faces and theories be turn'd inside out! Let meanings be freely criminal, as well as results!
LG1867	4843	Let there be no suggestion above the suggestion of drudgery!
LG1867	4844	Let none be pointed toward his destination! (Say! do you know your destination?)
LG1867	4845	Let trillions of men and women be mock'd with bodies and mock'd with Souls!
LG1867	4846	Let the love that waits in them, wait! Let it die, or pass still-born to other spheres!
LG1867	4847	Let the sympathy that waits in every man, wait! or let it also pass, a dwarf, to other spheres!
LG1867	4848	Let contradictions prevail! Let one thing contradict another! and let one line of my poems contra-dictcontradict another!
LG1867	4849	Let the people sprawl with yearning aimless hands! Let their tongues be broken! Let their eyes be discouraged! Let none descend into their hearts with the fresh lusciousness of love!
LG1867	4850	Let the theory of America be management, caste, comparison! (Say! what other theory would you?)
LG1867	4851	Let them that distrust birth and death lead the rest! (Say! why shall they not lead you?)
LG1867	4852	Let the crust of hell be near'd and trod on! Let the days be darker than the nights! Let slumber bring less slumber than waking-time brings!
LG1867	4853	Let the world never appear to him or her for whom it was all made!
LG1867	4854	Let the heart of the young man exile itself from the heart of the old man! and let the heart of the old man be exiled from that of the young man!
LG1867	4855	Let the sun and moon go! Let scenery take the ap-plauseapplause of the audience! Let there be apathy under the stars!
LG1867	4856	Let freedom prove no man's inalienable right! Every one who can tyrannize, let him tyrannize to his satisfaction!
LG1867	4857	Let none but infidels be countenanced!
LG1867	4858	Let the eminence of meanness, treachery, sarcasm, hate, greed, indecency, impotence, lust, be taken for granted above all! Let writers, judges, gov-ernmentsgovernments, households, religions, philosophies, take such for granted above all!
LG1867	4859	Let the worst men beget children out of the worst women!
LG1867	4860	Let the priest still play at immortality!
LG1867	4861	Let death be inaugurated!
LG1867	4862	Let nothing remain but the ashes of teachers, artists, moralists, lawyers, and learn'd and polite per-sonspersons!
LG1867	4863	Let him who is without my poems be assassinated!
LG1867	4864	Let the cow, the horse, the camel, the garden-bee—Let the mud-fish, the lobster, the mussel, eel, the stingfish—Let these, and the like of these, be put on a perfect equal-ityequality with man and woman!
LG1867	4865	Let churches accommodate serpents, vermin, and the corpses of those who have died of the most filthy of diseases!
LG1867	4866	Let marriage slip down among fools, and be for none but fools!
LG1867	4867	Let men among themselves talk and think obscenely of women! and let women among themselves talk and think obscenely of men!
LG1867	4868	Let every man doubt every woman! and let every woman trick every man!
LG1867	4869	Let us all, without missing one, be exposed in public, naked, monthly, at the peril of our lives! Let our bodies be freely handled and examined by whoever chooses!
LG1867	4870	Let nothing but copies be permitted to exist upon the earth!
LG1867	4871	Let the earth desert God, nor let there never hence-forthhenceforth be mention'd the name of God!
LG1867	4872	Let there be no God!
LG1867	4873	Let there be money, business, imports, exports, cus-tomcustom, authority, precedents, pallor, dyspepsia, smut, ignorance, unbelief!
LG1867	4874	Let judges and criminals be transposed! Let the prison-keepers be put in prison! Let those that were prisoners take the keys! (Say! why might they not just as well be transposed?)
LG1867	4875	Let the slaves be masters! Let the masters become slaves!
LG1867	4876	Let the reformers descend from the stands where they are forever bawling! Let an idiot or insane person appear on each of the stands!
LG1867	4877	Let the Asiatic, the African, the European, the Ameri-canAmerican, and the Australian, go armed against the murderous stealthiness of each other! Let them sleep armed! Let none believe in good will!
LG1867	4878	Let there be no unfashionable wisdom! Let such be scorn'd and derided off from the earth!
LG1867	4879	Let a floating cloud in the sky—Let a wave of the sea —Let growing mint, spinach, onions, tomatoes —Let these be exhibited as shows at a great price for admission!
LG1867	4880	Let all the men of These States stand aside for a few smouchers! Let the few seize on what they choose! Let the rest gawk, giggle, starve, obey!
LG1867	4881	Let shadows be furnish'd with genitals! Let substances be deprived of their genitals!
LG1867	4882	Let there be wealthy and immense cities—but through any of them, not a single poet, savior, knower, lover!
LG1867	4883	Let the infidels of These States laugh all faith away! If one man be found who has faith, let the rest set upon him! Let them affright faith! Let them destroy the power of breeding faith!
LG1867	4884	Let the she-harlots and the he-harlots be prudent! Let them dance on, while seeming lasts! (O seeming! seeming! seeming!)
LG1867	4885	Let the preachers recite creeds! Let them teach only what they have been taught!
LG1867	4886	Let insanity have charge of sanity!
LG1867	4887	Let books take the place of trees, animals, rivers, clouds!
LG1867	4888	Let the daub'd portraits of heroes supersede heroes!
LG1867	4889	Let the manhood of man never take steps after itself! Let it take steps after eunuchs, and after con-sumptiveconsumptive and genteel persons!
LG1867	4890	Let the white person tread the black person under his heel! (Say! which is trodden under heel, after all?)
LG1867	4891	Let the reflections of the things of the world be studied in mirrors! Let the things themselves continue unstudied!
LG1867	4892	Let a man seek pleasure everywhere except in him-selfhimself! Let a woman seek happiness everywhere except in herself! (What real happiness have you had one single time through your whole life?)
LG1867	4893	Let the limited years of life do nothing for the limit-lesslimitless years of death! (What do you suppose death will do, then?)
LG1867	4894	BY the City Dead-House, by the gate,
LG1867	4895	As idly sauntering, wending my way from the clangor,
LG1867	4896	I curious pause—for lo! an outcast form, a poor dead prostitute brought;
LG1867	4897	Her corpse they deposit unclaim'd, it lies on the damp brick pavement;
LG1867	4898	The divine woman, her body—I see the Body—I look on it alone,
LG1867	4899	That house once full of passion and beauty—all else I notice not;
LG1867	4900	Nor stillness so cold, nor running water from faucet, nor odors morbific impress me;
LG1867	4901	But the house alone—that wondrous house—that de-licatedelicate fair house—that ruin!
LG1867	4902	That immortal house, more than all the rows of dwel-lingsdwellings ever built!
LG1867	4903	Or white-domed Capitol itself, with magesticmajestic figure sur-mountedsurmounted—or all the old high-spired cathedrals,
LG1867	4904	That little house alone, more than them all—poor, desperate house!
LG1867	4905	Fair, fearful wreck! tenement of a Soul! itself a Soul!
LG1867	4906	Unclaim'd, avoided house! take one breath from my tremulous lips;
LG1867	4907	Take one tear, dropt aside as I go, for thought of you,
LG1867	4908	Dead house of love! house of madness and sin, crum-bledcrumbled! crush'd!
LG1867	4909	House of life—erewhile talking and laughing—but ah, poor house! dead, even then;
LG1867	4910	Months, years, an echoing, garnish'd house—but dead, dead, dead.
LG1867	4911	WHAT General has a good army in himself, has a good army;
LG1867	4912	He happy in himself, or she happy in herself, is happy.
LG1867	4913	THINK of the Soul;
LG1867	4914	I swear to you that body of yours gives proportions to your Soul somehow to live in other spheres;
LG1867	4915	I do not know how, but I know it is so.
LG1867	4916	Think of loving and being loved;
LG1867	4917	I swear to you, whoever you are, you can interfuse yourself with such things that everybody that sees you shall look longingly upon you.
LG1867	4918	Think of the past;
LG1867	4919	I warn you that in a little while, others will find their past in you and your times.
LG1867	4920	The race is never separated—nor man nor woman escapes;
LG1867	4921	All is inextricable—things, spirits, nature, nations,you too—from precedents you come.
LG1867	4922	Recall the ever-welcome defiers, (The mothers pre-cedeprecede them;)
LG1867	4923	Recall the sages, poets, saviors, inventors, lawgivers,of the earth;
LG1867	4924	Recall Christ, brother of rejected persons—brother of slaves, felons, idiots, and of insane and diseas'd persons.
LG1867	4925	Think of the time when you was not yet born;
LG1867	4926	Think of times you stood at the side of the dying;
LG1867	4927	Think of the time when your own body will be dying.
LG1867	4928	Think of spiritual results,
LG1867	4929	Sure as the earth swims through the heavens, does every one of its objects pass into spiritual results.
LG1867	4930	Think of manhood, and you to be a man;
LG1867	4931	Do you count manhood, and the sweet of manhood,nothing?
LG1867	4932	Think of womanhood, and you to be a woman;
LG1867	4933	The creation is womanhood;
LG1867	4934	Have I not said that womanhood involves all?
LG1867	4935	Have I not told how the universe has nothing better than the best womanhood?
LG1867	4936	UNFOLDED out of the folds of the woman, man comes unfolded, and is always to come unfolded;
LG1867	4937	Unfolded only out of the superbest woman of the earth, is to come the superbest man of the earth;
LG1867	4938	Unfolded out of the friendliest woman, is to come the friendliest man;
LG1867	4939	Unfolded only out of the perfect body of a woman, can a man be form'd of perfect body;
LG1867	4940	Unfolded only out of the inimitable poem of the wo-manwoman, can come the poems of man—(only thence have my poems come;)
LG1867	4941	Unfolded out of the strong and arrogant woman I love, only thence can appear the strong and arrogant man I love;
LG1867	4942	Unfolded by brawny embraces from the well-muscled woman I love, only thence come the brawny embraces of the man;
LG1867	4943	Unfolded out of the folds of the woman's brain, come all the folds of the man's brain, duly obedient;
LG1867	4944	Unfolded out of the justice of the woman, all justice is unfolded;
LG1867	4945	Unfolded out of the sympathy of the woman is all sympathy:
LG1867	4946	A man is a great thing upon the earth, and through eternity—but every jot of the greatness of man is unfolded out of woman,
LG1867	4947	First the man is shaped in the woman, he can then be shaped in himself.
LG1867	4948	NIGHT on the prairies;
LG1867	4949	The supper is over—the fire on the ground burns low;
LG1867	4950	The wearied emigrants sleep, wrapt in their blankets;
LG1867	4951	I walk by myself—I stand and look at the stars,which I think now I never realized before.
LG1867	4952	Now I absorb immortality and peace,
LG1867	4953	I admire death, and test propositions.
LG1867	4954	How plenteous! How spiritual! How resumé!
LG1867	4955	The same Old Man and Soul—the same old aspira-tionsaspirations, and the same content.
LG1867	4956	I was thinking the day most splendid, till I saw what the not-day exhibited,
LG1867	4957	I was thinking this globe enough, till there sprang out so noiseless around me myriads of other globes.
LG1867	4958	Now, while the great thoughts of space and eternity fill me, I will measure myself by them;
LG1867	4959	And now, touch'd with the lives of other globes, ar-rivedarrived as far along as those of the earth,
LG1867	4960	Or waiting to arrive, or pass'd on farther than those of the earth,
LG1867	4961	I henceforth no more ignore them, than I ignore my own life,
LG1867	4962	Or the lives of the earth arrived as far as mine, or waiting to arrive.
LG1867	4963	O I see now that life cannot exhibit all to me—as the day cannot,
LG1867	4964	I see that I am to wait for what will be exhibited by death.
LG1867	4965	THE world below the brine;
LG1867	4966	Forests at the bottom of the sea—the branches and leaves,
LG1867	4967	Sea-lettuce, vast lichens, strange flowers and seeds— the thick tangle, the openings, and the pink turf,
LG1867	4968	Different colors, pale gray and green, purple, white, and gold—the play of light through the water,
LG1867	4969	Dumb swimmers there among the rocks—coral, gluten, grass, rushes—and the aliment of the swimmers,
LG1867	4970	Sluggish existences grazing there, suspended, or slowly crawling close to the bottom,
LG1867	4971	The sperm-whale at the surface, blowing air and spray, or disporting with his flukes,
LG1867	4972	The leaden-eyed shark, the walrus, the turtle, the hairy sea-leopard, and the sting-ray;
LG1867	4973	Passions there—wars, pursuits, tribes—sight in those ocean-depths—breathing that thick-breathing air, as so many do;
LG1867	4974	The change thence to the sight here, and to the subtle air breathed by beings like us, who walk this sphere;
LG1867	4975	The change onward from ours, to that of beings who walk other spheres.
LG1867	4976	I SIT and look out upon all the sorrows of the world, and upon all oppression and shame;
LG1867	4977	I hear secret convulsive sobs from young men, at an-guishanguish with themselves, remorseful after deeds done;
LG1867	4978	I see, in low life, the mother misused by her children, dying, neglected, gaunt, desperate;
LG1867	4979	I see the wife misused by her husband—I see the treacherous seducer of young women;
LG1867	4980	I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love, attempted to be hid—I see these sights on the earth;
LG1867	4981	I see the workings of battle, pestilence, tyranny—I see martyrs and prisoners;
LG1867	4982	I observe a famine at sea—I observe the sailors cast-ingcasting lots who shall be kill'd, to preserve the lives of the rest;
LG1867	4983	I observe the slights and degradations cast by arro-gantarrogant persons upon laborers, the poor, and upon negroes, and the like;
LG1867	4984	All these—All the meanness and agony without end, I sitting, look out upon,
LG1867	4985	See, hear, and am silent.
LG1867	4986	A MASK—a perpetual natural disguiser of herself,
LG1867	4987	Concealing her face, concealing her form,
LG1867	4988	Changes and transformations every hour, every mo-mentmoment,
LG1867	4989	Falling upon her even when she sleeps.
LG1867	4990	NOT the pilot has charged himself to bring his ship into port, though beaten back, and many times baffled;
LG1867	4991	Not the path-finder, penetrating inland, weary and long,
LG1867	4992	By deserts parch'd, snows-chill'd, rivers wet, perse-veresperseveres till he reaches his destination,
LG1867	4993	More than I have charged myself, heeded or un-heededunheeded, to compose a free march for These States,
LG1867	4994	To be exhilarating music to them, years, centuries hence.
LG1867	4995	AS if a phantom caress'd me,
LG1867	4996	I thought I was not alone, walking here by the shore;
LG1867	4997	But the one I thought was with me, as now I walk by the shore, the one I loved that caress'd me,
LG1867	4998	As I lean and look through the glimmering light— that one has utterly disappear'd,
LG1867	4999	And those appear that are hateful to me, and mock me.
LG1867	5000	WOMEN sit, or move to and fro—some old, some young;
LG1867	5001	The young are beautiful—but the old are more beauti-fulbeautiful than the young.
LG1867	5002	GREAT are the myths—I too delight in them;
LG1867	5003	Great are Adam and Eve—I too look back and accept them;
LG1867	5004	Great the risen and fallen nations, and their poets, women, sages, inventors, rulers, warriors, and priests.
LG1867	5005	Great is Liberty! great is Equality! I am their follower;
LG1867	5006	Helmsmen of nations, choose your craft! where you sail, I sail,
LG1867	5007	I weather it out with you, or sink with you.
LG1867	5008	Great is Youth—equally great is Old Age—great are the Day and night;
LG1867	5009	Great is Wealth—great is Poverty—great is Expres-sionExpression—great is Silence.
LG1867	5010	Youth, large, lusty, loving—Youth, full of grace, force, fascination!
LG1867	5011	Do you know that Old Age may come after you, with equal grace, force, fascination?
LG1867	5012	Day, full-blown and splendid—Day of the immense sun, action, ambition, laughter,
LG1867	5013	The Night follows close, with millions of suns, and sleep, and restoring darkness.
LG1867	5014	Wealth, with the flush hand, fine clothes, hospi-talityhospitality;
LG1867	5015	But then the Soul's wealth, which is candor, knowl-edgeknowledge, pride, enfolding love;
LG1867	5016	(Who goes for men and women showing Poverty richer than wealth?)
LG1867	5017	(Expression of speech! in what is written or said, forget not that Silence is also expressive,
LG1867	5018	That anguish as hot as the hottest, and contempt as cold as the coldest, may be without words.)
LG1867	5019	Great is the Earth, and the way it became what it is;
LG1867	5020	Do you imagine it has stopt at this? the increase abandon'd?
LG1867	5021	Understand then that it goes as far onward from this, as this is from the times when it lay in cover-ingcovering waters and gases, before man had appear'd.
LG1867	5022	Great is the quality of Truth in man;
LG1867	5023	The quality of truth in man supports itself through all changes,
LG1867	5024	It is inevitably in the man—he and it are in love, and never leave each other.
LG1867	5025	The truth in man is no dictum, it is vital as eye-sighteyesight;
LG1867	5026	If there be any Soul, there is truth—if there be man or woman, there is truth—if there be physical or moral, there is truth;
LG1867	5027	If there be equilibrium or volition, there is truth—if there be things at all upon the earth, there is truth.
LG1867	5028	O truth of the earth! O truth of things! I am de-termindetermin'd to press my way toward you;
LG1867	5029	Sound your voice! I scale mountains, or dive in the sea after you.
LG1867	5030	Great is Language—it is the mightiest of the sci-encessciences,
LG1867	5031	It is the fulness, color, form, diversity of the earth, and of men and women, and of all qualities and processes;
LG1867	5032	It is greater than wealth—it is greater than buildings, ships, religions, paintings, music.
LG1867	5033	Great is the English speech—what speech is so great as the English?
LG1867	5034	Great is the English brood—what brood has so vast a destiny as the English ?
LG1867	5035	It is the mother of the brood that must rule the earth with the new rule;
LG1867	5036	The new rule shall rule as the Soul rules, and as the love, justice, equality in the Soul rule.
LG1867	5037	Great is law—great are the old few land-marks of the law,
LG1867	5038	They are the same in all times, and shall not be dis-turbdisturb'd.
LG1867	5039	Great is Justice!
LG1867	5040	Justice is not settled by legislators and laws—it is in the Soul;
LG1867	5041	It cannot be varied by statutes, any more than love, pride, the attraction of gravity, can;
LG1867	5042	It is immutable—it does not depend on majorities— majorities or what not, come at last before the same passionless and exact tribunal.
LG1867	5043	For justice are the grand natural lawyers, and per-fectperfect judges—is it in their Souls;
LG1867	5044	It is well assorted—they have not studied for nothing —the great includes the less;
LG1867	5045	They rule on the highest grounds—they oversee all eras, states, administrations.
LG1867	5046	The perfect judge fears nothing—he could go front to front before God;
LG1867	5047	Before the perfect judge all shall stand back—life and death shall stand back—heaven and hell shall stand back.
LG1867	5048	Great is Life, real and mystical, wherever and who-everwhoever;
LG1867	5049	Great is Death—sure as life holds all parts together, Death holds all parts together.
LG1867	5050	Has Life much purport?—Ah, Death has the greatest purport.
LG1867	5051	NOW list to my morning's romanza;
LG1867	5052	To the cities and farms I sing, as they spread in the sunshine before me.
LG1867	5053	A young man came to me bearing a message from his brother;
LG1867	5054	How should the young man know the whether and when of his brother?
LG1867	5055	Tell him to send me the signs.
LG1867	5056	And I stood before the young man face to face, and took his right hand in my left hand, and his left hand in my right hand,
LG1867	5057	And I answer'd for his brother, and for men, and I answer'd for THE POET, and sent these signs.
LG1867	5058	Him all wait for—him all yield up to—his word is decisive and final,
LG1867	5059	Him they accept, in him lave, in him perceive them-selvesthemselves, as amid light,
LG1867	5060	Him they immerse, and he immerses them.
LG1867	5061	Beautiful women, the haughtiest nations, laws, the landscape, people, animals,
LG1867	5062	The profound earth and its attributes, and the unquiet ocean, (so tell I my morning's romanza;)
LG1867	5063	All enjoyments and properties, and money, and what-everwhatever money will buy,
LG1867	5064	The best farms—others toiling and planting, and he unavoidably reaps,
LG1867	5065	The noblest and costliest cities—others grading and building, and he domiciles there,
LG1867	5066	Nothing for any one, but what is for him—near and far are for him, the ships in the offing,
LG1867	5067	The perpetual shows and marches on land, are for him, if they are for any body.
LG1867	5068	He puts things in their attitudes;
LG1867	5069	He puts to-day out of himself, with plasticity and love;
LG1867	5070	He places his own city, times, reminiscences, parents, brothers and sisters, associations, employment, politics, so that the rest never shame them after-wardafterward, nor assume to command them.
LG1867	5071	He is the answerer;
LG1867	5072	What can be answer'd he answers—and what cannot be answer'd, he shows how it cannot be answer'd.
LG1867	5073	A man is a summons and challenge;
LG1867	5074	(It is vain to skulk—Do you hear that mocking and laughter? Do you hear the ironical echoes?)
LG1867	5075	Books, friendships, philosophers, priests, action, pleasure, pride, beat up and down, seeking to give satisfaction;
LG1867	5076	He indicates the satisfaction, and indicates them that beat up and down also.
LG1867	5077	Whichever the sex, whatever the season or place, he may go freshly and gently and safely, by day or by night;
LG1867	5078	He has the pass-key of hearts—to him the response of the prying of hands on the knobs.
LG1867	5079	His welcome is universal—the flow of beauty is not more welcome or universal than he is;
LG1867	5080	The person he favors by day or sleeps with at night is blessed.
LG1867	5081	Every existence has its idiom—everything has an idiom and tongue;
LG1867	5082	He resolves all tongues into his own, and bestows it upon men, and any man translates, and any man translates himself also;
LG1867	5083	One part does not counteract another part—he is the joiner—he sees how they join.
LG1867	5084	He says indifferently and alike, How are you, friend? to the President at his levee,
LG1867	5085	And he says, Good-day, my brother! to Cudge that hoes in the sugar-field,
LG1867	5086	And both understand him, and know that his speech is right.
LG1867	5087	He walks with perfect ease in the Capitol,
LG1867	5088	He walks among the Congress, and one representative says to another, Here is our equal, appearing and new.
LG1867	5089	Then the mechanics take him for a mechanic,
LG1867	5090	And the soldiers suppose him to be a soldier, and the sailors that he has follow'd the sea,
LG1867	5091	And the authors take him for an author, and the artists for an artist,
LG1867	5092	And the laborers perceive he could labor with them and love them;
LG1867	5093	No matter what the work is, that he is the one to follow it, or has follow'd it,
LG1867	5094	No matter what the nation, that he might find his brothers and sisters there.
LG1867	5095	The English believe he comes of their English stock,
LG1867	5096	A Jew to the Jew he seems—a Russ to the Russ— usual and near, removed from none.
LG1867	5097	Whoever he looks at in the traveler's coffee-house claims him,
LG1867	5098	The Italian or Frenchman is sure, and the German is sure, and the Spaniard is sure, and the island Cuban is sure;
LG1867	5099	The engineer, the deck-hand on the great lakes, or on the Mississippi, or St. Lawrence, or Sacramento, or Hudson, or Paumanok Sound, claims him.
LG1867	5100	The gentleman of perfect blood acknowledges his perfect blood;
LG1867	5101	The insulter, the prostitute, the angry person, the beggar, see themselves in the ways of him—he strangely transmutes them,
LG1867	5102	They are not vile any more—they hardly know them-selvesthemselves, they are so grown.
LG1867	5103	TO think of it!
LG1867	5104	To think of time—of all that retrospection!
LG1867	5105	To think of to-day and the ages continued hence-forwardhenceforward!
LG1867	5106	Have you guess'd you yourself would not continue?
LG1867	5107	Have you dreaded these earth-beetles?
LG1867	5108	Have you fear'd the future would be nothing to you?
LG1867	5109	Is to-day nothing? Is the beginningless past nothing ?
LG1867	5110	If the future is nothing, they are just as surely nothing.
LG1867	5111	To think that the sun rose in the east! that men and women were flexible, real, alive! that every-thingeverything was alive!
LG1867	5112	To think that you and I did not see, feel, think, nor bear our part!
LG1867	5113	To think that we are now here, and bear our part !
LG1867	5114	Not a day passes—not a minute or second, without an accouchement!
LG1867	5115	Not a day passes—not a minute or second, without a corpse!
LG1867	5116	The dull nights go over, and the dull days also,
LG1867	5117	The soreness of lying so much in bed goes over,
LG1867	5118	The physician, after long putting off, gives the silent and terrible look for an answer,
LG1867	5119	The children come hurried and weeping, and the brothers and sisters are sent for,
LG1867	5120	Medicines stand unused on the shelf—(the camphor-smellcamphor-smell has long pervaded the rooms,)
LG1867	5121	The faithful hand of the living does not desert the hand of the dying,
LG1867	5122	The twitching lips press lightly on the forehead of the dying,
LG1867	5123	The breath ceases, and the pulse of the heart ceases,
LG1867	5124	The corpse stretches on the bed, and the living look upon it,
LG1867	5125	It is palpable as the living are palpable.
LG1867	5126	The living look upon the corpse with their eye-sighteyesight,
LG1867	5127	But without eye-sight lingers a different living, and looks curiously on the corpse.
LG1867	5128	To think that the rivers will flow, and the snow fall, and fruits ripen, and act upon others as upon us now—yet not act upon us!
LG1867	5129	To think of all these wonders of city and country,and others taking great interest in them—and we taking no interest in them!
LG1867	5130	To think how eager we are in building our houses!
LG1867	5131	To think others shall be just as eager, and we quite indifferent!
LG1867	5132	I see one building the house that serves him a few years, or seventy or eighty years at most,
LG1867	5133	I see one building the house that serves him longer than that.
LG1867	5134	Slow-moving and black lines creep over the whole earth—they never cease—they are the burial lines,
LG1867	5135	He that was President was buried, and he that is now President shall surely be buried.
LG1867	5136	Cold dash of waves at the ferry-wharf—posh and ice in the river, half-frozen mud in the streets,a gray discouraged sky overhead, the short last daylight of Twelfth-month,
LG1867	5137	A hearse and stages—other vehicles give place—the funeral of an old Broadway stage-driver, the cortege mostly drivers.
LG1867	5138	Steady the trot to the cemetery, duly rattles the death-bell, the gate is pass'd, the new-dug grave is halted at, the living alight, the hearse un-closesuncloses,
LG1867	5139	The coffin is pass'd out, lower'd and settled, the whip is laid on the coffin, the earth is swiftly shovel'd in,
LG1867	5140	The mound above is flatted with the spades—silence,
LG1867	5141	A minute, no one moves or speaks—it is done,
LG1867	5142	He is decently put away—is there anything more ?
LG1867	5143	He was a good fellow, free-mouth'd, quick-temper'd,not bad-looking, able to take his own part,witty, sensitive to a slight, ready with life or death for a friend, fond of women, gambled, ate hearty, drank hearty, had known what it was to be flush, grew low-spirited toward the last,sicken'd, was help'd by a contribution, died,aged forty-one years—and that was his funeral.
LG1867	5144	Thumb extended, finger uplifted, apron, cape, gloves,strap, wet-weather clothes, whip carefully chosen, boss, spotter, starter, hostler, somebody loafing on you, you loafing on somebody, head-wayheadway, man before and man behind, good day's work, bad day's work, pet stock, mean stock,first out, last out, turning-in at night;
LG1867	5145	To think that these are so much and so nigh to other drivers—and he there takes no interest in them!
LG1867	5146	The markets, the government, the working-man's wages—to think what account they are through our nights and days!
LG1867	5147	To think that other working-men will make just as great account of them—yet we make little or no account!
LG1867	5148	The vulgar and the refined—what you call sin, and what you call goodness—to think how wide a difference!
LG1867	5149	To think the difference will still continue to others,yet we lie beyond the difference.
LG1867	5150	To think how much pleasure there is!
LG1867	5151	Have you pleasure from looking at the sky? have you pleasure from poems?
LG1867	5152	Do you enjoy yourself in the city? or engaged in business? or planning a nomination and elec-tionelection? or with your wife and family?
LG1867	5153	Or with your mother and sisters? or in womanly house-work? or the beautiful maternal cares?
LG1867	5154	These also flow onward to others—you and I flow onward,
LG1867	5155	But in due time you and I shall take less interest in them.
LG1867	5156	Your farm, profits, crops,—to think how engross'd you are!
LG1867	5157	To think there will still be farms, profits, crops—yet for you, of what avail?
LG1867	5158	What will be, will be well—for what is, is well,
LG1867	5159	To take interest is well, and not to take interest shall be well.
LG1867	5160	The sky continues beautiful,
LG1867	5161	The pleasure of men with women shall never be sated,nor the pleasure of women with men, nor the pleasure from poems,
LG1867	5162	The domestic joys, the daily housework or business,the building of houses—these are not phan-tasmsphantasms—they have weight, form, location;
LG1867	5163	Farms, profits, crops, markets, wages, government,are none of them phantasms,
LG1867	5164	The difference between sin and goodness is no de-lusiondelusion,
LG1867	5165	The earth is not an echo—man and his life, and all the things of his life, are well-consider'd.
LG1867	5166	You are not thrown to the winds—you gather cer-tainlycertainly and safely around yourself;
LG1867	5167	Yourself! Yourself! Yourself, forever and ever !
LG1867	5168	It is not to diffuse you that you were born of your mother and father—it is to identify you,
LG1867	5169	It is not that you should be undecided, but that you should be decided;
LG1867	5170	Something long preparing and formless is arrived and form'd in you,
LG1867	5171	You are henceforth secure, whatever comes or goes.
LG1867	5172	The threads that were spun are gathered, the weft crosses the warp, the pattern is systematic.
LG1867	5173	The preparations have everyone been justified,
LG1867	5174	The orchestra have sufficiently tuned their instru-mentsinstruments—the baton has given the signal.
LG1867	5175	The guest that was coming—he waited long, for reasons—he is now housed,
LG1867	5176	He is one of those who are beautiful and happy—he is one of those that to look upon and be with is enough.
LG1867	5177	The law of the past cannot be eluded,
LG1867	5178	The law of the present and future cannot be eluded,
LG1867	5179	The law of the living cannot be eluded—it is eternal,
LG1867	5180	The law of promotion and transformation cannot be eluded,
LG1867	5181	The law of heroes and good-doers cannot be eluded,
LG1867	5182	The law of drunkards, informers, mean persons—not one iota thereof can be eluded.
LG1867	5183	Slow moving and black lines go ceaselessly over the earth,
LG1867	5184	Northerner goes carried, and Southerner goes carried,and they on the Atlantic side, and they on the Pacific, and they between, and all through the Mississippi country, and all over the earth.
LG1867	5185	The great masters and kosmos are well as they go —the heroes and good-doers are well,
LG1867	5186	The known leaders and inventors, and the rich own-ersowners and pious and distinguish'd, may be well,
LG1867	5187	But there is more account than that—there is strict account of all.
LG1867	5188	The interminable hordes of the ignorant and wicked are not nothing,
LG1867	5189	The barbarians of Africa and Asia are not nothing,
LG1867	5190	The common people of Europe are not nothing— the American aborigines are not nothing,
LG1867	5191	The infected in the immigrant hospital are not noth-ingnothing—the murderer or mean person is not nothing,
LG1867	5192	The perpetual successions of shallow people are not nothing as they go,
LG1867	5193	The lowest prostitute is not nothing—the mocker of religion is not nothing as he goes.
LG1867	5194	I shall go with the rest—we have satisfaction,
LG1867	5195	I have dream'd that we are not to be changed so much, nor the law of us changed,
LG1867	5196	I have dream'd that heroes and good-doers shall be under the present and past law,
LG1867	5197	And that murderers, drunkards, liars, shall be under the present and past law,
LG1867	5198	For I have dream'd that the law they are under now is enough.
LG1867	5199	And I have dream'd that the satisfaction is not so much changed, and that there is no life with-outwithout satisfaction:
LG1867	5200	What is the earth? what are Body and Soul, without satisfaction?
LG1867	5201	I shall go with the rest,
LG1867	5202	We cannot be stopt at a given point—that is no satis-factionsatisfaction,
LG1867	5203	To show us a good thing, or a few good things, for a space of time—that is no satisfaction,
LG1867	5204	We must have the indestructible breed of the best,regardless of time.
LG1867	5205	If otherwise, all these things came but to ashes of dung,
LG1867	5206	If maggots and rats ended us, then alarum! for we are betray'd!
LG1867	5207	Then indeed suspicion of death.
LG1867	5208	Do you suspect death? If I were to suspect death,I should die now,
LG1867	5209	Do you think I could walk pleasantly and well-suited toward annihilation?
LG1867	5210	Pleasantly and well-suited I walk,
LG1867	5211	Whither I walk I cannot define, but I know it is good,
LG1867	5212	The whole universe indicates that it is good,
LG1867	5213	The past and the present indicate that it is good.
LG1867	5214	How beautiful and perfect are the animals! How perfect is my Soul!
LG1867	5215	How perfect the earth, and the minutest thing upon it!
LG1867	5216	What is called good is perfect, and what is called bad is just as perfect,
LG1867	5217	The vegetables and minerals are all perfect, and the imponderable fluids are perfect;
LG1867	5218	Slowly and surely they have pass'd on to this, and slowly and surely they yet pass on.
LG1867	5219	My Soul! if I realize you, I have satisfaction,
LG1867	5220	Animals and vegetables! if I realize you, I have sat-isfactionsatisfaction,
LG1867	5221	Laws of the earth and air! if I realize you, I have satisfaction.
LG1867	5222	I cannot define my satisfaction, yet it is so,
LG1867	5223	I cannot define my life, yet it is so.
LG1867	5224	It comes to me now!
LG1867	5225	I swear I think now that everything without excep-tionexception has an eternal Soul!
LG1867	5226	The trees have, rooted in the ground! the weeds of the sea have! the animals!
LG1867	5227	I swear I think there is nothing but immortality!
LG1867	5228	That the exquisite scheme is for it, and the nebulous float is for it, and the cohering is for it;
LG1867	5229	And all preparation is for it! and identity is for it!and life and death are altogether for it!
LG1867	5230	SOMETHING startles me where I thought I was safest;
LG1867	5231	I withdraw from the still woods I loved;
LG1867	5232	I will not go now on the pastures to walk;
LG1867	5233	I will not strip the clothes from my body to meet my lover the sea;
LG1867	5234	I will not touch my flesh to the earth, as to other flesh, to renew me.
LG1867	5235	O how can the ground not sicken?
LG1867	5236	How can you be alive, you growths of spring?
LG1867	5237	How can you furnish health, you blood of herbs, roots, orchards, grain?
LG1867	5238	Are they not continually putting distemper'd corpses in you?
LG1867	5239	Is not every continent work'd over and over with sour dead?
LG1867	5240	Where have you disposed of their carcasses?
LG1867	5241	Those drunkards and gluttons of so many genera-tionsgenerations;
LG1867	5242	Where have you drawn off all the foul liquid and meat?
LG1867	5243	I do not see any of it upon you to-day—or perhaps I am deceiv'd;
LG1867	5244	I will run a furrow with my plough—I will press my spade through the sod, and turn it up under-neathunderneath;
LG1867	5245	I am sure I shall expose some of the foul meat.
LG1867	5246	Behold this compost! behold it well!
LG1867	5247	Perhaps every mite has once form'd part of a sick person—Yet behold!
LG1867	5248	The grass covers the prairies,
LG1867	5249	The bean bursts noiselessly through the mould in the garden,
LG1867	5250	The delicate spear of the onion pierces upward,
LG1867	5251	The apple-buds cluster together on the apple-branches,
LG1867	5252	The resurrection of the wheat appears with pale visage out of its graves,
LG1867	5253	The tinge awakes over the willow-tree and the mul-berrymulberry-tree-tree,
LG1867	5254	The he-birds carol mornings and evenings, while the she-birds sit on their nests,
LG1867	5255	The young of poultry break through the hatch'd eggs,
LG1867	5256	The new-born of animals appear—the calf is dropt from the cow, the colt from the mare,
LG1867	5257	Out of its little hill faithfully rise the potato's dark green leaves,
LG1867	5258	Out of its hill rises the yellow maize-stalk;
LG1867	5259	The summer growth is innocent and disdainful above all those strata of sour dead.
LG1867	5260	What chemistry!
LG1867	5261	That the winds are really not infectious,
LG1867	5262	That this is no cheat, this transparent green-wash of the sea, which is so amorous after me,
LG1867	5263	That it is safe to allow it to lick my naked body all over with its tongues,
LG1867	5264	That it will not endanger me with the fevers that have deposited themselves in it,
LG1867	5265	That all is clean forever and forever,
LG1867	5266	That the cool drink from the well tastes so good,
LG1867	5267	That blackberries are so flavorous and juicy,
LG1867	5268	That the fruits of the apple-orchard, and of the orange-orchard—that melons, grapes, peaches, plums, will none of them poison me,
LG1867	5269	That when I recline on the grass I do not catch any disease,
LG1867	5270	Though probably every spear of grass rises out of what was once a catching disease.
LG1867	5271	Now I am terrified at the earth! it is that calm and patient,
LG1867	5272	It grows such sweet things out of such corruptions,
LG1867	5273	It turns harmless and stainless on its axis, with such endless successions of diseas'd corpses,
LG1867	5274	It distils such exquisite winds out of such infused fetor,
LG1867	5275	It renews with such unwitting looks, its prodigal, annual, sumptuous crops,
LG1867	5276	It gives such divine materials to men, and accepts such leavings from them at last.
LG1867	5277	I HEAR America singing, the varied carols I hear;
LG1867	5278	Those of mechanics—each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong;
LG1867	5279	The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam,
LG1867	5280	The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work;
LG1867	5281	The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat —the deck-hand singing on the steamboat deck;
LG1867	5282	The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench—the hatter singing as he stands;
LG1867	5283	The wood-cutter's song—the ploughboy's, on his way in the morning, or at the noon intermission, or at sundown;
LG1867	5284	The delicious singing of the mother—or of the young wife at work—or of the girl sewing or washing —Each singing what belongs to her, and to none else;
LG1867	5285	The day what belongs to the day—At night, the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
LG1867	5286	Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs.
LG1867	5287	MANHATTAN'S streets I saunter'd pondering,
LG1867	5288	On time, space, reality—on such as these, and abreast with them, prudence.
LG1867	5289	After all, the last explanation remains to be made about prudence,
LG1867	5290	Little and large alike drop quietly aside from the pru-denceprudence that suits immortality.
LG1867	5291	The Soul is of itself;
LG1867	5292	All verges to it—all has reference to what ensues;
LG1867	5293	All that a person does, says, thinks, is of consequence;
LG1867	5294	Not a move can a man or woman make, that affects him or her in a day, month, any part of the di-rectdirect life-time, or the hour of death, but the same affects him or her onward afterward through the indirect life-time.
LG1867	5295	The indirect is just as much as the direct,
LG1867	5296	The spirit receives from the body just as much as it gives to the body, if not more.
LG1867	5297	Not one word or deed—not venereal sore, discolor-ationdiscoloration, privacy of the onanist, putridity of glut-tonsgluttons or rum-drinkers, peculation, cunning, betrayal, murder, seduction, prostitution, but has results beyond death, as really as before death.
LG1867	5298	Charity and personal force are the only investments worth anything.
LG1867	5299	No specification is necessary—all that a male or fe-malefemale does, that is vigorous, benevolent, clean, is so much profit to him or her, in the unshak-ableunshakable order of the universe, and through the whole scope of it forever.
LG1867	5300	Who has been wise, receives interest,
LG1867	5301	Savage, felon, President, judge, farmer, sailor, me-chanicmechanic, literat, young, old, it is the same,
LG1867	5302	The interest will come round—all will come round.
LG1867	5303	Singly, wholly, to affect now, affected their time, will forever affect, all of the past, and all of the present, and all of the future,
LG1867	5304	All the brave actions of war and peace,
LG1867	5305	All help given to relatives, strangers, the poor, old, sorrowful, young children, widows, the sick, and to shunned persons,
LG1867	5306	All furtherance of fugitives, and of the escape of slaves,
LG1867	5307	All self-denial that stood steady and aloof on wrecks, and saw others fill the seats of the boats,
LG1867	5308	All offering of substance or life for the good old cause, or for a friend's sake, or opinion's sake,
LG1867	5309	All pains of enthusiasts, scoffed at by their neighbors,
LG1867	5310	All the limitless sweet love and precious suffering of mothers,
LG1867	5311	All honest men baffled in strifes recorded or unre-cordedunrecorded,
LG1867	5312	All the grandeur and good of ancient nations whose fragments we inherit,
LG1867	5313	All the good of the hundreds of ancient nations un-knownunknown to us by name, date, location,
LG1867	5314	All that was ever manfully begun, whether it suc-ceededsucceeded or no,
LG1867	5315	All suggestions of the divine mind of man, or the divinity of his mouth, or the shaping of his great hands;
LG1867	5316	All that is well thought or said this day on any part of the globe—or on any of the wandering stars, or on any of the fix'd stars, by those there as we are here,
LG1867	5317	All that is henceforth to be thought or done by you, whoever you are, or by any one,
LG1867	5318	These inure, have inured, shall inure, to the identities from which they sprang, or shall spring.
LG1867	5319	Did you guess anything lived only its moment?
LG1867	5320	The world does not so exist—no parts palpable or impalpable so exist,
LG1867	5321	No consummation exists without being from some long previous consummation—and that from some other,
LG1867	5322	Without the farthest conceivable one coming a bit nearer the beginning than any.
LG1867	5323	Whatever satisfies Souls is true;
LG1867	5324	Prudence entirely satisfies the craving and glut of Souls;
LG1867	5325	Itself only finally satisfies the Soul;
LG1867	5326	The Soul has that measureless pride which revolts from every lesson but its own.
LG1867	5327	Now I give you an inkling;
LG1867	5328	Now I breathe the word of the prudence that walks abreast with time, space, reality,
LG1867	5329	That answers the pride which refuses every lesson but its own.
LG1867	5330	What is prudence, is indivisible,
LG1867	5331	Declines to separate one part of life from every part,
LG1867	5332	Divides not the righteous from the unrighteous, or the living from the dead,
LG1867	5333	Matches every thought or act by its correlative,
LG1867	5334	Knows no possible forgiveness or deputed atonement,
LG1867	5335	Knows that the young man who composedly peril'd his life and lost it, has done exceedingly well for himself, without doubt,
LG1867	5336	That he who never peril'd his life, but retains it to old age in riches and ease, has probably achiev'd nothing for himself worth mentioning;
LG1867	5337	Knows that only that person has really learn'd who has learn'd to prefer results,
LG1867	5338	Who favors Body and Soul the same,
LG1867	5339	Who perceives the indirect assuredly following the direct,
LG1867	5340	Who in his spirit in any emergency whatever neither hurries or avoids death.
LG1867	5341	I WAS looking a long while for the history of the past for myself, and for these chants—and now I have found it;
LG1867	5342	It is not in those paged fables in the libraries, (them I neither accept nor reject;)
LG1867	5343	It is no more in the legends than in all else;
LG1867	5344	It is in the present—it is this earth to-day;
LG1867	5345	It is in Democracy—in this America—the old world also;
LG1867	5346	It is the life of one man or one woman to-day, the average man of to-day;
LG1867	5347	It is languages, social customs, literatures, arts;
LG1867	5348	It is the broad show of artificial things, ships, ma-chinerymachinery, politics, creeds, modern improvements, and the interchange of nations,
LG1867	5349	All for the average man of to-day.
LG1867	5350	THE indications, and tally of time;
LG1867	5351	Perfect sanity shows the master among philosophs;
LG1867	5352	Time, always without flaw, indicates itself in parts;
LG1867	5353	What always indicates the poet, is the crowd of the pleasant company of singers, and their words;
LG1867	5354	The words of the singers are the hours or minutes of the light or dark—but the words of the maker of poems are the general light and dark;
LG1867	5355	The maker of poems settles justice, reality, immor-talityimmortality,
LG1867	5356	His insight and power encircle things and the human race,
LG1867	5357	He is the glory and extract, thus far, of things, and of the human race.
LG1867	5358	The singers do not beget—only the POET begets;
LG1867	5359	The singers are welcom'd, understood, appear often enough—but rare has the day been, likewise the spot, of the birth of the maker of poems,
LG1867	5360	Not every century, or every five centuries, has con-taincontain'd such a day, for all its names.
LG1867	5361	The singers of successive hours of centuries may have ostensible names, but the name of each of them is one of the singers,
LG1867	5362	The name of each is, eye-singer, ear-singer, head-singerhead-singer, sweet-singer, echo-singer, parlor-singer, love-singer, or something else.
LG1867	5363	All this time, and at all times, wait the words of poems;
LG1867	5364	The greatness of sons is the exuding of the greatness of mothers and fathers,
LG1867	5365	The words of poems are the tuft and final applause of science.
LG1867	5366	Divine instinct, breadth of vision, the law of rea-sonreason, health, rudeness of body, withdrawnness, gayety, sun-tan, air-sweetness—such are some of the words of poems.
LG1867	5367	The sailor and traveler underlie the maker of poems,
LG1867	5368	The builder, geometer, chemist, anatomist, phrenolo-gistphrenologist, artist—all these underlie the maker of poems.
LG1867	5369	The words of the true poems give you more than poems,
LG1867	5370	They give you to form for yourself, poems, religions, politics, war, peace, behavior, histories, essays, romances, and everything else,
LG1867	5371	They balance ranks, colors, races, creeds, and the sexes,
LG1867	5372	They do not seek beauty—they are sought,
LG1867	5373	Forever touching them, or close upon them, follows beauty, longing, fain, love-sick.
LG1867	5374	They prepare for death—yet are they not the finish, but rather the outset,
LG1867	5375	They bring none to his or her terminus, or to be con-tentcontent and full;
LG1867	5376	Whom they take, they take into space, to behold the birth of stars, to behold one of the meanings,
LG1867	5377	To launch off with absolute faith—to sweep through the ceaseless rings, and never be quiet again.
LG1867	5378	ON the beach at night alone,
LG1867	5379	As the old mother sways her to and fro, singing her savage and husky song,
LG1867	5380	As I watch the bright stars shining—I think a thought of the clef of the universes, and of the future.
LG1867	5381	A VAST SIMILITUDE interlocks all,
LG1867	5382	All spheres, grown, ungrown, small, large, suns, moons,planets, comets, asteroids,
LG1867	5383	All the substances of the same, and all that is spiritual upon the same,
LG1867	5384	All distances of place, however wide,
LG1867	5385	All distances of time—all inanimate forms,
LG1867	5386	All Souls—all living bodies, though they be ever so different, or in different worlds,
LG1867	5387	All gaseous, watery, vegetable, mineral processes—the fishes, the brutes,
LG1867	5388	All men and women—me also;
LG1867	5389	All nations, colors, barbarisms, civilizations, languages;
LG1867	5390	All identities that have existed, or may exist, on this globe, or any globe;
LG1867	5391	All lives and deaths—all of the past, present, future;
LG1867	5392	This vast similitude spans them, and always has spann'd, and shall forever span them, and com-pactlycompactly hold them.
LG1867	5393	TO ORATISTS—to male or female,
LG1867	5394	Vocalism, breath, measure, concentration, determina-tiondetermination, and the divine power to use words.
LG1867	5395	Are you full-lung'd and limber-lipp'd from long trial? from vigorous practice? from physique?
LG1867	5396	Do you move in these broad lands as broad as they?
LG1867	5397	Come duly to the divine power to use words?
LG1867	5398	For only at last, after many years—after chastity,friendship, procreation, prudence, and naked-nessnakedness;
LG1867	5399	After treading ground and breasting river and lake;
LG1867	5400	After a loosen'd throat—after absorbing eras, temper-amentstemperaments, races—after knowledge, freedom,crimes;
LG1867	5401	After complete faith—after clarifyings, elevations, and removing obstructions;
LG1867	5402	After these, and more, it is just possible there comes to a man, a woman, the divine power to use words.
LG1867	5403	Then toward that man or that woman, swiftly hasten all—None refuse, all attend;
LG1867	5404	Armies, ships, antiquities, the dead, libraries, paintings,machines, cities, hate, despair, amity, pain, theft,murder, aspiration, form in close ranks;
LG1867	5405	They debouch as they are wanted to march obediently through the mouth of that man, or that woman.
LG1867	5406	O I see arise orators fit for inland America;
LG1867	5407	And I see it is as slow to become an orator as to be-comebecome a man;
LG1867	5408	And I see that power is folded in a great vocalism.
LG1867	5409	Of a great vocalism, the merciless light thereof shall pour, and the storm rage,
LG1867	5410	Every flash shall be a revelation, an insult,
LG1867	5411	The glaring flame on depths, on heights, on suns, on stars,
LG1867	5412	On the interior and exterior of man or woman,
LG1867	5413	On the laws of Nature—on passive materials,
LG1867	5414	On what you called death—(and what to you there-foretherefore was death,
LG1867	5415	As far as there can be death.)
LG1867	5416	LAWS for Creations,
LG1867	5417	For strong artists and leaders—for fresh broods of teachers, and perfect literats for America,
LG1867	5418	For diverse savans, and coming musicians.
LG1867	5419	All must have reference to the ensemble of the world, and the compact truth of the world;
LG1867	5420	There shall be no subject too pronounced—All works shall illustrate the divine law of indirections.
LG1867	5421	What do you suppose creation is?
LG1867	5422	What do you suppose will satisfy the Soul, except to walk free, and own no superior?
LG1867	5423	What do you suppose I have intimated to you in a hundred ways, but that man or woman is as good as God?
LG1867	5424	And that there is no God any more divine than Your-selfYourself?
LG1867	5425	And that that is what the oldest and newest myths finally mean?
LG1867	5426	And that you or any one must approach Creations through such laws?
LG1867	5427	POETS to come!
LG1867	5428	Not to-day is to justify me, and Democracy, and what we are for;
LG1867	5429	But you, a new brood, native, athletic, continental,greater than before known,
LG1867	5430	You must justify me.
LG1867	5431	I but write one or two indicative words for the future,
LG1867	5432	I but advance a moment, only to wheel and hurry back in the darkness.
LG1867	5433	I am a man who, sauntering along, without fully stopping, turns a casual look upon you, and then averts his face,
LG1867	5434	Leaving it to you to prove and define it,
LG1867	5435	Expecting the main things from you.
LG1867	5436	ME imperturbe, standing at ease in Nature,
LG1867	5437	Master of all, or mistress of all—aplomb in the midst of irrational things,
LG1867	5438	Imbued as they—passive, receptive, silent as they,
LG1867	5439	Finding my occupation, poverty, notoriety, foibles, crimes, less important than I thought;
LG1867	5440	Me private, or public, or menial, or solitary—all these subordinate, (I am eternally equal with the best—I am not subordinate;)
LG1867	5441	Me toward the Mexican Sea, or in the Mannahatta, or the Tennessee, or far north, or inland,
LG1867	5442	A river-man, or a man of the woods, or of any farm-lifefarm-life of These States, or of the coast, or the lakes, or Kanada,
LG1867	5443	Me, wherever my life is lived, O to be self-balanced for contingencies!
LG1867	5444	O to confront night, storms, hunger, ridicule, acci-dentsaccidents, rebuffs, as the trees and animals do.
LG1867	5445	I WANDER all night in my vision,
LG1867	5446	Stepping with light feet, swiftly and noiselessly step-pingstepping and stopping,
LG1867	5447	Bending with open eyes over the shut eyes of sleepers,
LG1867	5448	Wandering and confused, lost to myself, ill-assorted,contradictory,
LG1867	5449	Pausing, gazing, bending, and stopping.
LG1867	5450	How solemn they look there, stretch'd and still!
LG1867	5451	How quiet they breathe, the little children in their cradles!
LG1867	5452	The wretched features of ennuyés, the white fea-turesfeatures of corpses, the livid faces of drunkards,the sick-gray faces of onanists,
LG1867	5453	The gash'd bodies on battle-fields, the insane in their strong-door'd rooms, the sacred idiots, the new-bornnew-born emerging from gates, and the dying emer-gingemerging from gates,
LG1867	5454	The night pervades them and infolds them.
LG1867	5455	The married couple sleep calmly in their bed—he with his palm on the hip of the wife, and she with her palm on the hip of the husband,
LG1867	5456	The sisters sleep lovingly side by side in their bed,
LG1867	5457	The men sleep lovingly side by side in theirs,
LG1867	5458	And the mother sleeps, with her little child carefully wrap't.
LG1867	5459	The blind sleep, and the deaf and dumb sleep,
LG1867	5460	The prisoner sleeps well in the prison—the run-away son sleeps;
LG1867	5461	The murderer that is to be hung next day—how does he sleep?
LG1867	5462	And the murder'd person—how does he sleep?
LG1867	5463	The female that loves unrequited sleeps,
LG1867	5464	And the male that loves unrequited sleeps,
LG1867	5465	The head of the money-maker that plotted all day sleeps,
LG1867	5466	And the enraged and treacherous dispositions—all,all sleep.
LG1867	5467	I stand in the dark with drooping eyes by the worst-suffering and the most restless,
LG1867	5468	I pass my hands soothingly to and fro a few inches from them,
LG1867	5469	The restless sink in their beds—they fitfully sleep.
LG1867	5470	Now I pierce the darkness—new beings appear,
LG1867	5471	The earth recedes from me into the night,
LG1867	5472	I saw that it was beautiful, and I see that what is not the earth is beautiful.
LG1867	5473	I go from bedside to bedside—I sleep close with the other sleepers, each in turn,
LG1867	5474	I dream in my dream all the dreams of the other dreamers,
LG1867	5475	And I become the other dreamers.
LG1867	5476	I am a dance—Play up, there! the fit is whirling me fast!
LG1867	5477	I am the ever-laughing—it is new moon and twi-lighttwilight,
LG1867	5478	I see the hiding of douceurs—I see nimble ghosts whichever way I look,
LG1867	5479	Cache, and cache again, deep in the ground and sea,and where it is neither ground or sea.
LG1867	5480	Well do they do their jobs, those journeymen di-vinedivine,
LG1867	5481	Only from me can they hide nothing, and would not if they could,
LG1867	5482	I reckon I am their boss, and they make me a pet besides,
LG1867	5483	And surround me and lead me, and run ahead when I walk,
LG1867	5484	To lift their cunning covers, to signify me with stretch'd arms, and resume the way;
LG1867	5485	Onward we move! a gay gang of blackguards! with mirth-shouting music, and wild-flapping pen-nantspennants of joy!
LG1867	5486	I am the actor, the actress, the voter, the politician;
LG1867	5487	The emigrant and the exile, the criminal that stood in the box,
LG1867	5488	He who has been famous, and he who shall be famous after to-day,
LG1867	5489	The stammerer, the well-form'd person, the wasted or feeble person.
LG1867	5490	I am she who adorn'd herself and folded her hair expectantly,
LG1867	5491	My truant lover has come, and it is dark.
LG1867	5492	Double yourself and receive me, darkness!
LG1867	5493	Receive me and my lover too—he will not let me go without him.
LG1867	5494	I roll myself upon you, as upon a bed—I resign myself to the dusk.
LG1867	5495	He whom I call answers me, and takes the place of my lover,
LG1867	5496	He rises with me silently from the bed.
LG1867	5497	Darkness! you are gentler than my lover—his flesh was sweaty and panting,
LG1867	5498	I feel the hot moisture yet that he left me.
LG1867	5499	My hands are spread forth, I pass them in all direc-tionsdirections,
LG1867	5500	I would sound up the shadowy shore to which you are journeying.
LG1867	5501	Be careful, darkness! already, what was it touch'd me?
LG1867	5502	I thought my lover had gone, else darkness and he are one,
LG1867	5503	I hear the heart-beat—I follow, I fade away.
LG1867	5504	O hot-cheek'd and blushing! O foolish hectic!
LG1867	5505	O for pity's sake, no one must see me now! my clothes were stolen while I was abed,
LG1867	5506	Now I am thrust forth, where shall I run?
LG1867	5507	Pier that I saw dimly last night, when I look'd from the windows!
LG1867	5508	Pier out from the main, let me catch myself with you,and stay—I will not chafe you,
LG1867	5509	I feel ashamed to go naked about the world.
LG1867	5510	I am curious to know where my feet stand—and what this is flooding me, childhood or manhood —and the hunger that crosses the bridge between.
LG1867	5511	The cloth laps a first sweet eating and drinking,
LG1867	5512	Laps life-swelling yolks—laps ear of rose-corn, milky and just ripen'd;
LG1867	5513	The white teeth stay, and the boss-tooth advances in darkness,
LG1867	5514	And liquor is spill'd on lips and bosoms by touching glasses, and the best liquor afterward.
LG1867	5515	I descend my western course, my sinews are flaccid,
LG1867	5516	Perfume and youth course through me, and I am their wake.
LG1867	5517	It is my face yellow and wrinkled, instead of the old woman's,
LG1867	5518	I sit low in a straw-bottom chair, and carefully darn my grandson's stockings.
LG1867	5519	It is I too, the sleepless widow, looking out on the winter midnight,
LG1867	5520	I see the sparkles of starshine on the icy and pallid earth.
LG1867	5521	A shroud I see, and I am the shroud—I wrap a body,and lie in the coffin,
LG1867	5522	It is dark here under ground—it is not evil or pain here—it is blank here, for reasons.
LG1867	5523	It seems to me that everything in the light and air ought to be happy,
LG1867	5524	Whoever is not in his coffin and the dark grave, let him know he has enough.
LG1867	5525	I see a beautiful gigantic swimmer, swimming naked through the eddies of the sea,
LG1867	5526	His brown hair lies close and even to his head—he strikes out with courageous arms—he urges himself with his legs,
LG1867	5527	I see his white body—I see his undaunted eyes,
LG1867	5528	I hate the swift-running eddies that would dash him head-foremost on the rocks.
LG1867	5529	What are you doing, you ruffianly red-trickled waves?
LG1867	5530	Will you kill the courageous giant? Will you kill him in the prime of his middle age?
LG1867	5531	Steady and long he struggles,
LG1867	5532	He is baffled, bang'd, bruis'd—he holds out while his strength holds out,
LG1867	5533	The slapping eddies are spotted with his blood—they bear him away—they roll him, swing him, turn him,
LG1867	5534	His beautiful body is borne in the circling eddies, it is continually bruis'd on rocks,
LG1867	5535	Swiftly and out of sight is borne the brave corpse.
LG1867	5536	I turn, but do not extricate myself,
LG1867	5537	Confused, a past-reading, another, but with darkness yet.
LG1867	5538	The beach is cut by the razory ice-wind—the wreck-gunswreck-guns sound,
LG1867	5539	The tempest lulls—the moon comes floundering through the drifts.
LG1867	5540	I look where the ship helplessly heads end on—I hear the burst as she strikes—I hear the howls of dismay—they grow fainter and fainter.
LG1867	5541	I cannot aid with my wringing fingers,
LG1867	5542	I can but rush to the surf, and let it drench me and freeze upon me.
LG1867	5543	I search with the crowd—not one of the company is wash'd to us alive;
LG1867	5544	In the morning I help pick up the dead and lay them in rows in a barn.
LG1867	5545	Now of the old war-days, the defeat at Brooklyn,
LG1867	5546	Washington stands inside the lines—he stands on the intrench'd hills, amid a crowd of officers,
LG1867	5547	His face is cold and damp—he cannot repress the weeping drops,
LG1867	5548	He lifts the glass perpetually to his eyes—the color is blanch'd from his cheeks,
LG1867	5549	He sees the slaughter of the southern braves confided to him by their parents.
LG1867	5550	The same, at last and at last, when peace is declared,
LG1867	5551	He stands in the room of the old tavern—the well-belovedwell-beloved soldiers all pass through,
LG1867	5552	The officers speechless and slow draw near in their turns,
LG1867	5553	The chief encircles their necks with his arm, and kisses them on the cheek,
LG1867	5554	He kisses lightly the wet cheeks one after another— he shakes hands, and bids good-by to the army.
LG1867	5555	Now I tell what my mother told me to-day as we sat at dinner together,
LG1867	5556	Of when she was a nearly grown girl, living home with her parents on the old homestead.
LG1867	5557	A red squaw came one breakfast-time to the old homestead,
LG1867	5558	On her back she carried a bundle of rushes for rush-bottomingrush-bottoming chairs,
LG1867	5559	Her hair, straight, shiny, coarse, black, profuse, half-envelophalf-envelop'd her face,
LG1867	5560	Her step was free and elastic, and her voice sounded exquisitely as she spoke.
LG1867	5561	My mother look'd in delight and amazement at the stranger,
LG1867	5562	She look'd at the freshness of her tall-borne face, and full and pliant limbs,
LG1867	5563	The more she look'd upon her, she loved her,
LG1867	5564	Never before had she seen such wonderful beauty and purity,
LG1867	5565	She made her sit on a bench by the jamb of the fire-placefireplace—she cook'd food for her,
LG1867	5566	She had no work to give her, but she gave her re-membranceremembrance and fondness.
LG1867	5567	The red squaw staid all the forenoon, and toward the middle of the afternoon she went away,
LG1867	5568	O my mother was loth to have her go away!
LG1867	5569	All the week she thought of her—she watch'd for her many a month,
LG1867	5570	She remember'd her many a winter and many a summer,
LG1867	5571	But the squaw never came, nor was heard of there again.
LG1867	5572	Now Lucifer was not dead—or if he was, I am his sorrowful terrible heir;
LG1867	5573	I have been wrong'd—I am oppress'd—I hate him that oppresses me,
LG1867	5574	I will either destroy him, or he shall release me.
LG1867	5575	Damn him! how he does defile me!
LG1867	5576	How he informs against my brother and sister, and takes pay for their blood!
LG1867	5577	How he laughs when I look down the bend, after the steamboat that carries away my woman!
LG1867	5578	Now the vast dusk bulk that is the whale's bulk, it seems mine;
LG1867	5579	Warily, sportsman! though I lie so sleepy and slug-gishsluggish, the tap of my flukes is death.
LG1867	5580	A show of the summer softness! a contact of some-thingsomething unseen! an amour of the light and air!
LG1867	5581	I am jealous, and overwhelm'd with friendliness,
LG1867	5582	And will go gallivant with the light and air myself,
LG1867	5583	And have an unseen something to be in contact with them also.
LG1867	5584	O love and summer! you are in the dreams, and in me!
LG1867	5585	Autumn and winter are in the dreams—the farmer goes with his thrift,
LG1867	5586	The droves and crops increase, and the barns are well-fillwell-fill'd.
LG1867	5587	Elements merge in the night—ships make tacks in the dreams,
LG1867	5588	The sailor sails—the exile returns home,
LG1867	5589	The fugitive returns unharm'd—the immigrant is back beyond months and years,
LG1867	5590	The poor Irishman lives in the simple house of his childhood, with the well-known neighbors and faces,
LG1867	5591	They warmly welcome him—he is barefoot again, he forgets he is well off;
LG1867	5592	The Dutchman voyages home, and the Scotchman and Welshman voyage home, and the native of the Mediterranean voyages home,
LG1867	5593	To every port of England, France, Spain, enter well-fillwell-fill'd ships,
LG1867	5594	The Swiss foots it to toward his hills—the Prussian goes his way, the Hungarian his way, and the Pole his way,
LG1867	5595	The Swede returns, and the Dane and Norwegian re-turnreturn.
LG1867	5596	The homeward bound, and the outward bound,
LG1867	5597	The beautiful lost swimmer, the ennuyé, the onanist,the female that loves unrequited, the money-makermoney-maker,
LG1867	5598	The actor and actress, those through with their parts and those waiting to commence,
LG1867	5599	The affectionate boy, the husband and wife, the voter,the nominee that is chosen, and the nominee that has fail'd,
LG1867	5600	The great already known, and the great any time after to-day,
LG1867	5601	The stammerer, the sick, the perfect-form'd, the homely,
LG1867	5602	The criminal that stood in the box, the judge that sat and sentenced him, the fluent lawyers, the jury, the audience,
LG1867	5603	The laugher and weeper, the dancer, the midnight widow, the red squaw,
LG1867	5604	The consumptive, the erysipelite, the idiot, he that is wrong'd,
LG1867	5605	The antipodes, and every one between this and them in the dark,
LG1867	5606	I swear they are averaged now—one is no better than the other,
LG1867	5607	The night and sleep have liken'd them and restored them.
LG1867	5608	I swear they are all beautiful;
LG1867	5609	Every one that sleeps is beautiful—everything in the dim light is beautiful,
LG1867	5610	The wi1dest and bloodiest is over, and all is peace.
LG1867	5611	Peace is always beautiful,
LG1867	5612	The myth of heaven indicates peace and night.
LG1867	5613	The myth of heaven indicates the Soul;
LG1867	5614	The Soul is always beautiful—it appears more or it appears less—it comes, or it lags behind,
LG1867	5615	It comes from its embower'd garden, and looks pleasantly on itself, and encloses the world,
LG1867	5616	Perfect and clean the genitals previously jetting, and perfect and clean the womb cohering,
LG1867	5617	The head well-grown, proportion'd and plumb, and the bowels and joints proportion'd and plumb.
LG1867	5618	The Soul is always beautiful,
LG1867	5619	The universe is duly in order, everything is in its place,
LG1867	5620	What has arrived is in its place, and what waits is in its place;
LG1867	5621	The twisted skull waits, the watery or rotten blood waits,
LG1867	5622	The child of the glutton or venerealee waits long, and the child of the drunkard waits long, and the drunkard himself waits long,
LG1867	5623	The sleepers that lived and died wait—the far ad-vancedadvanced are to go on in their turns, and the far behind are to come on in their turns,
LG1867	5624	The diverse shall be no less diverse, but they shall flow and unite—they unite now.
LG1867	5625	The sleepers are very beautiful as they lie unclothed,
LG1867	5626	They flow hand in hand over the whole earth, from east to west, as they lie unclothed,
LG1867	5627	The Asiatic and African are hand in hand—the Eu-ropeanEuropean and American are hand in hand,
LG1867	5628	Learn'd and unlearn'd are hand in hand, and male and female are hand in hand,
LG1867	5629	The bare arm of the girl crosses the bare breast of her lover—they press close without lust—his lips press her neck,
LG1867	5630	The father holds his grown or ungrown son in his arms with measureless love, and the son holds the father in his arms with measureless love,
LG1867	5631	The white hair of the mother shines on the white wrist of the daughter,
LG1867	5632	The breath of the boy goes with the breath of the man, friend is inarm'd by friend,
LG1867	5633	The scholar kisses the teacher, and the teacher kisses the scholar—the wrong'd is made right,
LG1867	5634	The call of the slave is one with the master's call, and the master salutes the slave,
LG1867	5635	The felon steps forth from the prison—the insane becomes sane—the suffering of sick persons is reliev'd,
LG1867	5636	The sweatings and fevers stop—the throat that was unsound is sound—the lungs of the consump-tiveconsumptive are resumed—the poor distres't head is free,
LG1867	5637	The joints of the rheumatic move as smoothly as ever,and smoother than ever,
LG1867	5638	Stiflings and passages open—the paralyzed become supple,
LG1867	5639	The swell'd and convuls'd and congested awake to themselves in condition,
LG1867	5640	They pass the invigoration of the night, and the chemistry of the night, and awake.
LG1867	5641	I too pass from the night,
LG1867	5642	I stay a while away, O night, but I return to you again, and love you.
LG1867	5643	Why should I be afraid to trust myself to you?
LG1867	5644	I am not afraid—I have been well brought forward by you;
LG1867	5645	I love the rich running day, but I do not desert her in whom I lay so long.
LG1867	5646	I know not how I came of you, and I know not where I go with you—but I know I came well, and shall go well.
LG1867	5647	I will stop only a time with the night, and rise be-timesbetimes;
LG1867	5648	I will duly pass the day, O my mother, and duly return to you.
LG1867	5649	ELEMENTAL drifts!
LG1867	5650	O I wish I could impress others as you and the waves have just been impressing me.
LG1867	5651	As I ebb'd with an ebb of the ocean of life,
LG1867	5652	As I wended the shores I know,
LG1867	5653	As I walk'd where the sea-ripples wash you, Pau-manokPaumanok,
LG1867	5654	Where they rustle up, hoarse and sibilant,
LG1867	5655	Where the fierce old mother endlessly cries for her castaways,
LG1867	5656	I, musing, late in the autumn day, gazing off south-wardsouthward,
LG1867	5657	Alone, held by this eternal self of me, out of the pride of which I have utter'd my poems,
LG1867	5658	Was seiz'd by the spirit that trails in the lines under-footunderfoot,
LG1867	5659	In the rim, the sediment, that stands for all the water and all the land of the globe.
LG1867	5660	Fascinated, my eyes, reverting from the south,drop't, to follow those slender winrows,
LG1867	5661	Chaff, straw, splinters of wood, weeds, and the sea-glutensea-gluten,
LG1867	5662	Scum, scales from shining rocks, leaves of salt-lettuce,left by the tide;
LG1867	5663	Miles walking, the sound of breaking waves the other side of me,
LG1867	5664	Paumanok, there and then, as I thought the old thought of likenesses,
LG1867	5665	These you presented to me, you fish-shaped island,
LG1867	5666	As I wended the shores I know,
LG1867	5667	As I walk'd with that eternal self of me, seeking types.
LG1867	5668	As I wend to the shores I know not,
LG1867	5669	As I list to the dirge, the voices of men and women wreck't,
LG1867	5670	As I inhale the impalpable breezes that set in upon me,
LG1867	5671	As the ocean so mysterious rolls toward me closer and closer,
LG1867	5672	I, too, but signify, at the utmost, a little wash'd-up drift,
LG1867	5673	A few sands and dead leaves to gather,
LG1867	5674	Gather, and merge myself as part of the sands and drift.
LG1867	5675	O baffled, balk'd, bent to the very earth,
LG1867	5676	Opprest with myself that I have dared to open my mouth,
LG1867	5677	Aware now, that, amid all the blab whose echoes re-coilrecoil upon me, I have not once had the least idea who or what I am,
LG1867	5678	But that before all my insolent poems, the real ME stands yet untouch'd, untold, altogether un-reachunreach'd,
LG1867	5679	Withdrawn far, mocking me with mock-congratu-latorymock-congratulatory signs and bows,
LG1867	5680	With peals of distant ironical laughter at every word I have written,
LG1867	5681	Pointing in silence to all these songs, and then to the sand beneath.
LG1867	5682	Now I perceive I have not understood anything— not a single object—and that no man ever can.
LG1867	5683	I perceive Nature, here in sight of the sea, is taking advantage of me, to dart upon me, and sting me,
LG1867	5684	Because I have dared to open my mouth to sing at all.
LG1867	5685	You oceans both! I close with you;
LG1867	5686	These little shreds shall, indeed, stand for all.
LG1867	5687	You friable shore, with trails of debris!
LG1867	5688	You fish-shaped island! I take what is underfoot;
LG1867	5689	What is yours is mine, my father.
LG1867	5690	I too Paumanok,
LG1867	5691	I too have bubbled up, floated the measureless float,and been wash'd on your shores;
LG1867	5692	I too am but a trail of drift and debris,
LG1867	5693	I too leave little wrecks upon you, you fish-shaped island.
LG1867	5694	I throw myself upon your breast, my father,
LG1867	5695	I cling to you so that you cannot unloose me,
LG1867	5696	I hold you so firm, till you answer me something.
LG1867	5697	Kiss me, my father,
LG1867	5698	Touch me with your lips, as I touch those I love,
LG1867	5699	Breathe to me, while I hold you close, the secret of the wondrous murmuring I envy.
LG1867	5700	Ebb, ocean of life, (the flow will return,)
LG1867	5701	Cease not your moaning, you fierce old mother,
LG1867	5702	Endlessly cry for your castaways—but fear not, deny not me,
LG1867	5703	Rustle not up so hoarse and angry against my feet, as I touch you, or gather from you.
LG1867	5704	I mean tenderly by you,
LG1867	5705	I gather for myself, and for this phantom, looking down where we lead, and following me and mine.
LG1867	5706	Me and mine!
LG1867	5707	We, loose winrows, little corpses,
LG1867	5708	Froth, snowy white, and bubbles,
LG1867	5709	(See! from my dead lips the ooze exuding at last!
LG1867	5710	See—the prismatic colors, glistening and rolling!)
LG1867	5711	Tufts of straw, sands, fragments,
LG1867	5712	Buoy'd hither from many moods, one contradicting another,
LG1867	5713	From the storm, the long calm, the darkness, the swell;
LG1867	5714	Musing, pondering, a breath, a briny tear, a dab of liquid or soil;
LG1867	5715	Up just as much out of fathomless workings fer-mentedfermented and thrown;
LG1867	5716	A limp blossom or two, torn, just as much over waves floating, drifted at random;
LG1867	5717	Just as much for us that sobbing dirge of Nature;
LG1867	5718	Just as much, whence we come, that blare of the cloud-trumpets;
LG1867	5719	We, capricious, brought hither, we know not whence,spread out before you,
LG1867	5720	You, up there, walking or sitting,
LG1867	5721	Whoever you are—we too lie in drifts at your feet.
LG1867	5722	WHAT shall I give? and which are my miracles?
LG1867	5723	Realism is mine—my miracles—Take freely,
LG1867	5724	Take without end—I offer them to you wherever your feet can carry you, or your eyes reach.
LG1867	5725	Why! who makes much of a miracle?
LG1867	5726	As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles,
LG1867	5727	Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
LG1867	5728	Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
LG1867	5729	Or wade with naked feet along the beach, just in the edge of the water,
LG1867	5730	Or stand under trees in the woods,
LG1867	5731	Or talk by day with any one I love—or sleep in the bed at night with any one I love,
LG1867	5732	Or sit at the table at dinner with my mother,
LG1867	5733	Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
LG1867	5734	Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive, of a sum-mersummer forenoon,
LG1867	5735	Or animals feeding in the fields,
LG1867	5736	Or birds—or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
LG1867	5737	Or the wonderfulness of the sun-down—or of stars shining so quiet and bright,
LG1867	5738	Or the exquisite, delicate, thin curve of the new-moon in spring;
LG1867	5739	Or whether I go among those I like best, and that like me best—mechanics, boatmen, farmers,
LG1867	5740	Or among the savans—or to the soiree—or to the opera,
LG1867	5741	Or stand a long while looking at the movements of machinery,
LG1867	5742	Or behold children at their sports,
LG1867	5743	Or the admirable sight of the perfect old man, or the perfect old woman,
LG1867	5744	Or the sick in hospitals, or the dead carried to burial,
LG1867	5745	Or my own eyes and figure in the glass;
LG1867	5746	These, with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
LG1867	5747	The whole referring—yet each distinct and in its place.
LG1867	5748	To me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
LG1867	5749	Every inch of space is a miracle,
LG1867	5750	Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,
LG1867	5751	Every cubic foot of the interior swarms with the same;
LG1867	5752	Every spear of grass—the frames, limbs, organs, of men and women, and all that concerns them,
LG1867	5753	All these to me are unspeakably perfect miracles.
LG1867	5754	To me the sea is a continual miracle;
LG1867	5755	The fishes that swim—the rocks—the motion of the waves—the ships, with men in them,
LG1867	5756	What stranger miracles are there?
LG1867	5757	YOU felons on trial in courts;
LG1867	5758	You convicts in prison-cells—you sentenced assassins, chain'd and hand-cuff'd with iron;
LG1867	5759	Who am I, too, that I am not on trial, or in prison?
LG1867	5760	Me, ruthless and devilish as any, that my wrists are not chain'd with iron, or my ankles with iron?
LG1867	5761	You prostitutes flaunting over the trottoirs, or ob-sceneobscene in your rooms,
LG1867	5762	Who am I, that I should call you more obscene than myself?
LG1867	5763	O culpable! O traitor!
LG1867	5764	I acknowledge—I exposé!
LG1867	5765	(O admirers! praise not me! compliment not me! you make me wince,
LG1867	5766	I see what you do not—I know what you do not;)
LG1867	5767	Inside these breast-bones I lie smutch'd and choked;
LG1867	5768	Beneath this face that appears so impassive, hell's tides continually run;
LG1867	5769	Lusts and wickedness are acceptable to me;
LG1867	5770	I walk with delinquents with passionate love;
LG1867	5771	I feel I am of them—I belong to those convicts and prostitutes myself,
LG1867	5772	And henceforth I will not deny them—for how can I deny myself?
LG1867	5773	THEY shall arise in the States;
LG1867	5774	They shall report Nature, laws, physiology, and happi-nesshappiness;
LG1867	5775	They shall illustrate Democracy and the kosmos;
LG1867	5776	They shall be alimentive, amative, perceptive;
LG1867	5777	They shall be complete women and men—their pose brawny and supple, their drink water, their blood clean and clear;
LG1867	5778	They shall enjoy materialism and the sight of products —they shall enjoy the sight of the beef, lumber, bread-stuffs, of Chicago, the great city;
LG1867	5779	They shall train themselves to go in public to become orators and oratresses;
LG1867	5780	Strong and sweet shall their tongues be—poems and materials of poems shall come from their lives —they shall be makers and finders;
LG1867	5781	Of them, and of their works, shall emerge divine conveyers, to convey gospels;
LG1867	5782	Characters, events, retrospections, shall be convey'd in gospels—Trees, animals, waters, shall be convey'd,
LG1867	5783	Death, the future, the invisible faith, shall all be con-vey'dconvey'd.
LG1867	5784	NOW lift me close to your face till I whisper,
LG1867	5785	What you are holding is in reality no book, nor part of a book;
LG1867	5786	It is a man, flush'd and full-blooded—it is I—So long!
LG1867	5787	—We must separate awhile—Here! take from my lips this kiss;
LG1867	5788	Whoever you are, I give it especially to you;
LG1867	5789	So long!—And I hope we shall meet again.