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These I, Singing in Spring.

Part of the cluster CALAMUS.

THESE I, SINGING IN SPRING.

THESE, I, singing in spring, collect for lovers, (For who but I should understand lovers, and all their  
 sorrow and joy?
And who but I should be the poet of comrades?) Collecting, I traverse the garden, the world—but soon  
 I pass the gates,
  [ begin page 126 ]ppp.00270.128.jpg Now along the pond-side—now wading in a little, fear- 
 ing not the wet,
Now by the post-and-rail fences, where the old stones  
 thrown there, pick'd from the fields, have accu- 
 mulated,
(Wild-flowers and vines and weeds come up through  
 the stones, and partly cover them—Beyond these  
 I pass,)
Far, far in the forest, before I think where I go, Solitary, smelling the earthy smell, stopping now and  
 then in the silence,
Alone I had thought—yet soon a troop gathers around  
 me,
Some walk by my side, and some behind, and some em- 
 brace my arms or neck,
They, the spirits of dear friends, dead or alive—thicker  
 they come, a great crowd, and I in the middle,
Collecting, dispensing, singing in spring, there I wander  
 with them,
Plucking something for tokens—tossing toward whoever  
 is near me;
Here! lilac, with a branch of pine, Here, out of my pocket, some moss which I pull'd off a  
 live-oak in Florida, as it hung trailing down,
Here, some pinks and laurel leaves, and a handful of  
 sage,
And here what I now draw from the water, wading in  
 the pond-side,
(O here I last saw him that tenderly loves me—and re- 
 turns again, never to separate from me,
And this, O this shall henceforth be the token of com- 
 rades—this Calamus-root shall,
Interchange it, youths, with each other! Let none  
 render it back!)
And twigs of maple, and a bunch of wild orange, and  
 chestnut,
And stems of currants, and plum-blows, and the aro- 
 matic cedar:
These, I, compass'd around by a thick cloud of spirits, Wandering, point to, or touch as I pass, or throw them  
 loosely from me,
  [ begin page 127 ]ppp.00270.129.jpg Indicating to each one what he shall have—giving some- 
 thing to each;
But what I drew from the water by the pond-side, that  
 I reserve,
I will give of it—but only to them that love, as I my- 
 self am capable of loving.

Part of the cluster CALAMUS.

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