Leaves of Grass (1860)
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| SEA-WATER, and all living below it, |
| Forests at the bottom of the sea—the branches and
leaves, |
| Sea-lettuce, vast lichens, strange flowers and seeds—
the thick tangle, the openings, and the pink turf, |
| Different colors, pale gray and green, purple, white,
and gold—the play of light through the water, |
| Dumb swimmers there among the rocks—coral,
gluten, grass, rushes—and the aliment of the swimmers, |
| Sluggish existences grazing there, suspended, or
slowly crawling close to the bottom, |
| The sperm-whale at the surface, blowing air and
spray, or disporting with his flukes, |
| The leaden-eyed shark, the walrus, the turtle, the
hairy sea-leopard, and the sting-ray; |
| Passions there—wars, pursuits, tribes—sight in
those ocean-depths—breathing that thick-breath- ing air, as so many do, |
| The change thence to the sight here, and to the subtle
air breathed by beings like us, who walk this sphere; |
| The change onward from ours to that of beings who
walk other spheres. |
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