Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman

Leaves of Grass (1867)

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1.

OF the visages of things—And of piercing through
to the accepted hells beneath;

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;

Of detected persons—To me, detected persons are
         not, in any respect, worse than undetected per-
         sons—and are not in any respect worse than I
         am myself;

Of criminals—To me, any judge, or any juror, is
equally criminal—and any reputable person is
also—and the President is also.

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