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Leaves of Grass (1871-72)
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IN CABIN'D SHIPS AT SEA.
1
IN cabin'd ships, at sea, |
The boundless blue on every side expanding, |
With whistling winds and music of the waves—the
large imperious waves—In such,
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Or some lone bark, buoy'd on the dense marine, |
Where, joyous, full of faith, spreading white sails, |
She cleaves the ether, mid the sparkle and the foam of
day, or under many a star at night,
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By sailors young and old, haply will I, a reminiscence
of the land, be read,
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2
Here are our thoughts—voyagers' thoughts, |
Here not the land, firm land, alone appears, may then by
them be said;
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The sky o'erarches here—we feel the undulating deck be-
neath our feet,
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We feel the long pulsation—ebb and flow of endless mo-
tion;
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The tones of unseen mystery—the vague and vast sugges-
tions of the briny world—the liquid-flowing sylla-
bles,
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The perfume, the faint creaking of the cordage, the melan-
choly rhythm,
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The boundless vista, and the horizon far and dim, are all
here,
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And this is Ocean's poem . |
3
Then falter not, O book! fulfil your destiny! |
You, not a reminiscence of the land alone, |
You too, as a lone bark, cleaving the ether—purpos'd I
know not whither—yet ever full of faith,
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Consort to every ship that sails—sail you! |
Bear forth to them, folded, my love —(Dear mariners!
for you I fold it here, in every leaf;)
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Speed on, my Book! spread your white sails, my little
bark, athwart the imperious waves!
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Chant on—sail on—bear o'er the boundless blue, from
me, to every shore,
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This song for mariners and all their ships. |
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