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not Walt Whitman, might have written this: I too am not a bit tamed—I too am untranslatable, I sound my
I depart as air, I shake my white locks at the runaway sun; I effuse my flesh in eddies, and drift it
Emerson in the printed letter sent to us—"I rubbed my eyes a little, to see if this sunbeam were no illusion
my soul!
my palms cover continents, I am afoot with my vision.
We closed with him, the yards entangled, the can- non cannon touched, My captain lashed fast with his
I laughed content when I heard the voice of my little captain, We have not struck, he composedly cried
Come my children, Come my boys and girls, my women, household, intimates, Now the performer launches
What do my shouts amid lightnings and raging winds mean?)
songs in Sex, Offspring of my loins.
Behold me where I pass—hear my voice—approach, Touch me—touch the palm of your hand to my Body as I pass
; Be not afraid of my Body.
all was still, ringing little bells last night under my ear.
SCENTED HERBAGE OF MY BREAST.
O blossoms of my blood!
WHAT THINK YOU I TAKE MY PEN IN HAND? WHAT think you I take my pen in hand to record?
MY LIKENESS! EARTH! my likeness!
That Shadow, my Likeness.
all—aplomb in the midst of irrational things, Imbued as they—passive, receptive, silent as they, Finding my
woods, or of any farm-life of These States, or of the coast, or the lakes, or Kanada, Me, wherever my
As I Lay with my Head in your Lap, Camerado.
As I lay with my head in your lap, Camerado, The confession I made I resume—what I said to you and the
open air I resume: I know I am restless, and make others so; I know my words are weapons, full of danger
NOW LIST TO MY MORNING'S ROMANZA. 1 Now list to my morning's romanza—I tell the signs of the Answerer
And I stand before the young man face to face, and take his right hand in my left hand, and his left
hand in my right hand, And I answer for his brother, and for men, and I an- swer answer for him that
landscape, people, animals, The profound earth and its attributes, and the unquiet ocean, (so tell I my
to the President at his levee, And he says, Good-day, my brother!
indifferent , but trembling with age and your unheal'd wounds, you mounted the scaffold;) —I would sing in my
know not why, but I loved you…(and so go forth little song, Far over sea speed like an arrow, carrying my
love, and drop these lines at his feet;) —Nor forget I to sing of the wonder, the ship as she swam up my
bay, Well-shaped and stately the Great Eastern swam up my bay, she was 600 feet long, Her, moving swiftly
My South! O quick mettle, rich blood, impulse, and love! Good and evil! O all dear to me!
the Tombigbee, the Santee, the Coosa, and the Sabine; O pensive, far away wandering, I return with my
the graceful palmetto; I pass rude sea-headlands and enter Pamlico Sound through an inlet, and dart my
Me, ruthless and devilish as any, that my wrists are not chain'd with iron, or my ankles with iron?
My girl, I appoint with you an appointment—and I charge you that you make preparation to be worthy to
O Manhattan, my own, my peerless! O strongest you in the hour of danger, in crisis!
VIGIL strange I kept on the field one night: When you, my son and my comrade, dropt at my side that day
O my soldiers twain! O my veterans, passing to burial!
heart, O my soldiers, my veterans, My heart gives you love.
WHILE my wife at my side lies slumbering, and the wars are over long, And my head on the pillow rests
Features of my equals, would you trick me with your creas'd and cadaverous march?
I saw the face of the most smear'd and slobbering idiot they had at the asylum; And I knew for my consolation
what they knew not; I knew of the agents that emptied and broke my brother, The same wait to clear the
pickets, Come here, she blushingly cries—Come nigh to me, lim-ber-hipp'dlimber-hipp'd man, Stand at my
upon you, Fill me with albescent honey, bend down to me, Rub to me with your chafing beard, rub to my
What is this you bring my America? Is it uniform with my country?
I swear I will have each quality of my race in my- self myself , (Talk as you like, he only suits These
rapt verse, my call—mock me not!
my lands!
WEAVE IN, WEAVE IN, MY HARDY LIFE. WEAVE in! weave in, my hardy life!
the still woods I loved; I will not go now on the pastures to walk; I will not strip the clothes from my
body to meet my lover the sea; I will not touch my flesh to the earth, as to other flesh, to renew me
and meat; I do not see any of it upon you to-day—or perhaps I am deceiv'd; I will run a furrow with my
I WAS asking for something specific and perfect for my city, Whereupon, lo!
my city! The city of such women, I am mad to be with them!
Covering all my lands! all my sea-shores lining! Flag of death!
Ah my silvery beauty! ah my woolly white and crim- son crimson !
Ah to sing the song of you, my matron mighty! My sacred one, my mother.
, with bends and chutes; And my Illinois fields, and my Kansas fields, and my fields of Missouri; The
My limbs, my veins dilate; The blood of the world has fill'd me full—my theme is clear at last: —Banner
my brother or my sister! Keep on!
I walk'd the shores of my Eastern Sea, Heard over the waves the little voice, Saw the divine infant,
maintain the be- queath'd bequeath'd cause, as for all lands, And I send these words to Paris with my
Whoever you are, now I place my hand upon you, that you be my poem; I whisper with my lips close to your
O I have been dilatory and dumb; I should have made my way straight to you long ago; I should have blabb'd
paint myriads of heads, but paint no head with- out without its nimbus of gold-color'd light; From my
States awhile—but I cannot tell whither or how long; Perhaps soon, some day or night while I am singing, my
Open mouth of my Soul, uttering gladness, Eyes of my Soul, seeing perfection, Natural life of me, faithfully
To prepare for sleep, for bed—to look on my rose- color'd rose-color'd flesh; To be conscious of my body
How my thoughts play subtly at the spectacles around! How the clouds pass silently overhead!
I remember I said, before my leaves sprang at all, I would raise my voice jocund and strong, with reference
AS I PONDER'D IN SILENCE. 1 AS I ponder'd in silence, Returning upon my poems, considering, lingering
then I answer'd, I too, haughty Shade, also sing war—and a longer and greater one than any, Waged in my
Bear forth to them, folded, my love —(Dear mariners!
for you I fold it here, in every leaf;) Speed on, my Book!
spread your white sails, my little bark, athwart the imperious waves!
prove this puzzle, the New World, And to define America, her athletic Democracy; Therefore I send you my
And so will some one, when I am dead and gone, write my life?
(As if any man really knew aught of my life; Why, even I myself, I often think, know little or noth-
ing nothing of my real life; Only a few hints—a few diffused, faint clues and indi- rections indirections
, I seek, for my own use, to trace out here.)
Beginning My Studies. BEGINNING MY STUDIES.
BEGINNING my studies, the first step pleas'd me so much, The mere fact, consciousness—these forms—the
With yet unknown results to come, for thrice a thou- sand thousand years,) These recitatives for thee—my
miner in California; Or rude in my home in Dakota's woods, my diet meat, my drink from the spring; Or
place, with my own day, here.
My comrade!
my intrepid nations! O I at any rate include you all with perfect love!
steamers steaming through my poems!
Unfolded only out of the inimitable poem of the wo- man woman can come the poems of man—(only thence have my
and gently turn'd over upon me, And parted my shirt from my bosom-bone, and plunged your tongue to my
My ties and ballasts leave me—I travel—I sail—my elbows rest in the sea-gaps; I skirt the sierras—my
We closed with him—the yards entangled—the can- non cannon touch'd; My captain lash'd fast with his own
Now I laugh content, for I hear the voice of my little captain, We have not struck, he composedly cries
Only three guns are in use; One is directed by the captain himself against the ene- my's enemy's main-mast
daughters, sons, preluding, The love, the life of their bodies, meaning and being, Curious, here behold my
cycles, in their wide sweep, having brought me again, Amorous, mature—all beautiful to me—all wondrous; My
wondrous; Existing, I peer and penetrate still, Content with the present—content with the past, By my
I were nothing; From what I am determin'd to make illustrious, even if I stand sole among men; From my
The oath of the inseparableness of two together—of the woman that loves me, and whom I love more than my
warp and from the woof; (To talk to the perfect girl who understands me, To waft to her these from my
own lips—to effuse them from my own body;) From privacy—from frequent repinings alone; From plenty of
the right person not near; From the soft sliding of hands over me, and thrusting of fingers through my
We closed with him—the yards entangled—the can- non cannon touch'd; My captain lash'd fast with his own
Now I laugh content, for I hear the voice of my little captain, We have not struck, he composedly cries
Only three guns are in use; One is directed by the captain himself against the ene- my's enemy's main-mast
MY LIKENESS! EARTH! my likeness!
heart, O my soldiers, my veterans, My heart gives you love.
Bear forth to them, folded, my love —(Dear mariners!
for you I fold it here, in every leaf;) Speed on, my Book!
And so will some one, when I am dead and gone, write my life?
, I seek, for my own use, to trace out here.)
BEGINNING MY STUDIES.
Unfolded only out of the inimitable poem of the woman can come the poems of man — only thence have my
O TAKE my hand, Walt Whitman! Such gliding wonders! Such sights and sounds!
change of the light and shade, I see distant lands, as real and near to the inhabitants of them as my
see Hermes, unsuspected, dying, well-beloved, saying to the people, Do not weep for me, this is not my
I do not refuse you my hand, or prefer others before you, I do not say one word against you.
way myself, I find my home wherever there are any homes of men.
COME closer to me, Push close, my lovers, and take the best I possess, Yield closer and closer, and give
Neither a servant nor a master am I, I take no sooner a large price than a small price —I will have my
become so for your sake, If you remember your foolish and outlawed deeds, do you think I cannot remember my
this day just as much in love with them as you, Then I am eternally in love with you, and with all my
friendly companions, I intend to reach them my hand, and make as much of them as I do of men and women
untrodden and mouldy, I see no longer any axe upon it, I see the mighty and friendly emblem of the power of my
I do not vaunt my love for you, I have what I have. The axe leaps!
response, Take what I have then, (saying fain,) take the pay you approached for, Take the white tears of my
curious, breath- ing breathing , laughing flesh is enough, To pass among them, to touch any one, to rest my
As I see my soul reflected in nature, as I see through a mist, one with inexpressible com- pleteness
O my body!
are to stand or fall with the likes of the soul, I believe the likes of you shall stand or fall with my
instep, foot-ball, toes, toe-joints, the heel, All attitudes, all the shapeliness, all the belongings of my
myself make the only growth by which I can be appreciated, I reject none, accept all, reproduce all in my
Have you studied out my land, its idioms and men?
What is this you bring my America? Is it uniform with my country?
Will it absorb into me as I absorb food, air, nobility, meanness—to appear again in my strength, gait
Underneath all is nativity, I swear I will stand by my own nativity—pious or impious, so be it!
withdraw from the still woods I loved, I will not go now on the pastures to walk, I will not strip my
clothes from my body to meet my lover the sea, I will not touch my flesh to the earth, as to other flesh
I do not see any of it upon you today—or per- haps perhaps I am deceived, I will run a furrow with my
plough—I will press my spade through the sod, and turn it up underneath, I am sure I shall expose some
That it is safe to allow it to lick my naked body all over with its tongues!
Whoever you are, now I place my hand upon you, that you be my poem, I whisper with my lips close to your
O I have been dilatory and dumb, I should have made my way straight to you long ago, I should have blabbed
light, But I paint myriads of heads, but paint no head without its nimbus of gold-colored light, From my
walks home late at night, or as I lay in my bed, they came upon me.
, That I was, I knew was of my body, and what I should be, I knew I should be of my body.
Manhatta, my river and sun-set, and my scallop-edged waves of flood-tide, the sea-gulls oscillating
face, Which fuses me into you now, and pours my meaning into you.
loudly and mu- sically musically call me by my nighest name! Live, old life!
You objects that call from diffusion my meanings and give them shape!
Why are there men and women that while they are nigh me the sun-light expands my blood?
Why when they leave me do my pennants of joy sink flat and lank?
It is safe—I have tried it—my own feet have tried it well. Allons! be not detained!
I give you my hand!
It is I, you women—I make my way, I am stern, acrid, large, undissuadable—but I love you, I do not hurt
babes I beget upon you are to beget babes in their turn, I shall demand perfect men and women out of my
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, And I answered for his brother, and for men, and I answered for the poet, and
to the President at his levee, And he says, Good-day, my brother!
Then the mechanics take him for a mechanic, And the soldiers suppose him to be a captain, and the sailors
distinctly I comprehend no better sphere than this earth, I comprehend no better life than the life of my
I do not know what follows the death of my body, But I know well that whatever it is, it is best for
I am not uneasy but I shall have good housing to myself, 11* But this is my first—how can I like the
, I suppose the pink nipples of the breasts of women with whom I shall sleep will taste the same to my
lips, But this is the nipple of a breast of my mother, always near and always divine to me, her true
ALL day I have walked the city and talked with my friends, and thought of prudence, Of time, space, reality—of
do not doubt there is more in myself than I have supposed—and more in all men and women —and more in my
my brother or my sister! Keep on!
REALISM is mine, my miracles, Take all of the rest—take freely—I keep but my own—I give only of them,
As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles, Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan, Or dart my sight
any one I love—or sleep in the bed at night with any one I love, Or sit at the table at dinner with my
perfect old man, or the perfect old woman, Or the sick in hospitals, or the dead carried to burial, Or my
Receive me and my lover too—he will not let me go without him.
Darkness, you are gentler than my lover!
I descend my western course, my sinews are flaccid, Perfume and youth course through me, and I am their
carefully darn my grand-son's stockings.
How he informs against my brother and sister, and takes pay for their blood!
Features of my equals, would you trick me with your creased and cadaverous march?
I saw the face of the most smeared and slobbering idiot they had at the asylum, And I knew for my consolation
what they knew not, I knew of the agents that emptied and broke my brother, The same wait to clear the
she blushingly cries—Come nigh to me, limber-hipp'd man, and give me your finger and thumb, Stand at my
upon you, Fill me with albescent honey, bend down to me, Rub to me with your chafing beard, rub to my
THE friend I am happy with, The arm of my friend hanging idly over my shoulder, The hill-side whitened
pressed and glued together with love, Earth of chaste love—life that is only life after love, The body of my
and trembling encirling fingers—the young man all colored, red, ashamed, angry; The souse upon me of my
eats in me day and night with hungry gnaw, till I saturate what shall pro- duce produce boys to fill my