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good as such-like, visible here or anywhere, stand provided for in a handful of space, which I extend my

arm and half enclose with my hand; That contains the start of each and all—the virtue, the germs of

only out of the inimitable poem of the wo- man woman , can come the poems of man—(only thence have my

I am de- termined determined to press my way toward you, Sound your voice!

No—it has not yet fully risen ;) Whether I shall complete what is here started, Whether I shall attain my

WHAT am I, after all, but a child, pleased with the sound of my own name?

tell why it affects me so much, when I hear it from women's voices, and from men's voices, or from my

take from my lips this kiss, Whoever you are, I give it especially to you; So long—and I hope we shall

WHO learns my lesson complete?

as every one is immortal; I know it is wonderful—but my eye-sight is equally wonderful, and how I was

conceived in my mother's womb is equally wonderful; And pass'd from a babe, in the creeping trance of

And that my Soul embraces you this hour, and we affect each other without ever seeing each other, and

arrive, or pass'd on farther than those of the earth, I henceforth no more ignore them, than I ignore 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

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

WHAT am I, after all, but a child, pleased with the sound of my own name?

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

I do not see any of it upon you to-day—or perhaps I am deceived, I will run a furrow with my plough—I

will press my spade through the sod, and turn it up un- derneath underneath , I am sure I shall expose

transparent green-wash of the sea, which is so amorous after me, That it is safe to allow it to lick my

ALL day I have walked the city, and talked with my friends, and thought of prudence, Of time, space,

do not doubt there is more in myself than I have supposed—and more in all men and women— and more in my

and which are my miracles?

Realism is mine—my miracles—Take freely, Take without end—I offer them to you wherever your feet can

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

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, to Cudge that hoes in the sugarfield;

Then the mechanics take him for a mechanic, And the soldiers suppose him to be a captain . . . . and

thereof—and no less in myself than the whole of the Mannahatta in itself, Singing the song of These, my

ever united lands—my body no more inevitably united, part to part, and made one identity, any more than

my lands are inevitably united, and made one identity, Nativities, climates, the grass of the great

COME closer to me, Push close my lovers and take the best I possess, Yield closer and closer and give

I will have my own whoever enjoys me, I will be even with you, and you shall be even with me.

become so for your sake; If you remember your foolish and outlawed deeds, do you think I cannot remember my

am this day just as much in love with them as you, But 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

my best as for a purpose, Unbuttoning my clothes and holding me by the bare waist, Deluding my confusion

My Soul!

We closed with him . . . . the yards entangled . . . . the cannon touched, My captain lashed fast with

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, and my women and household and intimates, Now the performer

Leaves of Grass, "I Wander All Night in My Vision," Leaves of Grass.

My hands are spread forth . . 

I descend my western course . . . . my sinews are flaccid, Perfume and youth course through me, and I

darn my grandson's stockings.

though I lie so sleepy and sluggish, my tap is death.

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

Come nigh to me limber-hip'd man and give me your finger and thumb, Stand at my side till I lean as high

Fill me with albescent honey . . . . bend down to me, Rub to me with your chafing beard . . rub to my

curious 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 inexpress- ible inexpressible

my Captain!

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! CAPTAIN ! my Captain!

O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. O Captain!

my Captain!

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still, My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse

trousers around my boots, and my cuffs back from my wrists, and go with drivers and boatmen and men

gab and my loitering.

to my barestript heart, And reached till you felt my beard, and reached till you held my feet. (15)

to my bare-stript heart, And reach’d till you felt my beard, and reach’d till you held my feet.

You my rich blood!

How perfect is my soul! How perfect the earth, and the minutest thing upon it!

O my soul! if I realize you I have satisfaction, Animals and vegetables!

I cannot define my satisfaction . . yet it is so, I cannot define my life . . yet it is so.

of Leaves of Grass, Whitman added the supplementary annexes "Sands at Seventy" (1888) and "Good-Bye my

Leaves of Grass, "Who Learns My Lesson Complete?" WHO learns my lesson complete?

as every one is immortal, I know it is wonderful . . . . but my eyesight is equally wonderful . . . .

and how I was conceived in my mother's womb is equally wonderful, And how I was not palpable once but

thirty-six years old in 1855 . . . . and that I am here anyhow—are all equally wonderful; And that my

I sound triumphal drums for the dead—I fling thro' my embouchures the loudest and gayest music for them

their dead songs about dead Europe, and its stupid monks and priests, its chivalry, and its thing a-my-bobs

exist") wofür ich da bin ("what I am there for") die Frage nach meiner Bestimmung ("the question of my

destiny") wer ich sei ("who I am/may be") was ich tauge ("what I am good for" | "what my worth is")

lines 40 letters 1120 1120 letters in page of Skakspere Shakespeare 's poems 1600 letters in one of my

sauntering the pavement, 9 great are the myths, I wander all night 10 Come closer to me Who learns my

I Wish to Give My Own View': Some Nineteenth-Century Women's Responses to the 1860 Leaves of Grass."

And the gentle creature blushes at my protestations of love, and leans her cheek upon my neck.

"My brother, thus have I lived my life. Your look asks me if I have been happy.

"My brother, a maiden's tears washed my stern resolves away.

Various fortune followed my path.

But I can lay my hand upon my heart, and thank the Great Master, that the sunshine has been far oftener

Sir, Permit me to introduce myself to you before I state the purpose of my letter.

etcher and I enclose a few notices from The Times and other journals in case you have never seen any of my

If you have such a photograph will you kindly send it to me—supposing you do not object to my etching

I must ask you to be kind enough to return to me the enclosed notices of my works.

carpenter (an art which I learnt as a boy) & it has done me so much good that I hope to return soon to my

have been able to do the same this year, but I am afraid I cannot, for I have been trying to change my

way of life this year & earn my living differently to what I have done till now, and have not hitherto

So I must content myself with sending the contribution of my friend, increased somewhat by help from

WHO learns my lesson complete? Boss, journeyman, apprentice? churchman and atheist?

as every one is immortal, I know it is wonderful—but my eye-sight is equally wonderful, and how I was

con- ceived conceived in my mother's womb is equally wonderful, And how I was not palpable once, but

years old in the Year 79 of America, and that I am here anyhow, are all equally wonderful, And that my

At Montreal I came to the end of my purse and was obliged to remain at the St.

supervisorships, so that Seymour shall get half the patronage of the treasury, an institution which my

street June 14—11 a m Dear friend I am afraid to venture out much in the heat of the day (as part of my

We are soon to see a thing accomplished here which I have often exercised my mind about, namely, the

Not at all, to my eye.

many respects of our constructive nation and age, and even so poetical, that I have even balanced in my

When a train comes to a bad spot in the road this Captain reins in his horse and stands there till they

I find this everywhere, and very pleasing to my sight.

men and their maneuvers that I was now gazing An invalid-looking man came slowly up the hill while my

The man, at my request, showed me one of the globules which he was in the habit of taking daily.

I shall remember that dinner to my dying day. We pulled up stakes, and put for home.

I made my bed in the furled sail, watching the stars as they twinkled, and falling asleep so.

An indescribable serenity pervaded my mind—a delicious abnegation of the ties of the body.

I rubbed my eyes a little, to see if this sunbeam were no illusion; but the solid sense of the book is

I wish to see my benefactor, and have felt much like striking my tasks and visiting New York to pay you

my respects.

people and The States face to face, to confront them with an American rude tongue; but the work of my

A few years, and the average annual call for my Poems is ten or twenty thousand copies—more, quite likely

It is all as well done, in my opinion, as could be practicable. Each element here is in condition.

out the lines, build cities, work mines, break up farms; it is yours to have been the original true Captain

Willard, would in any degree affect my official action in that matter.

Perhaps it is not possible for one in your circumstances to view such cases as they appear to one in my

so disproportioned a share of attention given to it, and which was cheerfully given, (on account of my

But this was only a passing impulse on my part, and I desire you to feel that I retain no unkindness

or the mere addition of respectable names to the list of petitioners, will not produce a change in my

wrestling, boiling-hot days" (1336).Concluding the letter, Whitman calls Emerson "the original true Captain

My old friends, Mr.

I am but in the beginning of life, and my heart has not lost its sympathy with the cheerful and bright

"My soul ascends Above the Stars."

My poor handkerchief, when I pulled it from my pocket the next morning, was what the wolverines might

I had done it in the agonies between my laughter and attempted decorum.

The captain gets his sixteenth or twentieth "lay," and one or two others share equally well; but the

So with wool-hat crushed in my hand behind me, for the sundown breezes felt good, there on old "Clover

I took my time, and expanded to the glory spread over heaven and earth.

It seemed as if all that the eye could bear, were unequal to the fierce voracity of my soul for intense

His feelings were not returned. with all her blandishments, never touched my heart in the least.

I write as I feel; and I feel that there are not a few who will pronounce a Yes to my own confessions

recreated: Me and mine, loose windrows, little corpses, Froth, snowy white, and bubbles, (See, from my

For I, that was a child, my tongue's use sleeping, now Ĭ hăve heard you, Nów ĭn ă mómŏnt Ĭ know what

their eyes, and has added the image embodied in the title of the poem that precedes it in , "Earth, My

In "Earth, My Likeness" Whitman says that within himself, as within the seemingly impassive terrestrial

Symonds had already cited "Earth, My-Likeness" in his own critical study, noting the "spiritual conflict