Section 20

In my walks home late at night, or as I lay in my bed, they came upon me.
I too had been struck from the float forever held in solution ;
I too had receiv’d identity by my Body ;
That I was, I knew was of my body—and what I should be, I knew I should be of my body.
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It is not upon you alone the dark patches fall,
The dark threw patches down upon me also ;
The best I had done seem’d to me blank and suspicious ; 70
My great thoughts, as I supposed them, were they not in reality meagre P would not people laugh at me?
It is not you alone who know what it is to be evil ;
I am he who knew what it was to be evil ;
I too knitted the old knot of contrariety,
Blabb’d, blush’d, resented, lied, stole, grudg’d,
Had guile, anger, lust, hot wishes I dared not speak,
Was wayward, vain, greedy, shallow, sly, cowardly, malignant ; The wolf, the snake, the hog, not wanting in me,
? 1856 reads ‘I too lived.’? 1860 adds “ (I was of old Brooklyn, )”? 1867 reads as above.
CROSSING BROOKLYN FERRY 185
The cheating look, the frivolous word, the adulterous wish, not
wanting, Refusals, hates, postponements, meanness, laziness, none of these wanting. 80
8
But I was Manhattanese, friendly and proud !!
I was call’d by my nighest name by clear loud voices of young men as they saw me approaching or passing,
Felt their arms on my neck as I stood, or the negligent leaning of their flesh against me as I sat,
Saw many I loved in the street, or ferry-boat, or public assembly, yet never told them a word,
Lived the same life with the rest, the same old laughing, gnaw- ing, sleeping,
Play’d the part that still looks back on the actor or actress,
The same old role, the role that is what we make it, as great as we like,
Or as small as we like, or both great and small.
‘Be 9 Closer yet I approach you ; What thought you have of me, I had as much of you—TI laid in my stores in advance ; ~ go I consider’d long and seriously of you before you were born.
Who was to know what should come home to me?
Who knows but I am enjoying this ?
Who knows but I am as good as looking at you now, for all you cannot see me?
It is not you alone, nor I alone ;
Not a few races, nor a few generations, nor a few centuries ;
It is that each came, or comes, or shall come, from its due emis- sion,”
From the general centre of all, and forming a part of all:*
Everything indicates—the smallest does, and the largest does ;
A necessary film envelopes all, and envelopes the Soul for a proper time. 100
1 1856 ’60 read ‘ 2 1856’60’67 add “ without fail, either now, or then, or henceforth,’’
3 Line 98 added in 1870.
186 LEAVES OF GRASS
Io
Now I am curious what sight can ever be more stately and ad- mirable to me than my mast-hemm’d Manhattan,
My river and sun-set, and my scallop-edg’d waves of flood-tide,
The sea-gulls oscillating their bodies, the hay-boat in the twi- light, and the belated lighter ;
Curious what Gods can exceed these that clasp me by the hand, and with voices I love call me promptly and loudly by my nighest name as I approach ;
Curious what is more subtle than this which ties me to the woman or man that looks in my face,
Which fuses me into you now, and pours my meaning into you.
We understand, then, do we not ?
What I promis’d without mentioning it, have you not accepted ?
What the study could not teach—what the preaching could not accomplish, is accomplish’d, is it not?
What the push of reading could not start, is started by me per-
sonally, is it not? IIo It Flow on, river! flow with the flood-tide, and ebb with the ebb- tide !
Frolic on, crested and scallop-edg’d waves !
Gorgeous clouds of the sun-set ! drench with your splendor me, or the men and women generations after me ;
Cross from shore to shore, countless crowds of passengers !
Stand up, tall masts of Mannahatta!—stand up, beautiful hills of Brooklyn !?
Throb, baffled and curious brain! throw out questions and answers !
Suspend here and everywhere, eternal float of solution !?
Gaze, loving and thirsting eyes, in the house, or street, or public assembly !
Sound out, voices of young men! loudly and musically call me by my nighest name! ;
Live, old life! play the part that looks back on the actor or actress ! 120
Play the old role, the role that is great or small, according as one makes it !
1 After line 115, 1856’60 ’67 read ‘‘ Bully for you! you proud, friendly, free Manhattanese.”’
» After line 117, 1856 ’60 ’67 read ‘ Blab, blush, lie, steal, you or I or any one after us,”
CROSSING BROOKLYN FERRY 187
Consider, you who peruse me, whether I may not in unknown ways be looking upon you ;
Be firm, rail over the river, to support those who lean idly, yet haste with the hasting current ;
Fly on, sea-birds ! fly sideways, or wheel in large circles high in the air ; Receive the summer sky, you water! and faithfully hold it, till all downcast eyes have time to take it from you; Diverge, fine spokes of light, from the shape of my head, or any one’s head, in the sun-lit water ;
Come on, ships from the lower bay! pass up or down, white- sail’d schooners, sloops, lighters !
Flaunt away, flags of all nations! be duly lower’d at sunset ;
Burn high your fires, foundry chimneys ! cast black shadows at nightfall ! cast red and yellow light over the tops of the houses ;
Appearances, now or henceforth, indicate what you are ; 130
You necessary film, continue to envelop the soul ;
About my body for me, and your body for you, be hung our divinest aromas ;
Thrive, cities! bring your freight, bring your shows, ample and sufficient rivers ;
Expand, being than which none else is perhaps more spiritual ;
Keep your places, objects than which none else is more lasting.
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We descend upon you and all things—we arrest you all ;
We realize the soul only by you, you faithful solids and fluids ;
Through you color, form, location, sublimity, ideality ;
Through you every proof, comparison, and all the suggestions and determinations of ourselves.
You have waited, you always wait, you dumb, beautiful ministers !
you novices ! 140 We receive you with free sense at last, and are insatiate hence- forward ; Not you any more shall be able to foil us, or withhold yourselves from us ;
We use you, and do not cast you aside—we plant you perma- nently within us ; Plas
We fathom you not—we love you—there is perfection in you also ;
188 LEAVES OF GRASS
You furnish your parts toward eternity ; Great or small, you furnish your parts toward the soul.
&
WITH ANTECEDENTS.
First published in 1860,
I
WirH antecedents ;
With my fathers and mothers, and the accumulations of past ages ;
With all which, had it not been, I would not now be here, as I am :
With Egypt, India, Phenicia, Greece and Rome ;
With the Kelt, the Scandinavian, the Alb, and the Saxon ;
With antique maritime ventures,—with laws, artizanship, wars and journeys ;
With the poet, the skald, the saga, the myth, and the oracle ;
With the sale of slaves—with enthusiasts—with the troubadour, the crusader, and the monk ;
With those old continents whence we have come to this new continent ;
With the fading kingdoms and kings over there ; se)
With the fading religions and priests ;
With the small shores we look back to from our own large and present shores ;
With countless years drawing themselves onward, and arrived at these years ;
You and Me arrived—America arrived, and making this year ;
This year! sending itself ahead countless years to come.
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O but it is not the years—it is I—it is You ;
We touch all laws, and tally all antecedents ;
We are the skald, the oracle, the monk, and the knight—we easily include them, and more ;
We stand amid time, beginningless and endless—we stand amid evil and good ;
All swings around us—there is as much darkness as light ; 20
The very sun swings itself and its system of planets around us ;
Its sun, and its again, all swing around us.
CROSSING BROOKLYN FERRY © 189
As for me, (torn, stormy, even as I, amid these vehement days, )?
I have the idea of all, and am all, and believe in all ;
I believe materialism is true, and spiritualism is true—I reject no part.
Have I forgotten any part? Come to me, whoever and whatever, till I give yor recog- nition.
I respect Assyria, China, Teutonia, and the Hebrews ;
I adopt each theory, myth, god, and demi-god ;
I see that the old accounts, bibles, genealogies, are true, without exception ; 30
I assert that all past days were what they should have been ;
And that they could no-how have been better than they were,
And that to-day is what it should be—and that America is,
And that to-day and America could no-how be better than they
are. 3 In the name of These States, and in your and my name, the Past,
And in the name of These States, and in your and my name, the Present time.
I know that the past was great, and the future will be great,
And I know that both curiously conjoint in the present time,
(For the sake of him I typify—for the common avertes man’s sake—your sake, if you are he ;)
And that where I am, or you are, this present day, there is the centre of all days, all races, 40
And there is the meaning, to us, of all that has ever come of races and days, or ever will come.
1 1860 reads ‘as for me.’’ 1867 adds ‘‘ (torn, stormy,’’) ete.
190 LEAVES OF GRASS
THE ANSWERER.
NOW LIST TO MY MORNING’S ROMANZA.
First published in 1855. In edition of 1856 under title of ‘‘ Poem of the Poet.”
I
Now list to my morning’s romanza—I tell the signs of the An- SWerer ;
To the cities and farms I sing, as they spread in the sunshine before me.*
A young man comes to me bearing a message from his brother ;
How shall the young man know the whether and when of his brother
Tell him to send me the signs.
| 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 answer for him that answers for all, and send these signs.*
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Him all wait for—him all yield up to—his word is decisive and final,
Him they accept, in him lave, in him perceive themselves, as amid light,
Him they immerse, and he immerses them. 10
Beautiful women, the haughtiest nations, laws, the landscape, people, animals,
loc pane I and 2 addedin 1867. in 1870.
2 1855 ’56’60’67, For ‘‘stand”’ read “ stood.”’
3 1855 °56’60’67. For ‘‘take’’ read “ took.?’
* 1855’56’60’67. Line 7 reads ‘* And I answered for his brother, and for men, and I answered for the Poet, and sent these signs.’’
THE ANSWERER Ig
The profound earth and its attributes, and the unquiet ocean, (so tell I my morning’s romanza ;)!
All enjoyments and properties, and money, and whatever money will buy,
The best farms—others toiling and planting, and he unavoidably reaps,
The noblest and costliest cities—others grading and building, and he domiciles there ;
Nothing for any one, but what is for him—near and far are for him, the ships in the offing,
The perpetual shows and marches on land, are for him, if they are for any body.
He puts things in their attitudes ;
He puts to-day out of himself, with plasticity and love ;
He places his own city, times, reminiscences, parents, brothers and sisters, associations, employment, politics, so that the rest never shame them afterward, nor assume to command them. 20
He is the answerer ; What can be answer’d he answers—and what cannot be answer’d, he shows how it cannot be answer’d.
3 A man is a summons and challenge ; (It is vain to skulk—Do you hear that mocking and laughter? Do you hear the ironical echoes ?)
Books, friendships, philosophers, priests, action, pleasure, pride, beat up and down, seeking to give satisfaction ;
He indicates the satisfaction, and indicates them that beat up and down also.
Whichever the sex, whatever the season or place, he may go freshly and gently and safely, by day or by night ;
He has the pass-key of hearts—to him the response of the prying of hands on the knobs.
His welcome is universal—the flow of beauty is not more wel- come or universal than he is ; The person he favors by day, or sleeps with at night, is blessed. 30
1 ¢¢(so tell I my morning’s romanza ;)”? added in 1867.
192 | LEAVES OF GRASS
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Every existence has its idiom—everything has an idiom and tongue ;
He resolves all tongues into his own, and bestows it upon men, and any man translates, and any man translates himself also ;
One part does not counteract another part—he is the joiner— he sees how they join.
He says indifferently and alike, How are you, friend? to the President at his levee,
And he says, Good-day, my brother / to Cudge that hoes in the sugar-field,
And both understand him, and know that his speech is right.
He walks with perfect ease in the Capitol, He walks among the Congress, and one Representative says to another, Here is our equal, appearing and new.
Then the mechanics take him for a mechanic,
And the soldiers suppose him to be a soldier,’ and the sailors that he has follow’d the sea, 40
And the authors take him for an author, and the artists for an artist,
And the laborers perceive he could labor with them and love them ;
No matter what the work is, that he is the one to follow it, or has follow’ d it,
No matter what the nation, that he might find his brothers and sisters there.
The English believe he comes of their English stock, A Jew to the Jew he seems—a Russ to the Russ—usual and near, removed from none.
Whoever he looks at in the traveler’s coffee-house claims him, The Italian or Frenchman is sure, and the German is sure, and the Spaniard is sure, and the island Cuban is sure ;
The engineer, the deck-hand on the great lakes, or on the Missis- sippi, or St. Lawrence, or Sacramento, or Hudson, or Paumanok Sound,? claims him.
1 18555660. For ‘soldier’? read ‘ captain.’’ 2 1855 56. For ‘* Paumanok Sound’’ read ** Delaware.’?
THE ANSWERER 193
The gentleman of perfect blood acknowledges his perfect blood ; 50
The insulter, the prostitute, the angry person, the beggar, see themselves in the ways of him—he strangely transmutes them,
They are not vile any more—they hardly know themselves, they are so grown.'
&
THE INDICATIONS. First published in 1860.
THE indications, and tally of time ;? ;
Perfect sanity shows the master among philosophs ;
Time, always without flaw, indicates itself in parts ;
What always indicates the poet, is the crowd of the pleasant com- pany of singers, and their words ;
The words of the singers are the hours or minutes of the light or dark—but the words of the maker of poems are the gen- eral light and dark ;
The maker of poems settles justice, reality, immortality,
His insight and power encircle things and the human race,
He is the glory and extract thus far, of things, and of the hu- man race.
The singers do not beget—only the Poet begets ;
The singers are welcom’d, understood, appear often enough—~ but rare has the day been, likewise the spot, of the birth of the maker of poems, the Answerer,’ ie)
(Not every century, or every five centuries, has contain’d such a day, for all its names. )
The singers of successive hours of centuries may have osten- sible names, but the name of each of them is one of the
singers,
1 1855 756’60. After line 52 add: ¢ Do* you think it would be good to be the writer of melodious verses ? Well, it would be good to be the writer of melodious verses ; But what are verses beyond the flowing character you could have? or beyond beautiful manners and behavior ? Or beyond one manly or affectionate deed of an apprentice-boy ? or old woman? or man that has been in prison, or is likely to be in prison ?”’ 2 Line 1 added in 1867. § ««the Answerer’? added in 1870, * ‘To’? added in 1856.
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104 LEAVES OF GRASS
The name of each is, eye-singer, ear-singer, head-singer, sweet- singer, echo-singer, parlor-singer, love-singer, or some- thing else.
All this time, and at all times, wait the words of true’ poems ;
The words of true poems do not merely please,”
The true poets are not followers of beauty, but the august masters of beauty ;