Section 24

222 LEAVES OF GRASS
With her ample back towards every beholder, j 50 With the fascinations of youth, and the equal fascinations of age,
Sits she whom I too love like the rest—sits undisturb’d,
Holding up in ‘her hand what has the character of a mirror, while her eyes glance back from it,*
Glance as she sits,” inviting none, denying none,
Holding a mirror day and night tirelessly before her own face.
7
Seen at hand, or seen at a distance,
Duly the twenty-four appear in public every day,
Duly approach and pass with their companions, or a com- panion,
Looking from no countenances of their own, but from the coun- tenances of those who are with them,
From the countenances of children or women, or the manly
countenance, 60
From the open countenances of animals, or from inanimate things,
From the landscape or waters, or from the exquisite apparition of the sky,
From re countenances, mine and yours, faithfully returning them,
Every day in public appearing without fail, but never twice with
the same companions. 8
Embracing man, embracing all, proceed the three hundred and sixty-five resistlessly round the sun ;
Embracing all, soothing, supporting, follow close three hundred and sixty-five offsets of the first, sure and necessary as they.
i)
Tumbling on steadily, nothing dreading,
Sunshine, storm, cold, heat, forever withstanding, passing, car- rying,
The Soul’s realization and determination still inheriting,
The fluid’ vacuum around and ahead still entering and divid- ing, 70
1 1856 reads ‘‘her eyes glancing back from it.”? 2 1856 reads ‘‘ Glancing thence as she sits,?? 3 1856. For *fluid’”’ reads “liquid.”
CAROL OF WORDS 223
No balk retarding, no anchor anchoring, on no rock striking, Swift, glad, content, unbereav’d, nothing losing,
Of all able and ready at any time to give strict account,
The divine ship sails the divine sea.
Io
Whoever you are! motion and reflection are especially for you ; The divine ship sails the divine sea for you.
Whoever you are! you are he or she for whom the earth is solid and liquid,
You are he or she for whom the sun and moon hang in the sky,
For none more than you are the present and the past,
For none more than you is immortality. 80
Il
Each man to himself, and each woman to herself, such! is the word of the past and present, and the word of immor- tality ;
No’ one can acquire for another—not one!
Not one can grow for another—not one!
The song is to the singer, and comes back most to him ;
The teaching is to the teacher, and comes back most to him ; The murder is to the murderer, and comes back most to him ; The theft is to the thief, and comes back most to him ;
The love is to the lover, and comes back most to him ;
The gift is to the giver, and comes back inost to him—it cannot
fail ; The oration is to the orator, the acting is to the actor and actress, not to the audience ; go
And no man understands any greatness or goodness but his own, or the indication of his own.
I2
I swear the earth shall surely be complete to him or her who shall be complete !
I swear the earth remains jagged and broken only to him or her who remains jagged and broken!
1 «¢such’”’ added in 1867. 2 1856. For ‘*No” reads ‘* Not.’’
224 LEAVES OF GRASS
I swear there is no greatness or power that does not emulate those of the earth !
I swear there can be no theory of any account, unless it corrob- orate the theory of the earth!
No politics, art, religion, behavior, or what not, is of account, unless it compare with the amplitude of the earth, Unless it face the exactness, vitality, impartiality, rectitude of
the earth. 13 I swear I begin to see love with sweeter spasms than that which responds love ! It is that which contains itself—which never invites, and never refuses.
I swear I begin to see little or nothing in audible words ! 100
I swear I think all merges toward the presentation of the unspoken meanings of the earth !
Toward him who sings the songs of the Body, and of the truths of the earth ;
Toward him who makes the dictionaries of’ words that print cannot touch.
14 I swear I see what is better than to tell the best ; It is always to leave the best untold.
When I undertake to tell the best, I find I cannot, My tongue is ineffectual on its pivots,
My breath will not be obedient to its organs,
I become a dumb man.
The best of the earth cannot be told anyhow—all or any is best ; 110
It is not what you anticipated—it is cheaper, easier, nearer ;
Things are not dismiss’d from the places they held before ;
The earth is just as positive and direct as it was before ;
Facts, religions, improvements, politics, trades, are as real as before ;
But the Soul is also real,—it too is positive and direct ;
No reasoning, no proof has establish’d it,
Undeniable growth has establish’d it.
1 1856 ’60 read “of the words,’’
CAROL OF WORDS 225
{5 This is a poem—a carol of words'—these are hints of meanings, These are to echo’ the tones of Souls, and the phrases of Souls ; If they did not echo the phrases of Souls, what were they
then ? 120 If they had not reference to you in especial, what were they then ?
I swear I will never henceforth have to do with the faith that tells the best ! I will have to do only with that faith that leaves the best untold.
16 Say on, sayers !* Delve! mould! pile the* words of the earth ! Work on—Cit is materials you must bring, not breaths ;)® Work on, age after age! nothing is to be lost ; It may have to wait long, but it will certainly come in use ; _ When the materials are all prepared, the architects shall appear.
I swear to you the architects shall appear without fail! I an- nounce them and lead them ; 130
I swear to you they will understand you, and justify you ;
I swear to you the greatest among them shall be he who best knows you, and encloses all, and is faithful to all ;
I swear to you, he and the rest shall not forget you—they shall perceive that you are not an iota less than they ;
I swear to you, you shall be glorified in them.
* AH POVERTIES, WINCINGS, AND SULKY RETREATS.
First published in ‘“‘ When Lilacs Last In The Door-yard Bloomed,” 1865 ’66.
AH poverties, wincings, and sulky retreats !
Ah you foes that in conflict have overcome me!
(For what is my life, or any man’s life, but a conflict with foes —the old, the incessant war ?)
1 For ‘a carol of words’? 1856 reads “ for the sayers of the earth.’? 1860 67 read ‘‘ for the sayers of words.’’ 2 1856 ’60 ’67 read “‘ These are they that echo.”’ 3 1856 reads ‘‘ Say on Sayers of the earth !”’ 4 1856 reads “ substantial words,”’ etc. 5 Line 126 added in 1860, 15
226 LEAVES OF GRASS
You degradations—you tussle with passions and appetites ;
You smarts from dissatisfied friendships, (ah wounds, the sharp- est of all ;)
You toil of painful and choked articulations—you meannesses ;
You shallow tongue-talks at tables, (my tongue the shallowest
of any ;)
You broken resolutions, you racking angers, you smother’d ennuis ;
Ah, think not you finally triumph—My real self has yet to come forth ;
It shall yet march forth o’ermastering, till all lies beneath me ; 10
It shall yet stand up the soldier of unquestion’d victory.
ag
A BOSTON BALLAD. (1854.)
First published in 1855. In edition of 1856 under title of ‘‘ Poem of Apparitions in Boston, the 78th Year of These States.” In 1860 under title of “A Boston Ballad the 78th Year of These States.” To get betimes in Boston town, I rose this morning early ; Here’s a good place at the corner—I must stand and see the . show.
Clear the way there, Jonathan !?
Way for the President’s marshal! Way for the government cannon !
Way for the Federal foot and dragoons—and the apparitions copiously tumbling.®
I love to look on the stars and stripes—I hope the fifes will play Yankee Doodle.
How bright shine the cutlasses of the foremost troops !* Every man holds his revolver, marching stiff through Boston town.
1 18555660 read ‘I rose this morning early to get betimes in Boston town.’’
? In 1855 ’56’60 lines 3, 4 and 5 begin the poem, lines 1 and 2 following.
° 1855 reads ‘‘and the phantoms afterward’’ for ‘‘and the apparitions,’’ ete.
4 1855 reads “‘ How bright shine the foremost with cutlasses.’’
A BOSTON BALLAD 227
A fog follows—antiques of the same come limping, Some appear wooden-legged, and some appear enced and bloodless.
Why this is indeed' a show! It has called the dead out of the earth !
The old grave yards of the hills have hurried to see !
Phantoms! phantoms countless by flank and rear !?
Cock’d hats of mothy mould! crutches made of mist !
Arms in slings! old men leaning on young men’s shoulders !
What troubles you, Yankee phantoms? What is all this chatter- ing of bare gums?
Does the ague convulse your limbs? Do you mistake your crutches for fire-locks, and level them ?
If you blind your eyes with tears, you will not see the Presi- dent’s marshal ;
If you groan such groans, you might balk the government cannon.
For shame, old maniacs! Bring down those toss’d arms, and let your white hair be ; 20
Here gape your great® grand-sons—their wives gaze at them from the windows, )
See how well dress’ d—see how orderly they conduct them- selves.
Worse and worse! Can’t you stand it? Are you retreating ? Is this hour with the living too dead for you?
Retreat then! Pell-mell !* To your graves! Back! back® to the hills, old limpers!
I do not think you belong here, anyhow.
But there is one thing that belongs here—shall I tell you what it is, gentlemen of Boston ?
1 «indeed’’ added in 1867.
2 1855 75660 read ‘and rear of it.”’
3 1855 oe 60 read ‘‘ smart grand-sons.’ :
41855 ’56 read ‘‘ Retreat then! Pell-mell! ! Back to the hills, old limpers !”’
5 1860 reads ‘‘ Back to your graves! Back to the hills,”’ etc
228a0 LEAVES OF GRASS
I will whisper it to the Mayor—he shail send a committee to
England ; They shall get a grant from the Parliament, go with a cart to the royal vault—haste !" 30
Dig out King George’s coffin, unwrap him quick from the grave- clothes, box up his bones for a journey ;
Find a swift. Yankee clipper—here is freight for you, black- bellied clipper, ; ;
Up with your anchor! shake out your sails! steer straight toward Boston bay.
Now call for the President’s marshal again, bring out the gov- ernment cannon,
Fetch home the roarers frgm Congress, make another procession, guard it with foot and dragoons.
This centre-piece for them :? ; Look ! all orderly citizens—look from the windows, women !
The committee open the box, set up the regal ribs, glue those that will not stay,
Clap the skull on top of the ribs, and clap a crown on top of the skull.
You have got your revenge, old buster! The crown is come to its own, and more than its own.
Stick your hands in your pockets, Jonathan—you are a made man from this day ; 40 You are mighty cute—and here is one of your bargains.
&
YEAR OF METEORS. (1859-60, ) First published in “‘ Drum Taps,” 1865. YeEaR of meteors! brooding year ! I would bind in words retrospective, some of your deeds and signs ; I would sing your contest for the 19th Presidentiad ;
1 “haste’? added in 1860. 2 1855 reads ‘‘ Here is a centre-piece for them,??
YEAR OF METEORS 229
I would sing how an old man, tall, with white hair, mounted the scaffold in Virginia ;
3 was at hand—silent I stood, with teeth shut close—I watch’d ;
I stood very near you, old man, when cool and indifferent, but
trembling with age and your unheal’d wounds, you mounted the scaffold ; co)
—1I would sing in my copious song your census returns of The States,
The tables of population and products—I would sing of your ships and their cargoes,
The proud black ships of Manhattan, arriving, some fill’d with immigrants, some from the isthmus with cargoes of
gold ; ; Songs thereof would I sing—to all that hitherward comes would I welcome give ; . IO
And you would I sing, fair stripling! welcome to you from me, sweet boy of England!
Remember you surging Manhattan’s crowds, as you pass’d with your cortege of nobles?
There in the crowds stood I, and singled you out with attach- ment ;
I know not why, but I loved you . . . (and so go forth little song,
Far over sea speed like an arrow, carrying my love all folded,
And find in his palace the youth I love, and drop these lines at his feet ; )
—Nor forget I to sing of the wonder, the ship as she swam up
bay,
Well-shaped ada stately the Great Eastern swam up my bay, she was 600 feet long,
Her, moving swiftly, surrounded by myriads of small craft, I forget not to sing ;
—Nor the comet that came unannounced out of the north, flar- ing in heaven ; 20
Nor the strange huge meteor procession, dazzling and clear, shooting over our heads,
(A moment, a moment long, it sail’d its balls of unearthly light over our heads,
Then departed, dropt in the night, and was gone ;)
—Of such, and fitful as they, I sing—with gleams from them would I gleam and patch these chants ;
Your chants, O year all mottled with evil and good! year of forebodings! year of the youth I love!
230 LEAVES OF GRASS
Year of comets and meteors transient and strange !—lo! even here, one equally transient and strange !
As I flit through you hastily, soon to fall and be gone, what is this book,
What am I myself but one of your meteors?
A BROADWAY PAGEANT.
ReEcEPTION JAPANESE Empassy, JUNE, 1860.
First published in ‘‘ Drum Taps,” 1865.
ne
Over the western sea, hither from Niphon come,’
Courteous, the swart-cheek’d two-sworded envoys,
Leaning back in their open barouches, bare-headed, impassive, Ride to-day through Manhattan.
Libertad !
I do not know whether others behold what I behold,
In the procession, along with the nobles’ of Asia, the errand- bearers,
Bringing up the rear, hovering above, around, or in the ranks marching ;
But I will sing you a song of what I behold, Libertad.
2
When million-footed Manhattan, unpent, descends to her® pave-
ments ; Io When the thunder-cracking guns arouse me with the proud roar I love ;
1 Drum Taps reads ‘‘ Over sea, hither from Niphon, Courteous, the Princes of Asia, swart-cheek’d princes, First-comers, guests, two-sworded princes, Lesson-giving princes, leaning back in their open barouches, bare-headed, im- passive, This day they ride through Manhattan.”’ 2 Drum Taps. For ‘* Nobles’? reads ‘¢ Princes,”’ 3 Drum Taps. For ‘‘her’’ reads ‘¢its.”?
A BROADWAY PAGEANT 231
When the round-mouth’d guns, out of the smoke and smell I love, spit their salutes ;
When the fire-flashing guns have fully alerted me—when heaven- clouds canopy my city with a delicate thin haze ;
When, gorgeous, the countless straight stems, the forests at the wharves, thicken with colors ;
When every ship, richly drest, carries her flag at the peak ;
When pennants trail, and street-festoons hang from the windows ;
When Broadway is entirely given up to foot-passengers and foot- standers—when the mass is densest ;
When the facades of the houses are alive with people—when eyes gaze, riveted, tens of thousands at a time ;
When the guests from the islands advance—when the pageant moves forward, visible ;
When the summons is made—when the answer that waited thou- sands of years, answers ; 20
I too, arising, answering, descend to the pavements, merge with the crowd, and gaze with them.
Superb-faced Manhattan ! Comrade Americanos !—to us, then, at last, the Orient comes.
To us, my city,
Where our tall-topt marble and iron beauties range on opposite sides—to walk in the space between,
To-day our Antipodes comes.
The Originatress comes,’
The nest of languages, the bequeather of poems, the race of eld, Florid with blood, pensive, rapt with musings, hot with passion, Sultry with perfume, with ample and flowing garments, 30 With sunburnt visage, with intense soul and glittering eyes, The race of Brahma comes !
4
See, my cantabile! these, and more, are flashing to us from the procession ; :
As it moves, changing, a kaleidoscope divine it moves, changing, before us.
1 Drum Taps. After line 27 reads “‘ The land of Paradise —land of Caucasus —the nest of birth,’’
232 LEAVES OF GRASS
For not the envoys, nor the tann’d Japanee from his island’ only ;
Lithe raiie the Hindoo appears—the Asiatic continent? itself appears—the Past, the dead, ;
The murky night-morning of wonder and fable, inscrutable,
The envelop’d mysteries, the old and unknown hive-bees,
The North—the sweltering South—eastern® Assyria—the Hebrews —the Ancient of Ancients,
“Vast desolated cities—the gliding Present—all of these, and
more, are in the pageant-procession. 40
Geography, the world, is in it ;