Section 32

I have loved the earth, sun, animals—I have despised riches,
I have given alms to every one that ask’d, stood up for the stupid and crazy, devoted my income and labor to others, 240
I have hated tyrants, argued not concerning God, had patience and indulgence toward the people, taken off my hat to nothing known or unknown, ;
I have gone freely with powerful uneducated persons, and with the young, and with the mothers of families,
I have read these leaves to myself in the open air—I have tried them by trees, stars, rivers,
I have dismiss’d whatever insulted my own Soul or defiled my Body,
I have clstmid nothing to myself which I have not carefully claim’d for others on the same terms,’
I have sped to the camps, and comrades found and accepted from every State ;°
(In war of you, as well as peace, my suit is good, America— sadly I boast ;
1 ¢*J say’’ added in 1860.
2 1856 ’60 read “‘ Friendship, self-esteem, justice, health,”’ etc.
3 Lines 234-236 added in 1860.
4 185660 read ‘‘ Give to me to speak beautiful words !”’ etc.
5 After line 245, 1856 ’60 read ‘‘I have studied my land, its idioms and men.”’
6 Line 246 added in ‘‘ Songs Before Parting.”
304 LEAVES OF GRASS
Upon this breast has many a dying soldier lean’d, to breathe his
last ;
This arm, this hand, this voice, have nourish’d, rais’d, re- stored,
To life recalling many a prostrate form : )’ 250
—I am willing to wait to be understood by the growth of the taste of myself, I reject none, I permit all.
(Say, O mother! have I not to your thought been faithful ? Have I not, through life, kept you and yours before me ?)?
15 I swear I begin to see the meaning of these things! It is not the earth, it is not America, who is so great, It is I who am great, or to be great—it is you up there,* or any one ; It is to walk rapidly through civilizations, governments, theories, Through poems, pageants, shows, to form great individuals.
Underneath all, individuals ! 260
I swear nothing is good to me now‘ that ignores individuals,
The American compact is altogether with individuals,
The only government is that which makes minute of individuals,
The whole theory of the universe is directed to one single indi- vidual—namely, to You.°
(Mother! with subtle sense severe—with the naked sword in your hand, I saw you at last refuse to treat but directly with individuals. )®
16 Underneath all, nativity, I swear I will stand by my own nativity—pious or impious, so be ata I swear I am charm’d with nothing except nativity, Men, women, cities, nations, are only beautiful from nativity. 270
1 Lines 247-50 added in 1870.
» Lines 253-54 added in ‘* Songs Before Parting,’’ where ‘‘ you and yours ” reads ‘that alone,’’
3 «*Up there’? added in ‘‘ Songs Before Parting.’
*
5 Line 264 added in 1860.
§ Lines 265-6 added in ‘‘ Songs Before Parting.’’
MARCHES NOW THE WAR IS OVER 305
Underneath all is the need of the expression of love for men and women, » Iswear I have seen enough of mean and impotent modes of ex- pressing love for men and women, After this day I take my own modes of expressing love for men and women.
I swear I will have each quality of my race in myself, (Talk as you like, he only suits These States whose manners favor the audacity and sublime turbulence of The States. )
Underneath the lessons of things, spirits, Nature, governments, ownerships, I swear I perceive other lessons,
Underneath all, to me is myself—to you, yourself—(the same monotonous old song. )"
17 O I see now, flashing, that this America is only you and me, Its power, weapons, testimony, are you and me,? Its crimes, lies, thefts, defections, slavery, are you and me, 280 Its Congress is you and me—the officers, capitols, armies, ships, are you and me, Its endless gestations of new States are you and me,’ The war—that war so bloody and grim—the war I will hence- forth forget—was you and me,* Natural and artificial are you and me, Freedom, language, poems, employments, are you and me, Past, present, future, are you and me.
1 ‘(the same monotonous old song)’’ addedin 1860. After line 277, 1856 760 read ‘‘If all had not Kernels for you and me, what were it to you and ays
2 After line 279, 1856 ’60 read ‘Its power, weapons, testimony, are you
and me,
Its roughs, beards, haughtiness, ruggedness, are you and me,
Its ample geography, the Sierras, the prairies, Mississippi, Huron, Colorado, Boston, Toronto, Raleigh, Nashville, Havana, are you and me,
Its settlements, wars, the organic compact, peace, Washington, the Federal Constitution, are you and me, ; ,
Its young men’s manners, speech, dress, friendships, are you and me,”
3 After line 282, 185660 read ‘‘Its inventions, science, schools, are you
and me,
Its deserts, forests, clearings, log-houses, hunters, are you and me,”’
1856 adds ‘‘ The perpetual arrivals of immigrants are you and me,’’
4 Line 283 added in 1870.
20
306 LEAVES OF GRASS
18
I swear I dare not shirk any part of myself,
Not any part of America, good or bad,*
Not the promulgation of Liberty—not to cheer up slaves and horrify foreign despots,
Not to build for that which builds for mankind, 290
Not to balance ranks, complexions, creeds, and the sexes,
Not to justify science, nor the march of equality,
Nor to feed the arrogant blood of the brawn beloved of time.
I swear I am for those that have never been master’d! For men and women whose tempers have never been master’d, For those whom laws, theories, conventions, can never master.
I swear I am for those who walk abreast with the whole earth !? Who inaugurate one, to inaugurate all.
I swear I will not be outfaced by irrational things !
I will penetrate what it is in them that is sarcastic upon me! 300
I will make cities and civilizations defer to me!
This is what I have learnt from America—it is the amount— and it I teach again.®
(Democracy! while weapons were everywhere aim’d at your breast,
I saw you serenely give birth to immortal children—saw in dreams your dilating form ;
Saw you with spreading mantle covering the world. )*
19 I will confront these shows of the day and night! I will know if I am to be less than they ! I will see if I am not as majestic as they ! I will see if I am not as subtle and real as they ! I will see if I am to be less generous than they ! 310
1 1856 reads ‘¢Not America, nor any part of America.’? 185660 add ‘‘ Not my body, not friendship, hospitality, procreation, Not my soul ; not the last explanation of prudence, Not the Cees that interlocks me with all identities that exist, or ever have existed, Not faith, sin, defiance, nor any disposition or duty of myself.’? ? 1856 reads ‘abreast with America and with the earth !”? 3 Line 302 added in 1860. * Lines 303-5 added in ‘* Songs Before Parting.’?
MARCHES NOW THE WAR IS OVER 307
I will see if I have no meaning, while the houses and ships have meaning !
I will see if the fishes and birds are to be enough for themselves, and I am not to be enough for myself.
20
‘I match my spirit against yours, you orbs, growths, mountains, brutes,
Copious as you are, I absorb you all in myself, and become the master myself.’
America isolated, yet embodying all, what is it finally except myself ? These. States—what are they except myself ”
I know now why the earth is gross, tantalizing, wicked—it is for my sake, I take you to be mine, you beautiful, terrible, rude forms.*
‘(Mother ! bend down, bend close to me your face!
I know not what these plots and wars, and deferments are for ; 320
I know not fruition’s success—but I know that through war and peace your work goes on, and must yet go on. )
21
. . . Thus, by blue Ontario’s shore, While ‘the winds fann’d me, and the waves came trooping toward me, I thrill’d with the Power’s pulsations—and the charm of my theme was upon me, Till the tissues that held me, parted their ties upon me.
1 Line 314 added in 1860, which adds ‘‘ The Many In One—what is it finally except myself? These States—what are they except myself?’ 2 Lines 315-16 added in ‘Songs Before Parting.” 3 1856 reads ‘*I will learn why the earth is gross, tantalizing, wicked, I take you to be mine, you beautiful, terrible, rude forms.’ Which ends the poem in that edition. 1860 reads ‘‘I have learned why the earth is gross, tantalizing, wicked—it is for my sake, I take you to be mine, you beautiful, terrible, rude forms.’ Which ends the poem in that edition. 4 Lines 319-32 added in ‘‘ Songs Before Parting.’’
308 LEAVES OF GRASS
And I saw the free Souls of poets ;
The loftiest bards of past ages strode before me,
Strange, large men, long unwaked, undisclosed, were disclosed to me.
22
O my rapt verse, my call—mock me not!
Not for the bards of the past—not to invoke them have I launch’d you forth, 330
Not to call even those lofty bards here by Ontario’s shores,
Have I sung so capricious and loud, my savage song.
Bards for my own land, only, I invoke ;’
(For the war, the war is over—the field is clear’d, )
Till they strike up marches henceforth triumphant and onward, To cheer, O mother, your boundless, expectant soul.”
Bards* grand as these days so grand!
Bards of the great Idea! Bards of the peaceful* inventions ! (for the war, the war-is over !)°
Yet Bards of the latent armies—a million soldiers waiting, ever- ready,
Bards towering like hills—(no more these dots, these pigmies, these little piping straws, these gnats, that fill the hour,
to pass for poets ; ) 340 Bards with songs as from burning coals, or the lightning’s fork’d stripes !
Ample Ohio’s bards—bards for California ! inland bards—bards of the war ;)®
(As a wheel turns on its axle, so I find my chants turning finally on the war ;)"
Bards of pride! Bards tallying the ocean’s roar, and the swoop- ing eagle’s scream !
You, by my charm, I invoke!
1 «« Songs Before Parting’ reads ‘‘ But, O strong soul of Poets, Bards for my own land, ere I go, I invoke.”’
Lines 334-36 added in 1870.
**Songs Before Parting’’ reads ‘‘ you bards.”’
*«Songs Before Parting.’’ For ‘peaceful’ reads ** wondrous.?? “¢(for the war, the war is over !)’” added in 1870,
“bards of the war’’ added in 1870.
Line 343 added in 1870.
w
aAAap &
MARCHES NOW THE WAR IS OVER 309
PIONEERS! O PIONEERS! First published in “‘ Drum-Taps,”’ 1865.
I
Come, my tan-faced children, Follow well in order, get your weapons ready ; Have you your pistols ? have you your sharp edged axes? Pioneers ! O pioneers !
2 For we cannot tarry here, We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger, We, the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend, Pioneers ! O pioneers !
3
O you youths, western youths, So impatient, full of action, full of manly pride and friend-
ship, 10 Plain I see you, western youths, see you tramping with the fore- most,
Pioneers ! O pioneers !
4 Have the elder races halted ? Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied, over there beyond
the seas ? We take up the task eternal, and the burden, and the lesson,
Pioneers! O pioneers !
5
All the past we leave behind ; We debouch upon a newer, mightier world, varied world ; Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march, Pioneers! O pioneers ! 20
6
We detachments steady throwing, Down the edges, through the passes, up the mountains steep,
310 LEAVES OF GRASS
Conquering, holding, daring, venturing, as we go, the unknown ways, Pioneers ! O pioneers !
7 We primeval forests felling, We the rivers stemming, vexing we, and piercing deep the mines within ; We the surface broad surveying, we the virgin soil upheaving, Pioneers ! O pioneers !
8 Colorado men are we, From the peaks gigantic, from the great sierras and the high
plateaus, 3° From the mine and from the gully, from the hunting trail we come,
Pioneers ! O pioneers !
9
From Nebraska, from Arkansas, Central inland race are we, from Missouri, with the continental blood intervein’d ; All the hands of comrades clasping, all the Southern, all the Northern, Pioneers! O pioneers!
Io
O resistless, restless race ! O beloved race in all! O my breast aches with tender love for all! O I mourn and yet exult—I am rapt with love for all, Pioneers ! O pioneers ! 40
It
Raise the mighty mother mistress, Waving high the delicate mistress, over all the starry mistress, (bend your heads all,) Raise the fang’d and warlike mistress, stern, impassive, weapon’d mistress, Pioneers ! O pioneers !
MARCHES NOW THE WAR IS OVER 311
12
See, my children, resolute children, By those swarms upon our rear, we must’never yield or falter, Ages back in ghostly millions, frowning there behind us urging, Pioneers ! O pioneers !
23 On and on, the compact ranks, With accessions ever waiting, with the places of the dead quickly
fill’d, 50 Through the battle, through defeat, moving yet and never stop- ping,
Pioneers ! O pioneers !
14 O to die advancing on ! Are there some of us to droop and die ? has the hour come? Then upon the march we fittest die, soon and sure the gap is fill’d, Pioneers ! O pioneers !
15 All the pulses of the world, Falling in, they beat for us, with the western movement beat ; Holding single or together, steady moving, to the front, all fort us, Pioneers ! O pioneers ! 60
16
Life’s involv’d and varied pageants, All the forms and shows, all the workmen at their work, All the seamen and the landsmen, all the masters with their slaves, Pioneers ! O pioneers !
17 All the hapless silent lovers, All the prisoners in the prisons, all the righteous and the wicked, All the joyous, all the sorrowing, all the living, all the dying, Pioneers ! O pioneers !
312 LEAVES OF GRASS
18 I too with my soul and body, We, a curious trio, picking, wandering on our way, age Through these shores, amid the shadows, with the apparitions
pressing, Pioneers ! O pioneers !
a0 Lo! the darting bowling orb ! Lo! the brother orbs around ! all the clustering suns and planets ; All the dazzling days, all the mystic nights with dreams, Pioneers! O pioneers !
20
These are of us, they are with us, All for primal needed work, while the followers there in embryo wait behind, We to-day’s procession heading, we the route for travel clearing, Pioneers! O pioneers ! 80
21
O you daughters of the west ! O you young and elder daughters! O you mothers and you wives ! Never must you be divided, in our ranks you move united, Pioneers ! O pioneers !
22
Minstrels latent on the prairies ! (Shrouded bards of other lands! you may sleep—you have done your work ;) Soon I hear you coming warbling, soon you rise and tramp amid us, Pioneers ! O pioneers !
28) Not for delectations sweet ; Not the cushion and the slipper, not the peaceful and the studi- ous ; go Not the riches safe and palling, not for us the tame enjoyment, Pioneers ! O pioneers !
MARCHES NOW THE WAR IS OVER a3
24 Do the feasters gluttonous feast ? Do the corpulent sleepers sleep? have they lock’d and bolted doors ? Still be ours the diet hard, and the blanket on the ground, Pioneers ! O pioneers !
25 Has the night descended ? Was the road of late so toilsome? did we stop discouraged, nod- ding on our way? Yet a passing hour I yield you, in your tracks to pause oblivious, Pioneers! O pioneers ! 100
26
Till with sound of trumpet, Far, far off the day-break call—hark ! how loud and clear I hear it wind ; Swift! to the head of the army !—swift! spring to your places, Pioneers ! O pioneers.
&*
TURN, O LIBERTAD. First published in ‘“‘ Drum-Taps,’’ 1865.
Turn, O Libertad, for the war is over,’
(From it and all henceforth expanding, doubting no more, reso- lute, sweeping the world, )’
Turn from lands retrospective, recording proofs of the past ;
From the singers that sing the trailing glories of the past ;
From the chants of the feudal world—the triumphs of kings, slavery, caste ;
Turn to the world, the triumphs reserv’d and to yar 8) up that backward world ;
Leave to the singers of hitherto—give them the trailing past ;
But what remains, remains for singers for you—wars to come are for you ;
(Lo! how the wars of the past have duly inured to you—and the wars of the present also inure : )
1 ‘Drum Taps”? reads ‘“‘ Turn, O Libertad, no more doubting,”’ 2 Line 2 added in 1870.
314 LEAVES OF GRASS
—Then turn, and be not alarm’d, O Libertad—turn your undy- ing face, 10
To where the future, greater than all the past,
Is swiftly, surely preparing for you.