Section 49

Think of the past ; I warn you that in a little while others will find their past in you and your times.
The race is never separated—nor man nor woman escapes ; All is inextricable—things, spirits, Nature, nations, you too— from precedents you come.
Recall the ever-welcome defiers, (The mothers precede them ; ) se)
Recall the sages, poets, saviors, inventors, lawgivers, of the earth ;
484 LEAVES OF GRASS
Recall Christ, brother of rejected persons—brother of slaves, feions, idiots, and of insane and diseas’d persons.
Think of the time when you were not yet born ; Think of times you stood at the side of the dying ; Think of the time when your own body will be dying.
Think of spiritual results, Sure as the earth swims through the heavens, does every one of its objects pass into spiritual results.
Think of manhood, and you to be a man ; Do you count manhood, and the sweet of manhood, nothing ?
Think of womanhood, and you to be a woman ; 20
The creation is womanhood ;
Have I not said that womanhood involves all ?
Have I not told how the universe has nothing better than the best womanhood ?
&
RESPONDEZ!
First published in 1856 under title of ‘‘ Poem of the Proposition of Nakedness ;”’ in 1860 as No. 5, ‘‘ Chants Democratic ;”’ in 1867 ’70 under this title.
RESPONDEZ! Respondez !
(The war is completed—the price is paid—the title is settled beyond recall ; )*
Let every one answer! let those who sleep be waked! let none evade !?
Must we still go on with our affectations and sneaking ?°
Let me bring this to a close—I pronounce openly for a new dis- tribution of roles ;*
Let that which stood in front go behind! and let that which was behind advance to the front and speak ;
Let Eee: bigots, fools, unclean persons, offer new propo- sitions !
1 Line 2 added in 1870. ? 1856 ’60 add ‘not you any more than others,” ® Line 4 added in 1860, which reads ‘If it really be as is pretended how
much longer must we go on,” etc. 1867 reads ‘How much longer must we go on,’’ etc.
* Line 5 added in 1860,
GATHERED LEAVES 485
Let the old propositions be postponed !!
Let faces and theories be turn’d inside out! let meanings be freely criminal, as well as results !”
Let there be no suggestion above the suggestion of drudgery ! 10
Let none be pointed toward his destination! (Say! do you know your destination ?)
Let men and women’ be mock’d with bodies and mock’d with Souls !
Let the love that waits in them, wait! let it die, or pass still- born to other spheres !
Let the sympathy that waits in every man, wait! or let it also pass, a dwarf, to other spheres !
Let contradictions prevail ! let one thing contradict another ! and let one line of my poems contradict another !
Let the people sprawl with yearning, aimless hands! let their tongues be broken! let their eyes be discouraged! let none descend into their hearts with the fresh lusciousness
of love!
(Stifled, O days! O lands! in every public and private corrup- tion !*
Smother’d in thievery, impotence, shamelessness, mountain- high ;
Brazen effrontery, scheming, rolling like ocean’s waves around and upon you, O my days! my lands!
For not even those thunderstorms, nor fiercest lightnings of the’ war, have purified the atmosphere ; ) 20
—Let the theory of America still be management, caste, com- parison! (Say! what other theory would you?)
Let them that distrust birth and death still lead the rest !° (Say! why shall they not lead you?)
Let the crust of hell be neared and trod on! let the days be darker than the nights! let slumber bring less slumber than waking time brings !
Let the world never appear to him or her for whom it was all made !
Let the heart of the young man still exile itself from the heart of the old man! and let the heart of the old man be ex-
iled from that of the young man!
1 Lines 6, 7, 8, with lines 65 and 66, afterwards published under title of ** Reversals.”’ ; Bee
2 1856 adds ‘‘ (Say! can results be criminal, and meanings not criminal ?) ””
8 1856 6067 read “ Let trillions of men and women,” etc.
4 Lines 17-20 added in 1870. : a 5 Lines 22, 44 and 46 afterwards published under title of ‘* Transpositions.’’
486 LEAVES OF GRASS
Let the sun and moon go! let scenery take the applause of the audience! let there be apathy under the stars!
Let freedom prove no man’s inalienable right! every one who can tyrannize, let him tyrannize to his satisfaction !
Let none but infidels be countenanced !
Let the eminence of meanness, treachery, sarcasm, hate, greed, indecency, impotence, lust, be taken for granted above all! let writers, judges, governments, households, re- ligions, philosophies, take such for granted above all !
Let the worst men beget children out of the worst women! 30
Let the priest still play at immortality !
Let death be inaugurated !
Let nothing remain but the ashes of teachers,’ artists, moralists, lawyers, and learn’d and polite persons !
Let him who is without my poems be assassinated !
Let the cow, the horse, the camel, the garden-bee—let the mud- fish, the lobster, the mussel, eel, the sting-ray, and the grunting pig-fish—let these, and the like of these, be put on a perfect equality with man and woman !
Let churches accommodate serpents, vermin, and the corpses of those who have died of the most filthy of diseases !
Let marriage slip down among fools, and be for none but fools!
Let men among themselves talk and think forever obscenely of women ! and let women among themselves talk and think obscenely of men !?
Let us all, without missing one, be exposed in public, naked, monthly, at the peril of our lives! let our bodies be freely handled and examined by whoever chooses !
Let nothing but copies at second hand be permitted to exist upon the earth !° 40
Let the earth desert God, nor let there ever henceforth be men- tion’d the name of God!
Let there be no God !
Let there be money, business, imports, exports, custom, author- ity, precedents, pallor, dyspepsia, smut, ignorance, un- belief !
1 1856 ’60 read ‘¢ Let notHing remain upon the earth except teachers,’’ etc.
* After line 38, 1856 ’60’67 read ‘‘Let every man doubt every woman! And let every woman trick every man !’’
3 1856 reads be permitted,” etc. 1860 reads ‘Let nothing but copies, pictures, statues, reminiscences, elegant works be permitted,’’ etc,
GATHERED LEAVES 487
Let judges and criminals be transposed! let the prison-keepers be put in prison! let those that were prisoners take the keys! Say! why might they not just as well be trans- posed ?)?
Let the slaves be masters! let the masters become slaves!
Let the reformers descend from the stands where they are forever bawling! let an idiot or insane person appear on each of the stands !?
Let the Asiatic, the African, the European, the American, and the Australian, go armed against the murderous stealthi- ness of each other! let them sleep armed! let none be- lieve in good will!
Let there be no unfashionable® wisdom ! let such be scorn’d and derided off from the earth !
Let a floating cloud in the sky—let a wave of the sea*—let grow- ing mint, spinach, onions, tomatoes—let these be ex- hibited as shows, at a great price for admission !
Let all the men of These States stand aside for a few smouchers ! let the few seize on what they choose! let the rest gawk, giggle, starve, obey! 50
Let shadows be furnish’d with genitals! let substances be deprived of their genitals!
Let there be wealthy and immense cities—but still through any of them, not a single poet, savior, knower, lover!
Let the infidels of These States laugh all faith away !
If one man be found who has faith, let the rest set upon him!
Let them affright faith! let them destroy the power of breeding faith !
Let the she-harlots and the he-harlots be prudent! let them dance on, while seeming lasts! (O seeming! seeming ! seeming !)
Let the preachers recite creeds! let them still teach only what they have been taught !*
Let insanity still have charge of sanity !
Let books take the place of trees, animals, rivers, clouds !
1 See note at line 22.
2 See note at line 22. er
3 1856 for ‘‘unfashionable”’ reads ¢‘ living.”’
4 185660 add ‘‘—Let one glimpse of your eye-sight upon the landscape _ or grass—’”’ ;
5 ¢élet them teach only what they have been taught !’’ addedin 1860. 1856 60, after line 57 read ‘‘ Let the preacher of creeds never dare to go meditate upon the hills, alone, by day or by night ! (If one ever once dare, he is lost !)’”
488 LEAVES OF GRASS
Let the daub’d portraits of heroes supersede heroes ! 60
Let the manhood of man never take steps after itself!
Let it take steps after eunuchs, and after consumptive and gen- teel persons !
Let the white person again tread the black person under his heel! (Say! which is trodden under heel, after all ?)
Let the reflections of the things of the world be studied in mirrors! let the things themselves still continue un- studied !
Let a man seek pleasure everywhere except in himself !?
Let a woman seek happiness everywhere except in herself !?
(What® real happiness have you had one single hour through your whole life ?)
Let the limited years of life do nothing for the limitless years of death! (What* do you suppose death will do, then ?)
&
SOLID, IRONICAL, ROLLING ORB. First published in ‘‘ Drum-Taps,”’ 1865. So.iD, ironical, rolling orb ! Master of all, and matter of fact !—at last I accept your terms ; Bringing to practical, vulgar tests, of all my ideal dreams, And of me, as lover and hero.
&
BATHED IN WAR’S PERFUME. First published in ‘*‘ Drum-Taps,” 1865. BATHED in war’s perfume—delicate flag ! (Should the days needing armies, needing fleets, come again, ) O to hear you call the sailors and the soldiers ! flag like a beau- tiful woman ! O to hear the tramp, tramp, of a million answering men! O the ships they arm with joy! O to see you leap and beckon from the tall masts of ships! O to see you peering down on the sailors on the decks ! Flag like the eyes of women.
1 See note at line 8. 2 See note at line 8. ° 1856 ’60 read “‘ (Say! What’’) ete. * 1856 ’60 read ‘* (Say! What’’) etc.
GATHERED LEAVES 489
THOUGHT. First published in 1860, Or what I write from myself—As if that were not the resumé 5 Of Histories—As if such, however complete, were not less com- plete than the preceding poems ; As if those shreds, the records of nations, could possibly be as lasting as the preceding poems ; As if here were not the amount of all nations, and of all the lives of heroes,
&
LESSONS. Published in ‘‘ Passage to India.” THERE are who teach only the sweet lessons of peace and safety ; But I teach lessons of war and death to those I love, That they readily meet invasions, when they come.
5d
THIS DAY, O SOUL. First published in ‘‘ When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d,’’ 1865-6. Tuis day, O Soul, I give you a wondrous mirror ; Long in the dark, in tarnish and cloud it lay—But the cloud has pass’d, and the tarnish gone ; . .. Behold, O Soul! it is now a clean and bright mirror, Faithfully showing you all the things of the world.
&
TO THE READER AT PARTING. First published in 1867. Now, dearest comrade, lift me to your face, We must separate awhile—Here! take from my lips this kiss. Whoever you are, I give it especially to you ; So long /--And I hope we shall meet again.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF TITLES.
PAGE ABOARD, ataShip’sHelm , 2 ‘ ane 2 vert wate é . 411 ‘A Boston Ballad . F E 5 . : - : - A : x . 226 A Broadway Pageant S 5 4 a : a 6 G » 230 A Carol of Harvest, for 1867 . 5 é : , A . 415
A Child’s Amaze “ . : : ‘ : A : Adieu to Soldiers ; 6 p A = : C . . 7 s , a . 314
A Farm Picture. , 5 ‘ 5 2 A ‘ : : 0 nS After All, Not to Create Only . 5 : S 3 6 é 5 Se - 444 ‘Ages and Ages Baspening at Tatervals . % 6 5 - : 3 : . = dio A Glim se. s : ; A ‘i 3 : “ d ~ 134 A Hand Mirror. \ 5 : 3 5 ‘5 5 : . 3823 Ah Poverties, Wincings, and Sulky Retreats. " 5 z . 5 5 - 225 A Leaf for Hand in Hand ; 6 g ; ; : : * - 185 Allis Truth 0 u £ ' c ; * : - 288 A March in the Ranks Hard- Prest : é é Si : = 207 American Feuillage . 5 3 5 : S c 0 : A oe aa Among the Multitude. = 5 c : . 0 - 137 An Army Corps on the March 5 : 5 2 : : « 262 A Noiseless Patient Spider. 2 - : - = 5 ay tae : I s B99 Apostroph . 5 “ = > 5 S “ 6 : 6 - 465 A Promise to California . 6 . 0 6 : . 133 Are You the New Person ‘Drawn Toward Me? : 4 0 c ¢ 5 : s 127 As Adam Early inthe Morning . é c 6 é ° 3 é 5 oD As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free . c ~ : 5 c A ¢ . . 454 Ashes of Soldiers é 2 é a . 5 5 - roan BA é 4 - 861 Asif a Phantom Caress’d Me. A : dl 5 A + 399 A Sight in Camp in the Day Break Grey and Dim . c A 5 : 6 . 258 ATI Lay with My Head in Your Lap, Fe aise ob 3 ‘i : . : é - 180 As I Ponder’d in Silence. - 5 : : “ : . Sent AISat Alone by Blue Ontario’s Shore 290
AI Walk Solitary, Unattended. See“ As if Walk these Broad, Majestic Days”. 314 As I Walk these Broad, Majestic Days . Z As I Watch’d the Ploughman Ploughing
As Nearing Depaciure. Ese “AS te vine Bravi Nigh we : : E ‘ 334 A Song : : 0 ci : 123 Assurances.
‘As the Time Draws Nigh . As Toilsome I Wander’d Virginia’ $ Woods . A Woman Waits for Me .
SD Gee tiple Ome (x) ive) R
A Word Out of the Sea, See “ Out of the Cradle, » ete, 401 BATHED in War’s Perfume . : 7 c ° i 5 é 3 A : . 488 Beat! Beat! Drums! : c 6 ¢ 4 A z : ; Z a A . 244 Beautiful Women . : 3 A 5 : . 5 : ; e é elo Beginners . r ; 5 5 c c 4 F 5 6 : 6 . 32d Beginning My Studies . é A é A é 14 Behavior . : f F 5 é a 4 Fi és > “ 7 (ald Behold this Swarthy Face. : é A " ; : : b A . 1380 Bivouac on a Mountain Side . : : 2 é é : = 2538 Broad-Axe Poem. See ‘‘Song of the Broad- Axe we hee : f a : 3 spat liys Brother of All, with Generous Hand . x ; 3 0 6 : p : . 433 Bunch Poem. See ‘‘Spontaneous Me” Cea ats a ci : - 108 Burial, or Burial Poem. See ‘To Think of Time” . : . . 385 By Broad Potomac’sShore . 5 . A : 6 i . - 464 By the Bivouac’s Fitful Flame . é : é 5 5 5 3 é 5 . 254 CAmps of Green . : 4 5 é “! A S 5 C c S c A . 3864 Carol of Occupations f 5 5 . ; c 5 ‘ : & fs 6 4 ae
PAPO OLNVOLUSt TMT ce el ot!) ca’ No e's cel) wy Mee tots iis) age
A492 ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF TITLES
PAGE Cavalry Crossing a Ford . Pe eM woe See a fic MAAN > eG a 6 « S288 Chanting the Square pee a B A 6 . é . ° . Seek City of Orgies . 5 7 . 3 : 5 5 i o ' . ; = ee, City of Ships 2 7 ° : . : 4 247 Clef Poem. See “On the Beach at Night Alone” a A fs 7 . 413 Come Up from the Fields, Father . : . - . ° 5 S . 254 Crossing Brooklyn Ferry . ~ 3 5 3 ; 6 é . ° ° A « 280 DAREST Thou yea 2 Soul . 3 3 ; A - 5 , : s 305 Debris . 5 é . O ‘ 4 é . ° . 5 - 475 Delicate Cluster . F A : 5 - : C 5 : ° + 292 Despairing Cries : z . , : 5 5 ; : 4 . 47d Dirge for Two Veterans . ‘ 265 Do You Ask Dulcet nee teas from Me? See Toa Certain Civilian Leen : 365 Drum-Taps. : o . é 5 : 5 5 5 240 EARTH! My rani So La Paenensty wise SO oat Daan (reel gt 186 1861 a c S : : ; 5 k & . e . ‘ . 243 Elemental Drifts — . c f sae a: POLS 0 wore | retains - 407 Ethiopia Saluting the Colors 5 4 = y x ‘ . 279 Europe (The 72d and 73d Year et These States) | ‘ . . . ° + 329 Excelsior . . ; . oo . 3 3 5 . 3 - 430 FACES . 6 s . 282