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The shape of the gambling-board with its devilish winnings and losings ;1

The shape of the step-ladder for the convicted and sentenced murderer, the murderer with haggard face and pinion'd arms,

The sheriff at hand with his deputies, the silent and white-lipp'd crowd, the dangling of the rope."

The shapes arise!

Shapes of doors giving many exits and entrances;

The door passing the dissever'd friend, flush'd and in haste; The door that admits good news and bad news;

The door whence the son left home, confident and puff'd up; The door he enter'd again from a long and scandalous absence, diseas'd, broken down, without innocence, without means.3

Her shape arises,

II

240

She, less guarded than ever, yet more guarded than ever;
The gross and soil'd she moves among do not make her gross

and soil'd;

She knows the thoughts as she passes-nothing is conceal'd from

her;

She is none the less considerate or friendly therefor;

She is the best belov'd-it is without exception-she has no reason to fear, and she does not fear;

Oaths, quarrels, hiccupp'd songs, smutty expressions, are idle to her as she passes;

She is silent-she is possess'd of herself-they do not offend

her;

She receives them as the laws of nature receive them-she is

strong,

She too is a law of nature-there is no law stronger than she is.*

1 1856 '60. After line 227 read "The shape of the slats of the bed of a corrupted body, the bed of the corruption of gluttony or alcoholic drinks.” 2 1856 '60 '67 read "the sickening dangling of the rope."

3 After line 239, 1856 '60 read "Their shapes arise, the shapes of full-sized men !

Men taciturn yet loving, used to the open air, and the manners of the open air,

Saying their ardor in native forms, saying the old response,

Take what I have then, (saying fain,) take the pay you approached for,
Take the white tears of my blood, if that is what you are after."
After line 249, 1856 '60 read "His shape arises,

12

The main shapes arise!

Shapes of Democracy, total-result of centuries;
Shapes, ever projecting other shapes ;1

Shapes of turbulent manly cities;

Shapes of the friends and home-givers of the whole earth,
Shapes bracing the earth, and braced with the whole earth.

Arrogant, masculine, naïve, rowdyish,

.Laugher, weeper, worker, idler, citizen, countryman,

250

Saunterer of woods, stander upon hills, summer swimmer in rivers or by the

sea,

Of pure American breed, of reckless health, his body perfect, free from taint from top to toe, free forever from headache and dyspepsia, cleanbreathed, Ample-limbed, a good feeder, weight a hundred and eighty pounds, fullblooded, six feet high, forty inches round the breast and back,

Countenance sun-burnt, bearded, calm, unrefined,

Reminder of animals, meeter of savage and gentleman on equal terms, Attitudes lithe and erect, costume free, neck gray and open, of slow move

ment on foot,

Passer of his right arm round the shoulders of his friends, companion of the street,

Persuader always of people to give him their sweetest touches, and never their meanest,

A Manhattanese bred, fond of Brooklyn, fond of Broadway, fond of the life of the wharves and the great ferries,

Enterer everywhere, welcomed everywhere, easily understood after all, Never offering others, always offering himself, corroborating his phrenology, Voluptuous, inhabitive, combative, conscientious, alimentive, intuitive, of copious friendship, sublimity, firmness, self-esteem, comparison, individuality, form, locality, eventuality,

Avowing by life, manners, works, to contribute illustrations of results of The States,

Teacher of the unquenchable creed, namely, egotism,

Inviter of others continually henceforth to try their strength against his.

The main shapes arise!*

Shapes of Democracy, final-result of centuries,

Shapes of those that do not joke with life, but are in earnest with life,

Shapes, ever projecting other shapes,

Shapes of a hundred Free States, begetting another hundred north and south, Shapes of turbulent manly cities,

Shapes of an untamed breed of young men, and natural persons,

Shapes of the women fit for These States,

Shapes of the composition of all the varieties of the earth,

Shapes of the friends and home-givers of the whole earth,

Shapes bracing the whole earth, and braced with the whole earth."

1 After line 252, 1867 reads " Shapes of a hundred Free States begetting

another hundred."

* 1856 reads "The shapes arise!

Shapes of America, shapes of centuries,"

SONG OF THE OPEN ROAD.

First published in 1856. In that edition and that of 1860 under title of "Poem of the Road."

I

AFOOT and light-hearted, I take to the open road,

Healthy, free, the world before me,

The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune-I myself1 am good fortune; Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing, Strong and content, I travel the open road.

The earth-that is sufficient;

I do not want the constellations any nearer ;

I know they are very well where they are;

I know they suffice for those who belong to them.

(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens;

ΙΟ

I carry them, men and women-I carry them with me wherever

I go;

I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them;

I am fill'd with them, and I will fill them in return.)

2

You road I enter upon and look around! I believe you are not all that is here;

I believe that much unseen is also here.

Here the profound lesson of reception, neither preference or

denial;

The black with his woolly head, the felon, the diseas'd, the illiterate person, are not denied ;

The birth, the hasting after the physician, the beggar's tramp, the drunkard's stagger, the laughing party of mechanics,

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The escaped youth, the rich person's carriage, the fop, the elop

ing couple,

20

The early market man, the hearse, the moving of furniture into the town, the return back from the town,

They pass I also pass-anything passes-none can be interdicted;

None but are accepted-none but are dear to me.

3

You air that serves me with breath to speak!

You objects that call from diffusion my meanings, and give them shape!

You light that wraps me and all things in delicate equable showers !1

You paths worn in the irregular hollows by the roadsides!

I think you are latent with unseen2 existences-you are so dear

to me.

You flagg'd walks of the cities! you strong curbs at the edges! You ferries! you planks and posts of wharves! you timber-lined sides! you distant ships!

30 You rows of houses! you window-pierc'd façades! you roofs ! You porches and entrances! you copings and iron guards! You windows whose transparent shells might expose so much! You doors and ascending steps! you arches !

You gray stones of interminable pavements! you trodden crossings!

From all that has been near you, I believe you have imparted to yourselves, and now would impart the same secretly to

me;

From the living and the dead I think you have peopled your impassive surfaces, and the spirits thereof would be evident and amicable with me.

4

The earth expanding right hand and left hand,

The picture alive, every part in its best light,

1 1856 '60'67. After line 26 read "You animals moving serenely over the earth!

You birds that wing yourselves through the air! you insects!

You sprouting growths from the farmers' fields! you stalks and weeds by the

fences!"

2 1856 '60 for " unseen read "curious,"

The music falling in where it is wanted, and stopping where it is not wanted,

40

The cheerful voice of the public road-the gay fresh sentiment of the road.

O highway I travel! O public road! do you say to me, Do not leave me?

Do you say, Venture not? If you leave me, you are lost? Do you say, I am already prepared-I am well-beaten and undenied-adhere to me?

O public road! I say back, I am not afraid to leave you-yet I love you;

You express me better than I can express myself;

You shall be more to me than my poem.

I think heroic deeds were all conceiv'd in the open air, and all great poems also ;

I think I could stop here myself, and do miracles;

(My judgments, thoughts, I henceforth try by the open air, the

road ;)1

50

I think whatever I shall meet on the road I shall like, and whoever beholds me shall like me;

I think whoever I see must be happy.

From this hour, freedom!

5

From this hour I ordain myself loos'd of limits and imaginary

lines,

Going where I list, my own master, total and absolute,

Listening to others, and considering well what they say,

Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,

Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.

I inhale great draughts of space;2

The east and the west are mine, and the north and the south are

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