4 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 Mississippi, or St. Lawrence, or Sacramento, or Hudson, or Paumanok Sound,' claims him. 1 1855'56 '60. For "soldier" read "captain." 1855 '56. For "Paumanok Sound” read “Delaware." 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.1 THE INDICATIONS. First published in 1860. THE indications, and tally of time;' Perfect sanity shows the master among philosophs; 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 general light and dark; The maker of poems settles justice, reality, immortality, 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,3 ΙΟ (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 ostensible names, but the name of each of them is one of the singers, 1 1855 '56 '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 ?" the Answerer" added in 1870. * "Do" added in 1856. 2 Line I added in 1867. The name of each is, eye-singer, ear-singer, head-singer, sweetsinger, echo-singer, parlor-singer, love-singer, or something 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; The greatness of sons is the exuding of the greatness of mothers and fathers, The words of poems are the tuft and final applause of science. Divine instinct, breadth of vision, the law of reason, health, rudeness of body, withdrawnness, Gayety, sun-tan, air-sweetness-such are some of the words of poems. 20 The sailor and traveler underlie the maker of poems, the answerer ;3 The builder, geometer, chemist, anatomist, phrenologist, artist -all these underlie the maker of poems, the answerer.* The words of the true poems give you more than poems, They balance ranks, colors, races, creeds, and the sexes, Forever touching them, or close upon them, follows beauty, longing, fain, love-sick. They prepare for death-yet are they not the finish, but rather the outset, They bring none to his or her terminus, or to be content and full; Whom they take, they take into space, to behold the birth of stars, to learn one of the meanings, 30 To launch off with absolute faith-to sweep through the ceaseless rings, and never be quiet again. 1 "true" added in 1870. 2 Lines 15 and 16 added in 1870. POETS TO COME. First published in 1860. POETS to come! orators, singers, musicians to come!1 Arouse! Arouse-for you must justify me-you must answer.3 I myself but write one or two indicative words for the future, I but advance a moment, only to wheel and hurry back in the darkness. I am a man who, sauntering along, without fully stopping, turns a casual look upon you, and then averts his face, Leaving it to you to prove and define it, I HEAR AMERICA SINGING. First published in 1860 where line 1 reads "American Mouth-Songs." I HEAR America singing, the varied carols I hear; Those of mechanics-each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong; 1 "orators, singers, musicians to come!" added in 1870. 1860 '67 read "Not to-day is to justify me, and Democracy, and what we are for." 3 1860 '67. For line 4 read "You must justify me." After line 4, 1860 reads "Indeed, if it were not for you, what would I be? What is the little I have done, except to arouse you? I depend on being realized, long hence, where the broad fat prairies spread, and thence to Oregon and California inclusive, I expect that the Texan and the Arizonian, ages hence, will understand me, I expect that the future Carolinian and Georgian will understand me and love me, I expect that Kanadians, a hundred, and perhaps many hundred years from now, in winter, in the splendor of the snow and woods, or on the icy lakes, will take me with them, and permanently enjoy themselves with me. Of to-day I know I am momentary, untouched-I am the bard of the future, I but write one or two indicative words for the future," etc. ✦ "myself" added in 1870. The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam, The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work ; The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat-the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck; The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench-the hatter singing as he stands; The wood-cutter's song-the ploughboy's, on his way in the morning, or at the noon intermission, or at sundown ; The delicious singing of the mother-or of the young wife at work-or of the girl sewing or washing-Each singing what belongs to her, and to none else; The day what belongs to the day-At night, the party of young fellows, robust, friendly, Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs.' ΙΟ THE CITY DEAD-HOUSE. First published in 1867. By the City Dead-House, by the gate, As idly sauntering, wending my way from the clangor, I curious pause--for lo! an outcast form, a poor dead prostitute brought; Her corpse they deposit unclaim'd-it lies on the damp brick pavement; The divine woman, her body-I see the Body-I look on it alone, That house once full of passion and beauty—all else I notice not; Nor stillness so cold, nor running water from faucet, nor odors morbific impress me ; But the house alone-that wondrous house-that delicate fair house that ruin! That immortal house, more than all the rows of dwellings ever built! Or white-domed Capitol itself, with majestic figure surmounted -or all the old high-spired cathedrals; ΤΟ That little house alone, more than them all-poor, desperate house ! Fair, fearful wreck! tenement of a Soul! itself a Soul! Unclaim'd, avoided house! take one breath from my tremulous lips; Take one tear, dropt aside as I go, for thought of you, 1 1860 adds "Come! some of you! still be flooding The States with hundreds and thousands of mouth-songs fit for The States only. |