They warmly welcome him-he is barefoot again, he forgets he is well off; The Dutchman voyages home, and the Scotchman and Welshman voyage home, and the native of the Mediterranean voyages home, To every port of England, France, Spain, enter well-fill'd ships, 17 The homeward bound, and the outward bound, 150 The beautiful lost swimmer, the ennuyé, the onanist, the female that loves unrequited, the money-maker, The actor and actress, those through with their parts, and those waiting to commence, The affectionate boy, the husband and wife, the voter, the nominee that is chosen, and the nominee that has fail'd, The great already known, and the great any time after to-day, The stammerer, the sick, the perfect-form'd, the homely, The criminal that stood in the box, the judge that sat and sentenced him, the fluent lawyers, the jury, the audience, The laugher and weeper, the dancer, the midnight widow, the red squaw, 159 The consumptive, the erysipelite, the idiot, he that is wrong'd, The antipodes, and every one between this and them in the dark, I swear they are averaged now-one is no better than the other, The night and sleep have liken'd them and restored them. I swear they are all beautiful; Every one that sleeps is beautiful-everything in the dim light is beautiful, The wildest and bloodiest is over, and all is peace. Peace is always beautiful, 18 The myth of heaven indicates peace and night. The myth of heaven indicates the Soul; The Soul is always beautiful-it appears more or it appears less -it comes, or it lags behind, 170 It comes from its embower'd garden, and looks pleasantly on itself, and encloses the world, Perfect and clean the genitals previously jetting, and perfect and clean the womb cohering, The head well-grown, proportion'd and plumb, and the bowels and joints proportion'd and plumb. The Soul is always beautiful, 19 The universe is duly in order, everything is in its place, What has arrived is in its place, and what waits is in its place; The twisted skull waits, the watery or rotten blood waits, The child of the glutton or venerealee waits long, and the child of the drunkard waits long, and the drunkard himself waits long, The sleepers that lived and died wait—the far advanced are to go on in their turns, and the far behind are to come' on in their turns, The diverse shall be no less diverse, but they shall flow and unite -they unite now. 20 The sleepers are very beautiful as they lie unclothed, 180 They flow hand in hand over the whole earth, from east to west, as they lie unclothed, The Asiatic and African are hand in hand-the European and American are hand in hand, Learn'd and unlearn'd are hand in hand, and male and female are hand in hand, The bare arm of the girl crosses the bare breast of her loverthey press close without lust-his lips press her neck, The father holds his grown or ungrown son in his arms with measureless love, and the son holds the father in his arms with measureless love, The white hair of the mother shines on the white wrist of the daughter, The breath of the boy goes with the breath of the man, friend is inarm'd by friend, The scholar kisses the teacher, and the teacher kisses the scholar -the wrong'd is made right, The call of the slave is one with the master's call, and the master salutes the slave, 1 1855'56 '60. For "come on" read "go on." 190 The felon steps forth from the prison-the insane becomes sane --the suffering of sick persons is reliev'd, The sweatings and fevers stop-the throat that was unsound is sound--the lungs of the consumptive are resumed-the poor distress'd head is free, The joints of the rheumatic move as smoothly as ever, and smoother than ever, Stiflings and passages open-the paralyzed become supple, The swell'd and convuls'd and congested awake to themselves in condition, They pass the invigoration of the night, and the chemistry of the night, and awake. I too pass from the night, 21 I stay a while away, O night, but I return to you again, and love you. Why should I be afraid to trust myself to you? I am not afraid-I have been well brought forward by you; 200 I love the rich running day, but I do not desert her in whom I lay so long, I know not how I came of you, and I know not where I go with you-but I know I came well, and shall go well. I will stop only a time with the night, and rise betimes; I will duly pass the day, O my mother, and duly return to you.1 CAROL OF WORDS. First published in 1856 under title of "Poem of The Sayers of the Words of The Earth." In editions of 1860 '67 under title of "To The Sayers of Words." I EARTH, round, rolling, compact-suns, moons, animals-all these are words to be said;2 Watery, vegetable, sauroid advances-beings, premonitions, lispings of the future, Behold! these are vast words to be said." 1 1855 adds "Not you will yield forth the dawn again more surely than you will yield forth me again, Not the womb yields the babe in its time more surely than I shall be yielded from you in my time." 2 "to be said" added in 1860. 3 1856 reads "These are vast words." Were you thinking that those were the words-those upright lines? those curves, angles, dots ? No, those are not the words—the substantial words are in the ground and sea, They are in the air-they are in you. Were you thinking that those were the words-those delicious sounds out of your friends' mouths? No, the real words are more delicious than they. Human bodies are words, myriads of words; In the best poems re-appears the body, man's or woman's, wellshaped, natural, gay, IC Every part able, active, receptive, without shame or the need of shame. 2 Air, soil, water, fire-these are words; I myself am a word with them-my qualities interpenetrate with theirs my name is nothing to them; Though it were told in the three thousand languages, what would air, soil, water, fire, know of my name? A healthy presence, a friendly or commanding gesture, are words, sayings, meanings; The charms that go with the mere looks of some men and women, are sayings and meanings also. 3 The workmanship of souls is by the inaudible words of the earth; The great masters' know the earth's words, and use them more than the audible words." Amelioration is one of the earth's words; 20 It has all attributes, growths, effects, latent in itself from the jump; It is not half beautiful only-defects and excrescences show just as much as perfections show. 1 1856 '60 read "The great masters, the sayers," etc. 2 After line 18, 1856 reads “ Syllables are not the earth's words, Beauty, reality, manhood, time, life,-the realities of such as these are the earth's words." The earth does not withhold, it is generous enough; The truths of the earth continually wait, they are not so con ceal'd either; They are calm, subtle, untransmissible by print; They are imbued through all things, conveying themselves will ingly, Conveying a sentiment and invitation of the earth--I utter and utter, I speak not, yet if you hear me not, of what avail am I to you? To bear to better-lacking these, of what avail am I? Accouche ! Accouchez ! 4 Will you rot your own fruit in yourself there? Will you squat and stifle there? The earth does not argue, Is not pathetic, has no arrangements, Does not scream, haste, persuade, threaten, promise, Closes nothing, refuses nothing, shuts none out, Of all the powers, objects, states, it notifies, shuts none out. 5 30 The earth does not exhibit itself, nor refuse to exhibit itselfpossesses still underneath; Underneath the ostensible sounds, the august chorus of heroes, the wail of slaves, 40 Persuasions of lovers, curses, gasps of the dying, laughter of young people, accents of bargainers, Underneath these, possessing the words that never fail. To her children, the words of the eloquent dumb great mother never fail ; The true words do not fail, for motion does not fail, and reflection does not fail; Also the day and night do not fail, and the voyage we pursue does not fail. Of the interminable sisters, 6 Of the ceaseless cotillions of sisters, Of the centripetal and centrifugal sisters, the elder and younger sisters, The beautiful sister we know dances on with the rest. |