For not the envoys, nor the tann'd Japanee from his island' only; Lithe and silent, the Hindoo appears the Asiatic continent' itself appears--the Past, the dead, The murky night-morning of wonder and fable, inscrutable, The North-the sweltering South-eastern Assyria-the Hebrews -the Ancient of Ancients, Vast desolated cities-the gliding Present-all of these, and more, are in the pageant-procession. Geography, the world, is in it; 40 The Great Sea, the brood of islands, Polynesia, the coast beyond; The coast you, henceforth, are facing-you Libertad! from your Western golden shores The countries there, with their populations-the millions enmasse, are curiously here; The swarming market places-the temples, with idols ranged along the sides, or at the end-bonze, brahmin, and lama ; The mandarin, farmer, merchant, mechanic, and fisherman; The singing-girl and the dancing-girl-the ecstatic personthe secluded Emperors, Confucius himself—the great poets and heroes-the warriors, the castes, all, Trooping up, crowding from all directions-from the Altay mountains, From Thibet-from the four winding and far-flowing rivers of China, 50 From the Southern peninsulas, and the demi-continental islands -from Malaysia; These, and whatever belongs to them, palpable, show forth to me, and are seiz'd by me, And I am seiz'd by them, and friendlily held by them, Till, as here, them all I chant, Libertad! for themselves and for you. 1 "from his island" added in 1870. 1870 reads "the whole Asiatic continent," etc. "eastern" added in 1870. Drum Taps reads "the ecstatic person-the divine Buddha," etc. 5 For I too, raising my voice, join the ranks of this pageant; I chant the world on my Western Sea; I chant, copious, the islands beyond, thick as stars in the sky; I chant the new empire, grander than any before-As in a vision it comes to me; I chant America, the Mistress—I chant a greater supremacy; 60 I chant, projected, a thousand blooming cities yet, in time, on those groups of sea-islands; I chant my sail-ships and steam-ships threading the archipelagoes; I chant my stars and stripes fluttering in the wind; I chant commerce opening, the sleep of ages having done its work-races, reborn, refresh'd; Lives, works, resumed-The object I know not-but the old, the Asiatic, renew'd,' as it must be, Commencing from this day, surrounded by the world. 6 And you, Libertad of the world! You shall sit in the middle, well-pois'd, thousands of years; 7 The sign is reversing, the orb is enclosed, The ring is circled, the journey is done; 70 The box-lid is but perceptibly open'd-nevertheless the perfume pours copiously out of the whole box. Young Libertad! 8 With the venerable Asia, the all-mother, Be considerate with her, now and ever, hot Libertad-for you are all ; 1 Drum Taps. For "renew'd" reads "resumed." 2 Drum Taps. For "nobles" reads " 'princes." Bend your proud neck to the long-off mother, now sending messages over the archipelagoes to you; Bend your proud neck low for once, young Libertad. 9 Were the children straying westward so long? so wide the tramping? Were the precedent dim ages debouching westward from Paradise so long? 80 Were the centuries steadily footing it that way, all the while unknown, for you, for reasons? They are justified-they are accomplish'd-they shall now be turn'd the other way also, to travel toward you thence; They shall now also march obediently eastward, for your sake, Libertad. THOUGHT. First published in 1867. Of persons arrived at high positions, ceremonies, wealth, scholarships, and the like; To me, all that those persons have arrived at, sinks away from them, except as it results to their Bodies and Souls, So that often to me they appear gaunt and naked; And often, to me, each one mocks the others, and mocks himself or herself, And of each one, the core of life, namely happiness, is full of the rotten excrement of maggots, And often, to me, those men and women pass unwittingly the true realities of life, and go toward false realities, And often, to me, they are alive after what custom has served them, but nothing more, And often, to me, they are sad, hasty, unwaked sonnambules, walking the dusk. THERE WAS A CHILD WENT FORTH. First published in 1855. In edition of 1856 under title of "Poem of the Child That Went Forth, and Always Goes Forth, Forever and Forever. THERE was a child went forth every day; " And the first object he look'd upon,' that object he became ; 1 1855'56'60. After "look'd upon” read “and received with wonder, pity, love, or dread," etc. And that object became part of him for the day, or a certain part of the day, or for many years, or stretching cycles of years. The early lilacs became part of this child, And grass, and white and red morning-glories, and white and red clover, and the song of the phoebe-bird, And the Third-month1 lambs, and the sow's pink-faint litter, and the mare's foal, and the cow's calf, And the noisy brood of the barn-yard, or by the mire of the pond-side, And the fish suspending themselves so curiously below thereand the beautiful curious liquid, And the water-plants with their graceful flat heads-all became part of him. IO The field-sprouts of Fourth-month and Fifth-month became part of him ; Winter-grain sprouts, and those of the light-yellow corn, and the esculent roots of the garden, And the apple-trees cover'd with blossoms, and the fruit afterward, and wood-berries, and the commonest weeds by the road; And the old drunkard staggering home from the out-house of the tavern, whence he had lately risen, And the school-mistress that pass'd on her way to the school, And the friendly boys that pass'd-and the quarrelsome boys, And the tidy and fresh-cheek'd girls-and the barefoot negro boy and girl, And all the changes of city and country, wherever he went. His own parents, He that had father'd him, and she that had conceiv'd him in her womb, and birth'd him, They gave this child more of themselves than that; They gave him afterward every day-they became part of him." The mother at home, quietly placing the dishes on the suppertable; 1 1855'56. For "Third-month" read "March born." May." 3 1855 '56 '60 read "they and of them became part of him." April and The mother with mild words-clean her cap and gown, a wholesome odor falling off her person and clothes as she walks by; The father, strong, self-sufficient, manly, mean, anger'd, unjust ; The blow, the quick loud word, the tight bargain, the crafty lure, The family usages, the language, the company, the furniturethe yearning and swelling heart, Affection that will not be gainsay'd-the sense of what is real— the thought if, after all, it should prove unreal, The doubts of day-time and the doubts of night-time-the curious whether and how, Whether that which appears so is so, or is it all flashes and specks? Men and women crowding fast in the streets-if they are not flashes and specks, what are they? 30 The streets themselves, and the façades of houses, and goods in the windows, Vehicles, teams, the heavy-plank'd' wharves-the huge crossing at the ferries, The village on the highland, seen from afar at sunset-the river between, Shadows, aureola and mist, the light falling on roofs and gables of white or brown, three miles off, The schooner near by, sleepily dropping down the tide-the little boat slack-tow'd astern, The hurrying tumbling waves, quick-broken crests, slapping, The strata of color'd clouds, the long bar of maroon-tint, away solitary by itself—the spread of purity it lies motionless in, The horizon's edge, the flying sea-crow, the fragrance of salt marsh and shore mud; These became part of that child who went forth every day, and who now goes, and will always go forth every day.' LONGINGS FOR HOME. First published in 1860. O MAGNET-SOUTH! O glistening, perfumed South! My South! O quick mettle, rich blood, impulse, and love! Good and evil! O all dear to me! 1 1855 '56. For "heavy-plank'd" read "tiered." 21855 '56 add "And these become part of him or her peruses them now." 1860 reads "And these become part of him or her peruses them here." |