Of This Union, soak'd, welded in blood-of the solemn price paid-of the unnamed lost, ever present in my mind ;1 -Of the temporary use of materials, for identity's sake, Of the present, passing, departing-of the growth of completer men than any yet, 2 Of myself, soon, perhaps, closing up my songs by these shores, ΙΟ Of California, of Oregon-and of me journeying to live and sing there; Of the Western Sea-of the spread inland between it and the spinal river, Of the great pastoral area, athletic and feminine, Of all sloping down there where the fresh free giver, the mother, the Mississippi flows," Of future women' there-of happiness in those high plateaus, ranging three thousand miles, warm and cold; Of mighty inland cities yet unsurvey'd and unsuspected, (as I am also, and as it must be ;) Of the new and good names-of the modern developments-of inalienable homesteads; Of a free and original life there-of simple diet and clean and sweet blood; Of litheness, majestic faces, clear eyes, and perfect physique there; Of immense spiritual results, future years, far west, each side of the Anahuacs; 20 Of these leaves, well understood there, (being made for that area ;) Of the native scorn of grossness and gain there; (O it lurks in me night and day-What is gain, after all, to savageness and freedom?) SONG AT SUNSET. First published in 1860, SPLENDOR of ended day, floating and filling me! 1 Line 7 added in 1870. 2 1860 reads "Of departing-of the growth of a mightier race than any yet." 3 1860 adds "and westward still." 4 1860 reads "men and women.' 5 66 mighty inland" added in 1870. 6 1860. For "ended" reads " falling." Inflating my throat-you, divine average! You, Earth and Life, till the last ray gleams, I sing. Open mouth of my Soul, uttering gladness, Illustrious every one! Illustrious what we name space-sphere of unnumber'd spir its; ΙΟ Illustrious the mystery of motion, in all beings, even the tiniest insect; Illustrious the attribute of speech-the senses-the body ; Illustrious the passing light! Illustrious the pale reflection on the new moon in the western sky! Illustrious whatever I see, or hear, or touch, to the last. Good in all, In the satisfaction and aplomb of animals, In the annual return of the seasons, In the hilarity of youth, In the strength and flush of manhood, In the grandeur and exquisiteness of old age, Wonderful to depart; Wonderful to be here ! The heart, to jet the all-alike and innocent blood! To speak to walk! to seize something by the hand! 20 To prepare for sleep, for bed—to look on my rose-color'd flesh; To be conscious of my body, so satisfied,' so large; To be this incredible God I am; To have gone forth among other Gods-these men and women I love. Wonderful how I celebrate you and myself! How my thoughts play subtly at the spectacles around! How the clouds pass silently overhead ! 1 1860. For "satisfied" reads "amours." reads "happy." 30 "Songs Before Parting" How the earth darts on and on! and how the sun, moon, stars, dart on and on! How the water sports and sings! (Surely it is alive!) How the trees rise and stand up-with strong trunks-with branches and leaves ! (Surely there is something more in each of the trees-some living Soul.) O amazement of things! even the least particle! O spirituality of things! O strain musical, flowing through ages and continents-now reaching me and America! 40 I take your strong chords-I intersperse them, and cheerfully pass them forward. I too carol the sun, usher'd, or at noon, or, as now, setting, I too throb to the brain and beauty of the earth, and of all the growths of the earth, I too have felt the resistless call of myself. As I sail'd down the Mississippi, As I wander'd over the prairies, As I have lived-As I have look'd through my windows, my eyes, As I went forth in the morning-As I beheld the light breaking in the east ; As I bathed on the beach of the Eastern Sea, and again on the beach of the Western Sea; As I roam'd the streets of inland Chicago-whatever streets I 50 have roam'd; Or cities, or silent woods, or peace, or even amid the sights of war ;1 Wherever I have been, I have charged myself with contentment and triumph. I sing the Equalities, modern or old," I sing the endless finales of things; I say Nature continues-Glory continues; I praise with electric voice ; For I do not see one imperfection in the universe; And I do not see one cause or result lamentable at last in the O setting sun! though the time has come,1 I still warble under you, if none else does, unmitigated adoration. 60 WHEN I HEARD THE LEARN'D ASTRONOMER. First published in "Drum-Taps," 1865. WHEN I heard the learn'd astronomer; When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me; When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them; When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick; TO RICH GIVERS. First published in 1860. WHAT you give me, I cheerfully accept, A little sustenance, a hut and garden, a little money-these, as I rendezvous with my poems; A traveler's lodging and breakfast as I journey through The States -Why should I be ashamed to own such gifts? Why to advertise for them? For I myself am not one who bestows nothing upon man and woman; For I bestow upon any man or woman the entrance to all the gifts of the universe." SO LONG! First published in 1860. To conclude-I announce what comes after me;3 1 1860 reads "O when the time comes.'' 2 1860 reads "For I know that what I bestow upon any man or woman is no less than the entrance," etc. After line 1, 1860 reads "The thought must be promulged, that all I know at any time suffices for that time only-not subsequent time." I announce mightier' offspring, orators, days, and then, for the present, depart. 2 I remember I said, before my leaves sprang at all,3 I would raise my voice jocund and strong, with reference to consummations. When America does what was promis'd,* When there are plentiful athletic bards, inland and seaboard, When through These States walk a hundred millions of superb persons, When the rest part away for superb persons, and contribute to them,5 When breeds of the most perfect mothers denote America, I have press'd through in my own right, ΙΟ I have sung the Body and the Soul-War and Peace have I sung, And the songs of Life and of Birth-and shown that there are many births:6 I have offer'd my style to every one-I have journey'd with confident step; 1 1860 for "mightier" reads "greater." 2" for the present" added in 1870. 1860 reads "I remember I said to myself at the winter close, before my leaves sprang at all, that I would become a candid and unloosed summer-poet." 4 After line 5, 1860 reads: "When each part is peopled with free people, When there is no city on earth to lead my city, the city of young men, the Mannahatta city-But when the Mannahatta leads all the cities of the earth." 5 After line 8, 1860 reads: "When fathers, firm, unconstrained, open-eyed-When breeds of the most perfect mothers denote America, Then to me ripeness and conclusion. Yet not me, after all-let none be content with me, I myself seek a man better than I am, or a woman better than I am, I invite defiance, and to make myself superseded, All I have done, I would cheerfully give to be trod under foot, if it might only be the soil of superior poems. I have established nothing for good, I have but established these things, till things farther onward shall be prepare to be established, And I am myself the preparer of things farther onward." 6 Lines 12-13 added in 1870. |