Leaves of Grass | Page 5

at intervals,) How dear and
dreadful they are to the earth,
How they inure to themselves as much as to any--what a
paradox
appears their age,
How people respond to them, yet know them not,
How there is
something relentless in their fate all times,
How all times mischoose the objects of their
adulation and reward, And how the same inexorable price must still be paid for the same
great purchase.
} To the States
To the States or any one of them, or any city of the States, Resist
much, obey little,
Once unquestioning obedience, once fully enslaved,
Once fully
enslaved, no nation, state, city of this earth, ever
afterward resumes its liberty.
} On Journeys Through the States
On journeys through the States we start,
(Ay through the world, urged by these songs,


Sailing henceforth to every land, to every sea,)
We willing learners of all, teachers of
all, and lovers of all.
We have watch'd the seasons dispensing themselves and passing on, And have said, Why
should not a man or woman do as much as the
seasons, and effuse as much?
We dwell a while in every city and town,
We pass through Kanada, the North-east, the
vast valley of the
Mississippi, and the Southern States,
We confer on equal terms with each of the States,

We make trial of ourselves and invite men and women to hear, We say to ourselves,
Remember, fear not, be candid, promulge the
body and the soul,
Dwell a while and pass on, be copious, temperate, chaste, magnetic,
And what you effuse may then return as the seasons return,
And may be just as much as
the seasons.
} To a Certain Cantatrice
Here, take this gift,
I was reserving it for some hero, speaker, or general,
One who
should serve the good old cause, the great idea, the
progress and freedom of the race,
Some brave confronter of despots, some daring rebel;

But I see that what I was reserving belongs to you just as much as to any.
} Me Imperturbe
Me imperturbe, standing at ease in Nature,
Master of all or mistress of all, aplomb in
the midst of irrational things, Imbued as they, passive, receptive, silent as they,
Finding
my occupation, poverty, notoriety, foibles, crimes, less
important than I thought,
Me toward the Mexican sea, or in the Mannahatta or the
Tennessee,
or far north or inland,
A river man, or a man of the woods or of any farm-life of these
States or of the coast, or the lakes or Kanada,
Me wherever my life is lived, O to be
self-balanced for contingencies, To confront night, storms, hunger, ridicule, accidents,
rebuffs, as
the trees and animals do.
} Savantism
Thither as I look I see each result and glory retracing itself and

nestling close, always obligated,
Thither hours, months, years--thither trades, compacts,
establishments, even the most minute,
Thither every-day life, speech, utensils, politics,
persons, estates; Thither we also, I with my leaves and songs, trustful, admirant, As a
father to his father going takes his children along with him.
} The Ship Starting
Lo, the unbounded sea,
On its breast a ship starting, spreading all sails, carrying even
her moonsails.
The pennant is flying aloft as she speeds she speeds so stately--
below emulous waves press forward,
They surround the ship with shining curving
motions and foam.
} I Hear America Singing
I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing
his as it should be blithe and strong, 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 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 him or 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.
} What Place Is Besieged?
What place is besieged, and vainly tries to raise the siege? Lo, I send to that place a
commander, swift, brave, immortal, And with him horse and foot, and parks of artillery,

And artillery-men, the deadliest that ever fired gun.
} Still Though the One I Sing
Still though the one I sing,
(One, yet of contradictions made,) I dedicate to Nationality,
I leave in him revolt, (O latent right of insurrection! O
quenchless, indispensable fire!)

} Shut Not Your Doors
Shut not your doors to me proud libraries,
For that which was lacking on all your
well-fill'd shelves, yet
needed most, I bring,
Forth from the war emerging, a book I have made,
The words of