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8—Poem of Many In One.

A NATION announcing itself,

I myself make the only growth by which I          can be appreciated,

I reject none, accept all, reproduce all in my own          forms.

A breed whose testimony is behaviour,

What we are, we are—nativity is answer enough          to objections;

We wield ourselves as a weapon is wielded,

We are powerful and tremendous in ourselves,

We are executive in ourselves—we are sufficient          in the variety of ourselves,

We are the most beautiful to ourselves and in our-          selves,

Nothing is sinful to us outside of ourselves,

Whatever appears, whatever does not appear, we          are beautiful or sinful in ourselves.

Have you thought there could be but a single          Supreme?

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There can be any number of Supremes—one          does not countervail another any more than          one eye-sight countervails another, or one life          countervails another.

All is eligible to all,

All is for individuals—all is for you,

No condition is prohibited, not God's or any,

If one is lost, you are inevitably lost.

All comes by the body—only health puts you          rapport with the universe.

Produce great persons, the rest follows.

How dare a sick man, or an obedient man, write          poems?

Which is the theory or book that is not diseased?

Piety and conformity to them that like!

Peace, obesity, allegiance, to them that like!

I am he who tauntingly compels men, women,          nations, to leap from their seats and contend          for their lives!

I am he who goes through the streets with a          barbed tongue, questioning every one I meet          —questioning you up there now,

Who are you, that wanted only to be told what          you knew before?

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Who are you, that wanted only a book to join you          in your nonsense?

Are you, or would you be, better than all that has          ever been before?

If you would be better than all that has ever been          before, come listen to me, and I will to you.

Fear grace! Fear delicatesse!

Fear the mellow sweet, the sucking of honey-          juice!

Beware the advancing mortal ripening of nature!

Beware what precedes the decay of the rugged-          ness of states and men!

Ages, precedents, poems, have long been accumu-          lating undirected materials,

America brings builders, and brings its own styles.

Mighty bards have done their work, and passed to          other spheres,

One work forever remains, the work of surpassing          all they have done.

America, curious toward foreign characters,          stands sternly by its own,

Stands removed, spacious, composite, sound,

Sees itself promulger of men and women, initiates          the true use of precedents,

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Does not repel them or the past, or what they          have produced under their forms, or amid          other politics, or amid the idea of castes, or          the old religions,

Takes the lesson with calmness, perceives the          corpse slowly borne from the eating and          sleeping rooms of the house,

Perceives that it waits a little while in the door,          that it was fittest for its days, that its life has          descended to the stalwart and well-shaped          heir who approaches, and that he shall be fit-          test for his days.

Any period, one nation must lead,

One land must be the promise and reliance of the          future.

These States are the amplest poem,

Here is not merely a nation, but a teeming nation          of nations,

Here the doings of men correspond with the          broadcast doings of the day and night,

Here is what moves in magnificent masses, care-          lessly faithful of particulars,

Here are the roughs, beards, friendliness, com-          bativeness, the soul loves,

Here the flowing trains, here the crowds, equality,          diversity, the soul loves.

Race of races, and bards to corroborate!

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Of them, standing among them, one lifts to the          light his west-bred face,

To him the hereditary countenance bequeathed,          both mother's and father's,

His first parts substances, earth, water, animals, trees,

Built of the common stock, having room for far          and near,

Used to dispense with other lands, incarnating this          land,

Attracting it body and soul to himself, hanging on          its neck with incomparable love,

Plunging his semitic muscle into its merits and          demerits,

Making its geography, cities, beginnings, events,          glories, defections, diversities, vocal in him,

Making its rivers, lakes, bays, embouchure in him,

Mississippi with yearly freshets and changing          chutes, Missouri, Columbia, Ohio, St. Law-          rence, Hudson, spending themselves lovingly          in him,

The blue breadth over the sea off Massachusetts          and Maine, or over the Virginia and Maryland          sea, or over inland Champlain, Ontario, Erie,          Huron, Michigan, Superior, or over the          Texan, Mexican, Cuban, Floridian seas, or          over the seas off California and Oregon, not          tallying the breadth of the waters below,          more than the breadth of above and below is          tallied in him,

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If the Atlantic coast stretch, or the Pacific coast          stretch, he stretching with them north or south,

Spanning between them east and west, and touch-          ing whatever is between them,

Growths growing from him to offset the growth of          pine, cedar, hemlock, live-oak, locust, chest-          nut, cypress, hickory, lime-tree, cotton-wood,          tulip-tree, cactus, tamarind, orange, magnolia,          persimmon,

Tangles as tangled in him as any cane-brake or          swamp,

He likening sides and peaks of mountains, forests          coated with transparent ice, and icicles hang-          ing from the boughs,

Off him pasturage sweet and natural as savannah,          upland, prairie,

Through him flights, songs, screams, answering          those of the wild-pigeon, high-hold, orchard-          oriole, coot, surf-duck, red-shouldered-hawk,          fish-hawk, white-ibis, indian-hen, cat-owl,          water-pheasant, qua-bird, pied-sheldrake,          mocking-bird, buzzard, condor, night-heron,          eagle;

His spirit surrounding his country's spirit, unclosed          to good and evil,

Surrounding the essences of real things, old times          and present times,

Surrounding just found shores, islands, tribes of          red aborigines,

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Weather-beaten vessels, landings, settlements, the          rapid stature and muscle,

The haughty defiance of the Year 1—war, peace,          the formation of the Constitution,

The separate States, the simple, elastic scheme,          the immigrants,

The Union, always swarming with blatherers, and          always calm and impregnable,

The unsurveyed interior, log-houses, clearings,          wild animals, hunters, trappers;

Surrounding the multiform agriculture, mines,          temperature, the gestation of new States,

Congress convening every December, the mem-          bers duly coming up from the uttermost          parts;

Surrounding the noble character of mechanics and          farmers, especially the young men,

Responding their manners, speech, dress, friend-          ships—the gait they have of persons who          never knew how it felt to stand in the          presence of superiors,

The freshness and candor of their physiognomy, the          copiousness and decision of their phrenology,

The picturesque looseness of their carriage, their          deathless attachment to freedom, their fierce-          ness when wronged,

The fluency of their speech, their delight in          music, their curiosity, good-temper, open-          handedness,

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The prevailing ardor and enterprise, the large          amativeness,

The perfect equality of the female with the male,          the fluid movement of the population,

The superior marine, free commerce, fisheries,          whaling, gold-digging,

Wharf-hemm'd cities, railroad and steamboat lines,          intersecting all points,

Factories, mercantile life, labor-saving machinery,          the north-east, north-west, south-west,

Manhattan firemen, the Yankee swap, southern          plantation life,

Slavery, the tremulous spreading of hands to          shelter it—the stern opposition to it, which          ceases only when it ceases.

For these, and the like, their own voices! For          these, space ahead!

Others take finish, but the republic is ever con-          structive, and ever keeps vista;

Others adorn the past—but you, O, days of the          present, I adorn you!

O days of the future, I believe in you!

O America, because you build for mankind, I build          for you!

O well-beloved stone-cutters! I lead them who          plan with decision and science,

I lead the present with friendly hand toward the          future.

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Bravas to states whose semitic impulses send          wholesome children to the next age!

But damn that which spends itself on flaunters and          dallyers, with no thought of the stains, pains,          dismay, feebleness, it is bequeathing!

By great bards only can series of peoples and          States be fused into the compact organism of          one nation.

To hold men together by paper and seal, or by          compulsion, is no account,

That only holds men together which is living          principles, as the hold of the limbs of the          body, or the fibres of plants.

Of all races and eras, These States, with veins full          of poetical stuff, most need poets, and are to          have the greatest, and use them the greatest,

Their Presidents shall not be their common ref-          eree so much as their poets shall.

Of mankind, the poet is the equable man,

Not in him, but off from him, things are grotesque,          eccentric, fail of their full returns,

Nothing out of its place is good, nothing in its          place is bad,

He bestows on every object or quality its fit pro-          portions, neither more nor less,

He is the arbiter of the diverse, he is the key,

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He is the equalizer of his age and land

He supplies what wants supplying—he checks          what wants checking,

In peace, out of him speaks the spirit of peace,          large, rich, thrifty, building populous towns,          encouraging agriculture, arts, commerce,          lighting the study of man, the soul, health,          immortality, government,

In war he is the best backer of the war—he          fetches artillery as good as the engineer's, he          can make every word he speaks draw blood;

The years straying toward infidelity he withholds          by his steady faith,

He is no arguer, he is judgment,

He judges not as the judge judges, but as the sun          falling round a helpless thing,

As he sees the farthest he has the most faith,

His thoughts are the hymns of the praise of things,

In the dispute on God and eternity he is silent,

He sees eternity less like a play with a prologue          and denouement,

He sees eternity in men and women—he does          not see men and women as dreams or dots.

An American literat fills his own place,

He justifies science—did you think the demon-          strable less divine than the mythical?

He stands by liberty according to the compact of          the first day of the first year of These States,

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He concentres in the real body and soul, and in          the pleasure of things,

He possesses the superiority of genuineness over          fiction and romance;

As he emits himself, facts are showered over with          light,

The day-light is lit with more volatile light—the          deep between the setting and rising sun goes          deeper many fold,

Each precise object, condition, combination, pro-          cess, exhibits a beauty—the multiplication-          table its, old age its, the carpenter's trade          its, the grand-opera its,

The huge-hulled clean-shaped Manhattan clipper          at sea, under steam or full sail, gleams with          unmatched beauty,

The national circles and large harmonies of gov-          ernment gleam with theirs,

The commonest definite intentions and actions          with theirs.

Of the idea of perfect individuals, the idea of          These States, their bards walk in advance,          leaders of leaders,

The attitudes of them cheer up slaves and horrify          despots.

Without extinction is liberty! Without retrograde          is equality!

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They live in the feelings of young men, and the          best women,

Not for nothing have the indomitable heads of the          earth been always ready to fall for liberty!

Language-using controls the rest;

Wonderful is language!

Wondrous the English language, language of live          men,

Language of ensemble, powerful language of re-          sistance,

Language of a proud and melancholy stock, and          of all who aspire,

Language of growth, faith, self-esteem, rudeness,          justice, friendliness, amplitude, prudence, de-          cision, exactitude, courage,

Language to well-nigh express the inexpressible,

Language for the modern, language for America.

Who would use language to America may well          prepare himself, body and mind,

He may well survey, ponder, arm, fortify, harden,          make lithe, himself,

He shall surely be questioned beforehand by me          with many and stern questions.

Who are you that would talk to America?

Have you studied out my land, its idioms and          men?

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Have you learned the physiology, phrenology,          politics, geography, pride, freedom, friendship,          of my land? its substratums and objects?

Have you considered the organic compact of the          first day of the first year of the independence          of The States?

Have you possessed yourself of the Federal Con-          stitution?

Do you acknowledge liberty with audible and          absolute acknowledgment, and set slavery at          naught for life and death?

Do you see who have left described processes and          poems behind them, and assumed new ones?

Are you faithful to things? Do you teach what-          ever the land and sea, the bodies of men,          womanhood, amativeness, angers, excesses,          crimes, teach?

Have you sped through customs, laws, popu-          larities?

Can you hold your hand against all seductions,          follies, whirls, fierce contentions?

Are you not of some coterie? some school or          religion?

Are you done with reviews and criticisms of life?          animating to life itself?

Have you possessed yourself with the spirit of the          maternity of These States?

Have you sucked the nipples of the breasts of the          mother of many children?

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Have you too the old, ever-fresh, forbearance and          impartiality?

Do you hold the like love for those hardening to          maturity? for the last-born? little and big?          and for the errant?

What is this you bring my America?

Is it uniform with my country?

Is it not something that has been better told or          done before?

Have you imported this, or the spirit of it, in some          ship?

Is it a mere tale? a rhyme? a prettiness?

Has it never dangled at the heels of the poets,          politicians, literats, of enemies' lands?

Does it not assume that what is notoriously gone          is still here?

Does it answer universal needs? Will it improve          manners?

Can your performance face the open fields and the          sea-side?

Will it absorb into me as I absorb food, air,          nobility, meanness—to appear again in my          strength, gait, face?

Have real employments contributed to it? original          makers, not amanuenses?

Does it meet modern discoveries, calibers, facts,          face to face?

Does it respect me? America? the soul? to-          day?

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What does it mean to me? to American persons, pro-          gresses, cities? Chicago, Canada, Arkansas?          the planter, Yankee, Georgian, native, immi-          grant, sailors, squatters, old States, new States?

Does it encompass all The States, and the          unexceptional rights of all men and women,          the genital impulse of The States?

Does it see behind the apparent custodians, the          real custodians, standing, menacing, silent,          the mechanics, Manhattanese, western men,          southerners, significant alike in their apathy          and in the promptness of their love?

Does it see what befals and has always befallen          each temporiser, patcher, outsider, partialist,          alarmist, infidel, who has ever asked any-          thing of America?

What mocking and scornful negligence?

The track strewed with the dust of skeletons?

By the road-side others disdainfully tossed?

Rhymes and rhymers pass away—poems dis-          tilled from other poems pass away,

The swarms of reflectors and the polite pass, and          leave ashes,

Admirers, importers, obedient persons, make the          soil of literature;

America justifies itself, give it time—no disguise          can deceive it or conceal from it—it is im-          passive enough,

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Only toward the likes of itself will it advance to          meet them,

If its poets appear, it will advance to meet them,          there is no fear of mistake,

The proof of a poet shall be sternly deferred till          his country absorbs him as affectionately as          he has absorbed it.

He masters whose spirit masters—he tastes          sweetest who results sweetest,

The blood of the brawn beloved of time is uncon-          straint,

In the need of poems, philosophy, politics,          manners, engineering, an appropriate native          grand-opera, ship-craft, any craft, he or she          is greatest who contributes the greatest          original practical example.

Already a nonchalant breed silently fills the          houses and streets,

People's lips salute only doers, lovers, satisfiers,          positive knowers;

There will shortly be no more priests—their          work is done,

Death is without emergencies here, but life is per-          petual emergencies here,

Are your body, days, manners, superb? after death          you shall be superb,

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Friendship, self-esteem, justice, health, clear the          way with irresistible power.

Give me the pay I have served for!

Give me to speak beautiful words! take all the          rest;

I have loved the earth, sun, animals—I have de-          spised riches,

I have given alms to every one that asked, stood          up for the stupid and crazy, devoted my in-          come and labor to others,

I have hated tyrants, argued not concerning God,          had patience and indulgence toward the peo-          ple, taken off my hat to nothing known or          unknown,

I have gone freely with powerful uneducated per-          sons, and with the young, and with the          mothers of families,

I have read these leaves to myself in the open air,          I have tried them by trees, stars, rivers,

I have dismissed whatever insulted my own soul          or defiled my body,

I have claimed nothing to myself which I have          not carefully claimed for others on the same          terms,

I have studied my land, its idioms and men,

I am willing to wait to be understood by the          growth of the taste of myself,

I reject none, I permit all,

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Whom I have staid with once I have found long-          ing for me ever afterwards.

I swear I begin to see the meaning of these          things!

It is not the earth, it is not America who is so          great,

It is I who am great, or to be great—it is you, or          any one,

It is to walk rapidly through civilizations, govern-          ments, theories, nature, poems, shows, to in-          dividuals.

Underneath all are individuals,

I swear nothing is good that ignores individuals!

The American compact is with individuals,

The only government is that which makes minute          of individuals.

Underneath all is nativity,

I swear I will stand by my own nativity—pious          or impious, so be it!

I swear I am charmed with nothing except          nativity!

Men, women, cities, nations, are only beautiful          from nativity.

Underneath all is the need of the expression of          love for men and women,

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I swear I have had enough of mean and impotent          modes of expressing love for men and          women,

After this day I take my own modes of express-          ing love for men and women.

I swear I will have each quality of my race in          myself,

Talk as you like, he only suits These States          whose manners favor the audacity and sub-          lime turbulence of These States.

Underneath the lessons of things, spirits, nature,          governments, ownerships, I swear I perceive          other lessons,

Underneath all to me is myself—to you, your-          self,

If all had not kernels for you and me, what were          it to you and me?

O I see now that this America is only you and          me,

Its power, weapons, testimony, are you and me,

Its roughs, beards, haughtiness, ruggedness, are          you and me,

Its ample geography, the sierras, the prairies,          Mississippi, Huron, Colorado, Boston, To-          ronto, Releigh, Nashville, Havana, are you          and me,

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Its settlements, wars, the organic compact, peace,          Washington, the Federal Constitution, are          you and me,

Its young men's manners, speech, dress, friend-          ships, are you and me,

Its crimes, lies, thefts, defections, slavery, are you          and me,

Its Congress is you and me, the officers, capitols,          armies, ships, are you and me,

Its endless gestations of new States are you and          me,

Its inventions, science, schools, are you and me,

Its deserts, forests, clearings, log-houses, hunters,          are you and me,

The perpetual arrivals of immigrants are you and          me,

Natural and artificial are you and me,

Freedom, language, poems, employments, are you          and me,

Failures, successes, births, deaths, are you and me,

Past, present, future, are only you and me.

I swear I dare not shirk any part of myself,

Not America, nor any part of America,