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CHANTS DEMOCRATIC AND NATIVE AMERICAN.

Apostroph.

O mater! O fils!

O brood continental!

O flowers of the prairies!

O space boundless! O hum of mighty products!

O you teeming cities! O so invincible, turbulent,          proud!

O race of the future! O women!

O fathers! O you men of passion and the storm!

O native power only! O beauty!

O yourself! O God! O divine average!

O you bearded roughs! O bards! O all those slum-          berers!

O arouse! the dawn-bird's throat sounds shrill! Do          you not hear the cock crowing?

O, as I walk'd the beach, I heard the mournful notes          foreboding a tempest—the low, oft-repeated          shriek of the diver, the long-lived loon;

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O I heard, and yet hear, angry thunder;—O you          sailors! O ships! make quick preparation!

O from his masterful sweep, the warning cry of the          eagle!

(Give way there, all! It is useless! Give up your          spoils;)

O sarcasms! Propositions! (O if the whole world          should prove indeed a sham, a sell!)

O I believe there is nothing real but America and          freedom!

O to sternly reject all except Democracy!

O imperator! O who dare confront you and me?

O to promulgate our own! O to build for that which          builds for mankind!

O feuillage! O North! O the slope drained by the          Mexican sea!

O all, all inseparable—ages, ages, ages!

O a curse on him that would dissever this Union for          any reason whatever!

O climates, labors! O good and evil! O death!

O you strong with iron and wood! O Personality!

O the village or place which has the greatest man or          woman! even if it be only a few ragged huts;

O the city where women walk in public processions in          the streets, the same as the men;

O a wan and terrible emblem, by me adopted!

O shapes arising! shapes of the future centuries!

O muscle and pluck forever for me!

O workmen and workwomen forever for me!

O farmers and sailors! O drivers of horses forever          for me!

O I will make the new bardic list of trades and tools!

O you coarse and wilful! I love you!

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O South! O longings for my dear home! O soft and          sunny airs!

O pensive! O I must return where the palm grows          and the mocking-bird sings, or else I die!

O equality! O organic compacts! I am come to be          your born poet!

O whirl, contest, sounding and resounding! I am          your poet, because I am part of you;

O days by-gone! Enthusiasts! Antecedents!

O vast preparations for These States! O years!

O what is now being sent forward thousands of years          to come!

O mediums! O to teach! to convey the invisible faith!

To promulge real things! to journey through all The          States!

O creation! O to-day! O laws! O unmitigated          adoration!

O for mightier broods of orators, artists, and singers!

O for native songs! carpenter's, boatman's, plough-          man's songs! shoemaker's songs!

O haughtiest growth of time! O free and extatic!

O what I, here, preparing, warble for!

O you hastening light! O the sun of the world will          ascend, dazzling, and take his height—and you          too will ascend;

O so amazing and so broad! up there resplendent,          darting and burning;

O prophetic! O vision staggered with weight of light!          with pouring glories!

O copious! O hitherto unequalled!

O Libertad! O compact! O union impossible to          dissever!

O my Soul! O lips becoming tremulous, powerless!

O centuries, centuries yet ahead!

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O voices of greater orators! I pause—I listen for          you!

O you States! Cities! defiant of all outside authority!          I spring at once into your arms! you I most          love!

O you grand Presidentiads! I wait for you!

New history! New heroes! I project you!

Visions of poets! only you really last! O sweep on!          sweep on!

O Death! O you striding there! O I cannot yet!

O heights! O infinitely too swift and dizzy yet!

O purged lumine! you threaten me more than I can          stand!

O present! I return while yet I may to you!

O poets to come, I depend upon you!

1.

1   A NATION announcing itself, (many in one,)

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

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

2   A breed whose testimony is behavior,

What we are WE ARE—nativity is answer enough          to objections;

We wield ourselves as a weapon is wielded,

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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 only.

3   Have you thought there could be but a single          Supreme?

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

4   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.

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

6   Produce great persons, the rest follows.

7   How dare a sick man, or an obedient man, write          poems for These States?

Which is the theory or book that, for our purposes, is          not diseased?

8   Piety and conformity to them that like!

Peace, obesity, allegiance, to them that like!

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

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

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

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

10   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 not otherwise.

11   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 ruggedness of          states and men.

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

America brings builders, and brings its own styles.

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

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

14   America, curious toward foreign characters, stands by          its own at all hazards,

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Stands removed, spacious, composite, sound,

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

Does not repel them or the past, or what they have          produced under their forms, or amid other pol-          itics, 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 fittest for his days.

15   Any period, one nation must lead,

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

16   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 broad-          cast doings of the day and night,

Here is what moves in magnificent masses, carelessly          faithful of particulars,

Here are the roughs, beards, friendliness, combative-          ness, the Soul loves,

Here the flowing trains—here the crowds, equality,          diversity, the Soul loves.

17   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, Niagara, Hudson,          spending themselves lovingly in him,

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

Spanning between them east and west, and touching          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 hanging          from the boughs,

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

Through him flights, songs, screams, answering those          of the wild-pigeon, coot, fish-hawk, qua-bird,          mocking-bird, 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,

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, tem-          perature, the gestation of new States,

Congress convening every Twelfth Month, 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, friendships          —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,

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The picturesque looseness of their carriage, their          deathless attachment to freedom, their fierceness          when wronged,

The fluency of their speech, their delight in music,          their curiosity, good temper, and open-handed-          ness—the whole composite make,

The prevailing ardor and enterprise, the large am-          ativeness,

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-hemmed 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 plan-          tation life,

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

18   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,

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I lead the present with friendly hand toward the          future.

19   Bravas to States whose semitic impulses send whole-          some children to the next age!

But damn that which spends itself on flaunters and          dalliers, with no thought of the stain, pains,          dismay, feebleness, it is bequeathing.

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

21   To hold men together by paper and seal, or by com-          pulsion, is no account,

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

22   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 referee          so much as their poets shall.

23   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 propor-          tions, 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, encour-          aging 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.

24   Of the idea of perfect and free individuals, the idea          of These States, the bard walks in advance,          leader of leaders,

The attitude of him cheers up slaves, and horrifies          foreign despots.

25   Without extinction is Liberty! Without retrograde          is Equality!

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

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

26   Are YOU indeed for Liberty?

Are you a man who would assume a place to teach          here, or lead here, or be a poet here?

The place is august—the terms obdurate.

27   Who would assume to teach here, 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.

28   Who are you, indeed, who would talk or sing in          America?

Have you studied out MY LAND, its idioms and          men?

Have you learned the physiology, phrenology, poli-          tics, 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, signed by the Commissioners, ratified by          The States, and read by Washington at the head          of the army?

Have you possessed yourself of the Federal Constitu-          tion?

Do you acknowledge Liberty with audible and abso-          lute acknowledgment, and set slavery at nought          for life and death?

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

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

Have you sped through customs, laws, popularities?

Can you hold your hand against all seductions, follies,          whirls, fierce contentions? Are you very strong?          Are you of the whole people?

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

Are you done with reviews and criticisms of life? ani-          mating to life itself?

Have you vivified yourself from the maternity of          These States?

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

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?

29   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 not 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, poli-          ticians, 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?

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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? Democracy? the Soul? to-day?

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

Does it encompass all The States, and the unexcep-          tional rights of all the men and women of the          earth, the genital impulse of These States?

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

Does it see what befalls and has always befallen          each temporizer, patcher, outsider, partialist,          alarmist, infidel, who has ever asked anything          of America?

What mocking and scornful negligence?

The track strewed with the dust of skeletons?

By the roadside others disdainfully tossed?

30   Rhymes and rhymers pass away—poems distilled          from other poems pass away,

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

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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 impassive          enough,

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.

31   He masters whose spirit masters—he tastes sweetest          who results sweetest in the long run,

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,          shipcraft, any craft, he or she is greatest who          contributes the greatest original practical ex-          ample.

32   Already a nonchalant breed, silently emerging, fills          the houses and streets,

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

There will shortly be no more priests—I say 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;

How dare you place anything before a man?

33   Fall behind me, States!

A man, before all—myself, typical, before all.

34. 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 despised          riches,

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

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

I have gone freely with powerful uneducated persons,          and with the young, and with the mothers of          families,

I have read these leaves to myself in the open air—