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CHANTS DEMOCRATIC.

2.

1   BROAD-AXE, shapely, naked, wan!

Head from the mother's bowels drawn!

Wooded flesh and metal bone! limb only one and          lip only one!

Gray-blue leaf by red-heat grown! helve produced          from a little seed sown!

Resting the grass amid and upon,

To be leaned, and to lean on.

2   Strong shapes, and attributes of strong shapes—          masculine trades, sights and sounds,

Long varied train of an emblem, dabs of music,

Fingers of the organist skipping staccato over the          keys of the great organ.

3   Welcome are all earth's lands, each for its kind,

Welcome are lands of pine and oak,

Welcome are lands of the lemon and fig,

Welcome are lands of gold,

Welcome are lands of wheat and maize—welcome          those of the grape,

Welcome are lands of sugar and rice,

Welcome the cotton-lands—welcome those of the          white potato and sweet potato,

Welcome are mountains, flats, sands, forests, prairies,

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Welcome the rich borders of rivers, table-lands,          openings,

Welcome the measureless grazing lands—welcome          the teeming soil of orchards, flax, honey, hemp,

Welcome just as much the other more hard-faced          lands,

Lands rich as lands of gold, or wheat and fruit lands,

Lands of mines, lands of the manly and rugged ores,

Lands of coal, copper, lead, tin, zinc,

LANDS OF IRON! lands of the make of the axe!

4   The log at the wood-pile, the axe supported by it,

The sylvan hut, the vine over the doorway, the space          cleared for a garden,

The irregular tapping of rain down on the leaves,          after the storm is lulled,

The wailing and moaning at intervals, the thought of          the sea,

The thought of ships struck in the storm, and put on          their beam-ends, and the cutting away of masts;

The sentiment of the huge timbers of old-fashioned          houses and barns;

The remembered print or narrative, the voyage at a          venture of men, families, goods,

The disembarkation, the founding of a new city,

The voyage of those who sought a New England and          found it—the outset anywhere,

The settlements of the Arkansas, Colorado, Ottawa,          Willamette,

The slow progress, the scant fare, the axe, rifle,          saddle-bags;

The beauty of all adventurous and daring persons,

The beauty of wood-boys and wood-men, with their          clear untrimmed faces,

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The beauty of independence, departure, actions that          rely on themselves,

The American contempt for statutes and ceremonies,          the boundless impatience of restraint,

The loose drift of character, the inkling through          random types, the solidification;

The butcher in the slaughter-house, the hands aboard          schooners and sloops, the raftsman, the pioneer,

Lumbermen in their winter camp, daybreak in the          woods, stripes of snow on the limbs of trees, the          occasional snapping,

The glad clear sound of one's own voice, the merry          song, the natural life of the woods, the strong          day's work,

The blazing fire at night, the sweet taste of supper,          the talk, the bed of hemlock boughs, and the          bear-skin;

The house-builder at work in cities or anywhere,

The preparatory jointing, squaring, sawing, mor-          tising,

The hoist-up of beams, the push of them in their          places, laying them regular,

Setting the studs by their tenons in the mortises,          according as they were prepared,

The blows of mallets and hammers, the attitudes of          the men, their curved limbs,

Bending, standing, astride the beams, driving in pins,          holding on by posts and braces,

The hooked arm over the plate, the other arm          wielding the axe,

The floor-men forcing the planks close, to be nailed,

Their postures bringing their weapons downward on          the bearers,

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The echoes resounding through the vacant building;

The huge store-house carried up in the city, well          under way,

The six framing-men, two in the middle and two at          each end, carefully bearing on their shoulders a          heavy stick for a cross-beam,

The crowded line of masons with trowels in their          right hands, rapidly laying the long side-wall,          two hundred feet from front to rear,

The flexible rise and fall of backs, the continual click          of the trowels striking the bricks,

The bricks, one after another, each laid so workman-          like in its place, and set with a knock of the          trowel-handle,

The piles of materials, the mortar on the mortar-          boards, and the steady replenishing by the hod-          men;

Spar-makers in the spar-yard, the swarming row of          well-grown apprentices,

The swing of their axes on the square-hewed log,          shaping it toward the shape of a mast,

The brisk short crackle of the steel driven slantingly          into the pine,

The butter-colored chips flying off in great flakes and          slivers,

The limber motion of brawny young arms and hips          in easy costumes;

The constructor of wharves, bridges, piers, bulk-heads,          floats, stays against the sea;

The city fireman—the fire that suddenly bursts forth          in the close-packed square,

The arriving engines, the hoarse shouts, the nimble          stepping and daring,

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The strong command through the fire-trumpets, the          falling in line, the rise and fall of the arms          forcing the water,

The slender, spasmic blue-white jets—the bringing          to bear of the hooks and ladders, and their          execution,

The crash and cut away of connecting wood-work, or          through floors, if the fire smoulders under them,

The crowd with their lit faces, watching—the glare          and dense shadows;

The forger at his forge-furnace, and the user of iron          after him,

The maker of the axe large and small, and the          welder and temperer,

The chooser breathing his breath on the cold steel,          and trying the edge with his thumb,

The one who clean-shapes the handle and sets it          firmly in the socket,

The shadowy processions of the portraits of the past          users also,

The primal patient mechanics, the architects and          engineers,

The far-off Assyrian edifice and Mizra edifice,

The Roman lictors preceding the consuls,

The antique European warrior with his axe in          combat,

The uplifted arm, the clatter, of blows on the          helmeted head,

The death-howl, the limpsey tumbling body, the rush          of friend and foe thither,

The siege of revolted lieges determined for liberty,

The summons to surrender, the battering at castle          gates, the truce and parley,

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The sack of an old city in its time,

The bursting in of mercenaries and bigots tumul-          tuously and disorderly,

Roar, flames, blood, drunkenness, madness,

Goods freely rifled from houses and temples, screams          of women in the gripe of brigands,

Craft and thievery of camp-followers, men running,          old persons despairing,

The hell of war, the cruelties of creeds,

The list of all executive deeds and words, just or          unjust,

The power of personality, just or unjust.

5   Muscle and pluck forever!

What invigorates life, invigorates death,

And the dead advance as much as the living advance,

And the future is no more uncertain than the present,

And the roughness of the earth and of man encloses          as much as the delicatesse of the earth and of          man,

And nothing endures but personal qualities.

6   What do you think endures?

Do you think the greatest city endures?

Or a teeming manufacturing state? or a prepared          constitution? or the best built steamships?

Or hotels of granite and iron? or any chef-d'œuvres          of engineering, forts, armaments?

7   Away! These are not to be cherished for themselves,

They fill their hour, the dancers dance, the musicians          play for them,

The show passes, all does well enough of course,

All does very well till one flash of defiance.

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8   The greatest city is that which has the greatest man          or woman,

If it be a few ragged huts, it is still the greatest city          in the whole world.

9   The place where the greatest city stands is not the          place of stretched wharves, docks, manufactures,          deposits of produce,

Nor the place of ceaseless salutes of new comers, or          the anchor-lifters of the departing,

Nor the place of the tallest and costliest buildings,          or shops selling goods from the rest of the earth,

Nor the place of the best libraries and schools—nor          the place where money is plentiest,

Nor the place of the most numerous population.

10   Where the city stands with the brawniest breed of          orators and bards,

Where the city stands that is beloved by these, and          loves them in return, and understands them,

Where these may be seen going every day in the          streets, with their arms familiar to the shoulders          of their friends,

Where no monuments exist to heroes, but in the          common words and deeds,

Where thrift is in its place, and prudence is in its          place,

Where behavior is the finest of the fine arts,

Where the men and women think lightly of the          laws,

Where the slave ceases, and the master of slaves          ceases,

Where the populace rise at once against the never-          ending audacity of elected persons,

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Where fierce men and women pour forth, as the sea          to the whistle of death pours its sweeping and          unript waves,

Where outside authority enters always after the          precedence of inside authority,

Where the citizen is always the head and ideal—and          President, Mayor, Governor, and what not, are          agents for pay,

Where children are taught from the jump that they          are to be laws to themselves, and to depend on          themselves,

Where equanimity is illustrated in affairs,

Where speculations on the Soul are encouraged,

Where women walk in public processions in the          streets, the same as the men,

Where they enter the public assembly and take          places the same as the men, and are appealed          to by the orators, the same as the men,

Where the city of the faithfulest friends stands,

Where the city of the cleanliness of the sexes stands,

Where the city of the healthiest fathers stands,

Where the city of the best-bodied mothers stands,

There the greatest city stands.

11   How beggarly appear poems, arguments, orations,          before an electric deed!

How the floridness of the materials of cities shrivels          before a man's or woman's look!

12   All waits, or goes by default, till a strong being          appears;

A strong being is the proof of the race, and of the          ability of the universe,

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When he or she appears, materials are overawed,

The dispute on the Soul stops,

The old customs and phrases are confronted, turned          back, or laid away.

13   What is your money-making now? What can it do          now?

What is your respectability now?

What are your theology, tuition, society, traditions,          statute-books now?

Where are your jibes of being now?

Where are your cavils about the Soul now?

14   Was that your best? Were those your vast and          solid?

Riches, opinions, politics, institutions, to part obe-          diently from the path of one man or woman!

The centuries, and all authority, to be trod under          the foot-soles of one man or woman!

15   —A sterile landscape covers the ore—there is as          good as the best, for all the forbidding appear-          ance,

There is the mine, there are the miners,

The forge-furnace is there, the melt is accomplished,          the hammers-men are at hand with their tongs          and hammers,

What always served and always serves, is at hand.

16   Than this nothing has better served—it has served          all,

Served the fluent-tongued and subtle-sensed Greek,          and long ere the Greek,

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Served in building the buildings that last longer          than any,

Served the Hebrew, the Persian, the most ancient          Hindostanee,

Served the mound-raiser on the Mississippi—served          those whose relics remain in Central America,

Served Albic temples in woods or on plains, with          unhewn pillars, and the druids, and the bloody          body laid in the hollow of the great stone,

Served the artificial clefts, vast, high, silent, on the          snow-covered hills of Scandinavia,

Served those who, time out of mind, made on the          granite walls rough sketches of the sun, moon,          stars, ships, ocean-waves,

Served the paths of the irruptions of the Goths—          served the pastoral tribes and nomads,

Served the incalculably distant Kelt—served the          hardy pirates of the Baltic,

Served before any of those, the venerable and harm-          less men of Ethiopia,

Served the making of helms for the galleys of          pleasure, and the making of those for war,

Served all great works on land, and all great works          on the sea,

For the medival ages, and before the mediæval          ages,

Served not the living only, then as now, but served          the dead.

17   I see the European headsman,

He stands masked, clothed in red, with huge legs,          and strong naked arms,

And leans on a ponderous axe.

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18   Whom have you slaughtered lately, European heads-          man?

Whose is that blood upon you, so wet and sticky?

19   I see the clear sunsets of the martyrs,

I see from the scaffolds the descending ghosts,

Ghosts of dead lords, uncrowned ladies, impeached          ministers, rejected kings,

Rivals, traitors, poisoners, disgraced chieftains, and          the rest.

20   I see those who in any land have died for the good          cause,

The seed is spare, nevertheless the crop shall never          run out,

(Mind you, O foreign kings, O priests, the crop shall          never run out.)

21   I see the blood washed entirely away from the axe,

Both blade and helve are clean,

They spirt no more the blood of European nobles—          they clasp no more the necks of queens.

22   I see the headsman withdraw and become useless,

I see the scaffold untrodden and mouldy—I see no          longer any axe upon it,

I see the mighty and friendly emblem of the power of          my own race, the newest largest race.

23   America! I do not vaunt my love for you,

I have what I have.

24   The axe leaps!

The solid forest gives fluid utterances,

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They tumble forth, they rise and form,

Hut, tent, landing, survey,

Flail, plough, pick, crowbar, spade,

Shingle, rail, prop, wainscot, jamb, lath, panel, gable,

Citadel, ceiling, saloon, academy, organ, exhibition-          house, library,

Cornice, trellis, pilaster, balcony, window, shutter,          turret, porch,

Hoe, rake, pitch-fork, pencil, wagon, staff, saw, jack-          plane, mallet, wedge, rounce,

Chair, tub, hoop, table, wicket, vane, sash, floor,

Work-box, chest, stringed instrument, boat, frame,          and what not,

Capitols of States, and capitol of the nation of States,

Long stately rows in avenues, hospitals for orphans or          for the poor or sick,

Manhattan steamboats and clippers, taking the meas-          ure of all seas.

25   The shapes arise!

Shapes of the using of axes anyhow, and the users,          and all that neighbors them,

Cutters down of wood, and haulers of it to the Pe-          nobscot, or Kennebec,

Dwellers in cabins among the Californian mountains,          or by the little lakes, or on the Columbia,

Dwellers south on the banks of the Gila or Rio          Grande—friendly gatherings, the characters and          fun,

Dwellers up north in Minnesota and by the Yellow-          stone river—dwellers on coasts and off coasts,

Seal-fishers, whalers, arctic seamen breaking passages          through the ice.

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26   The shapes arise!

Shapes of factories, arsenals, foundries, markets,

Shapes of the two-threaded tracks of railroads,

Shapes of the sleepers of bridges, vast frameworks,          girders, arches,

Shapes of the fleets of barges, tows, lake craft, river          craft.

27   The shapes arise!

Ship-yards and dry-docks along the Eastern and          Western Seas, and in many a bay and by-place,

The live-oak kelsons, the pine planks, the spars, the          hackmatack-roots for knees,

The ships themselves on their ways, the tiers of          scaffolds, the workmen busy outside and inside,

The tools lying around, the great auger and little          auger, the adze, bolt, line, square, gouge, and          bead-plane.

28   The shapes arise!

The shape measured, sawed, jacked, joined, stained,

The coffin-shape for the dead to lie within in his          shroud;

The shape got out in posts, in the bedstead posts, in          the posts of the bride's bed,

The shape of the little trough, the shape of the          rockers beneath, the shape of the babe's cradle,

The shape of the floor-planks, the floor-planks for          dancers' feet,

The shape of the planks of the family home, the          home of the friendly parents and children,

The shape of the roof of the home of the happy          young man and woman, the roof over the well-          married young man and woman,

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The roof over the supper joyously cooked by the          chaste wife, and joyously eaten by the chaste          husband, content after his day's work.

29   The shapes arise!

The shape of the prisoner's place in the court-room,          and of him or her seated in the place,

The shape of the pill-box, the disgraceful ointment-          box, the nauseous application, and him or her          applying it,

The shape of the liquor-bar leaned against by the          young rum-drinker and the old rum-drinker,

The shape of the shamed and angry stairs, trod by          sneaking footsteps,

The shape of the sly settee, and the adulterous          unwholesome couple,

The shape of the gambling-board with its devilish          winnings and losings,

The shape of the slats of the bed of a corrupted body,          the bed of the corruption of gluttony or alcoholic          drinks,

The shape of the step-ladder for the convicted and          sentenced murderer, the murderer with haggard          face and pinioned arms,

The sheriff at hand with his deputies, the silent and          white-lipped crowd, the sickening dangling of          the rope.

30   The shapes arise!

Shapes of doors giving so many exits and en-          trances,

The door passing the dissevered friend, flushed, and          in haste,

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The door that admits good news and bad news,

The door whence the son left home, confident and          puffed up,

The door he entered again from a long and scan-          dalous absence, diseased, broken down, without          innocence, without means.

31   Their shapes arise, above all the rest—the shapes of          full-sized men,

Men taciturn yet loving, used to the open air, and the          manners of the open air,

Saying their ardor in native forms, saying the old          response,

Take what I have then, (saying fain,) take the pay          you approached for,

Take the white tears of my blood, if that is what you          are after.

32   Her shape arises,

She, less guarded than ever, yet more guarded than          ever,

The gross and soiled she moves among do not make          her gross and soiled,

She knows the thoughts as she passes—nothing is          concealed from her,

She is none the less considerate or friendly therefore,

She is the best-beloved—it is without exception—          she has no reason to fear, and she does not fear,

Oaths, quarrels, hiccupped songs, proposals, smutty          expressions, are idle to her as she passes,

She is silent—she is possessed of herself—they do          not offend her,

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She receives them as the laws of nature receive them          —she is strong,

She too is a law of nature—there is no law stronger          than she is.

33   His shape arises,

Arrogant, masculine, näive, rowdyish,

Laugher, weeper, worker, idler, citizen, countryman,

Saunterer of woods, stander upon hills, summer          swimmer in rivers or by the sea,

Of pure American breed, of reckless health, his body          perfect, free from taint from top to toe, free          forever from headache and dyspepsia, clean-          breathed,

Ample-limbed, a good feeder, weight a hundred and          eighty pounds, full-blooded, six feet high, forty          inches round the breast and back,

Countenance sun-burnt, bearded, calm, unrefined,

Reminder of animals, meeter of savage and gentleman          on equal terms,

Attitudes lithe and erect, costume free, neck gray          and open, of slow movement on foot,

Passer of his right arm round the shoulders of his          friends, companion of the street,

Persuader always of people to give him their sweetest          touches, and never their meanest,

A Manhattanese bred, fond of Brooklyn, fond of          Broadway, fond of the life of the wharves and          the great ferries,

Enterer everywhere, welcomed everywhere, easily          understood after all,

Never offering others, always offering himself, corrob-          orating his phrenology,

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