Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. Leaves of Grass (1872)
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46
(316) I know I have, the best of time and space, and was
never measured, and never will be measured.
(317) I tramp a perpetual journey -- (come listen all!)
My signs are a rain-proof coat, good shoes, and a staff
cut from the woods;
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No friend of mine takes his ease in my chair;
I have no chair, no church, no philosophy;
I lead no man to a dinner-table, library, or exchange;
But each man and each woman of you I lead upon a
knoll,
My left hand hooking you round the waist,
My right hand pointing to landscapes of continents,
and a plain public road.
(318) Not I -- not any one else, can travel that road for
you,
You must travel it for yourself.
(319) It is not far -- it is within reach;
Perhaps you have been on it since you were born, and
did not know;
Perhaps it is every where on water and on land.
(320) Shoulder your duds, dear son, and I will mine, and
let us hasten forth,
Wonderful cities and free nations we shall fetch as
we go.
(321) If you tire, give me both burdens, and rest the chuff
of your hand on my hip,
And in due time you shall repay the same service to
me;
For after we start, we never lie by again.
(322) This day before dawn I ascended a hill, and look'd at
the crowded heaven,
And I said to my Spirit, When we become the enfolders
of those orbs, and the pleasure and knowledge of
everything in them, shall we be fill'd and satisfied
then?
And my Spirit said, No, we but level that lift, to pass and
continue beyond.
(323) You are also asking me questions, and I hear you;
I answer that I cannot answer -- you must find out for
yourself.
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(324) Sit a while, dear son;
Here are biscuits to eat, and here is milk to drink;
But as soon as you sleep, and renew yourself in sweet
clothes, I kiss you with a good-bye kiss, and open
the gate for your egress hence.
(325) Long enough have you dream'd contemptible dreams;
Now I wash the gum from your eyes;
You must habit yourself to the dazzle of the light, and
of every moment of your life.
(326) Long have you timidly waded, holding a plank by
the shore;
Now I will you to be a bold swimmer,
To jump off in the midst of the sea, rise again, nod to
me, shout, and laughingly dash with your hair.