Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. Leaves of Grass (1872)
Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library
|
Table of Contents for this work | | All on-line databases | Etext Center Homepage |
48
(337) I have said that the soul is not more than the body,
And I have said that the body is not more than the soul;
And nothing, not God, is greater to one than one's-
self is,
And whoever walks a furlong without sympathy, walks
to his own funeral, drest in his shroud,
And I or you, pocketless of a dime, may purchase the
pick of the earth,
And to glance with an eye, or show a bean in its pod,
confounds the learning of all times,
And there is no trade or employment but the young man
following it may become a hero,
And there is no object so soft but it makes a hub for the
wheel'd universe,
And I say to any man or woman, Let your soul stand
cool and composed before a million universes.
(338) And I say to mankind, Be not curious about God,
For I, who am curious about each, am not curious about
God;
(No array of terms can say how much I am at peace about
God, and about death.)
(339) I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand
God not in the least,
Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful
than myself.
(340) Why should I wish to see God better than this day?
I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four, and
each moment then;
In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my
own face in the glass;
I find letters from God dropt in the street -- and every
one is sign'd by God's name,
Page 93
And I leave them where they are, for I know that
wheresoe'er I go,
Others will punctually come forever and ever.