I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey work of the stars,And the pismire is equally perfect, and a grain of sand, and the egg of the wren,And the tree-toad is a chef-d’œuvre for the highest,And the running blackberry would adorn the parlors of heaven,And the narrowest hinge in my hand puts to scorn all machinery,And the cow crunching with depress’d head surpasses any statue,And a mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidels.
Author
Walt Whitman quotes & passages
7 passages by Walt Whitman, from Leaves of Grass. Walt Whitman died in 1892, so the words are in the public domain. Every passage is copied word for word from the Project Gutenberg text.
About Walt Whitman
American poet and essayist (1819–1892), whose Leaves of Grass he revised and expanded from its first edition in 1855 until his death.
Read their work on Project Gutenberg
O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;But O heart! heart! heart!O the bleeding drops of red,Where on the deck my Captain lies,Fallen cold and dead.
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,Healthy, free, the world before me,The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,Strong and content I travel the open road.
Do I contradict myself?Very well then I contradict myself,(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
I celebrate myself, and sing myself,And what I assume you shall assume,For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
Not I, not any one else can travel that road for you,You must travel it for yourself.
Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,Missing me one place search another,I stop somewhere waiting for you.
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