Monday, December 01, 2008

QUOTES: "Miracles" from "Leaves of Grass"

WHAT shall I give? and which are my miracles?

Realism is mine—my miracles—Take freely,
Take without end—I offer them to you wherever your
feet can carry you, or your eyes reach.

Why! who makes much of a miracle?
As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the
sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach, just in the
edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love—or sleep in the
bed at night with any one I love,
Or sit at the table at dinner with my mother,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive, of a sum-
mer forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds—or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sun-down—or of stars
shining so quiet and bright,
Or the exquisite, delicate, thin curve of the new-moon
in spring;

To me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread
with the same,
Every cubic foot of the interior swarms with the same;
Every spear of grass—the frames, limbs, organs, of
men and women, and all that concerns them,
All these to me are unspeakably perfect miracles.

~ Walt Whitman, from Leaves of Grass, 1867 edition
[excerpted, read the poem in its entirety HERE]

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:00 AM

    Marvellous. I just bought the Lewis Hyde book The Gift which has a lot about whitman in it.

    just dashing in to give you this link

    http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/people/life-without-a-skivvie/2008/11/28/1227491826882.html from the sydney morning herald -its about a singer called Greg Page who had to stop performing as he developed an odd illness which made him dizzy

    mary

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  2. I'll see if I can find a copy of that book. Sounds interesting.

    About the article link, lots to be grateful for. Our bodies really are miracles. It's a miracle when they work as well as they do!

    :-), Kay

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  3. Kay wishing you a Merry Christmas !

    Can't quite believe that it is Christmas Eve already.

    ReplyDelete