EXCELSIOR

WHO has gone farthest? for I would go farther,
And who has been just? for I would be the most just
     person of the earth,
And who most cautious? for I would be more cautious,
And who has been happiest? O I think it is I — I
     think no one was ever happier than I,
And who has lavish'd all? for I lavish constantly the
     best I have,
And who proudest? for I think I have reason to be the
     proudest son alive — for I am the son of the
     brawny and tall-topt city,
And who has been bold and true? for I would be the
     boldest and truest being of the universe,
And who benevolent? for I would show more benevolence
     than all the rest,
And who has receiv'd the love of the most friends? for
     I know what it is to receive the passionate love
     of many friends,
And who possesses a perfect and enamour'd body? for I
     do not believe any one possesses a more perfect or
     enamour'd body than mine,
And who thinks the amplest thoughts? for I would
     surround those thoughts,
And who has made hymns fit for the earth? for I am mad
     with devouring ecstasy to make joyous hymns for the
     whole earth.

AH POVERTIES, WINCINGS, AND SULKY RETREATS

AH poverties, wincings, and sulky retreats,
Ah you foes that in conflict have overcome me,
(For what is my life or any man's life but a conflict
     with foes, the old, the incessant war?)
You degradations, you tussle with passions and
     appetites,
You smarts from dissatisfied friendships, (ah wounds
     the sharpest of all!)
You toil of painful and choked articulations, you
     meannesses,
You shallow tongue-talks at tables, (my tongue the
     shallowest of any;)
You broken resolutions, you racking angers, you
     smother'd ennuis!
Ah think not you finally triumph, my real self has
     yet to come forth,
It shall yet march forth o'ermastering, till all lies
     beneath me,
It shall yet stand up the soldier of ultimate victory.

1865-6 1881

THOUGHTS

OF public opinion,
Of a calm and cool fiat sooner or later, (how
     impassive! how certain and final!)
Of the President with pale face asking secretly to
     himself, What will the people say at last?
Of the frivolous Judge — of the corrupt
     Congressman, Governor, Mayor — of
     such as these standing helpless and exposed,
Of the mumbling and screaming priest, (soon, soon
     deserted,)
Of the lessening year by year of venerableness, and
     of the dicta of officers, statutes, pulpits, schools,
Of the rising forever taller and stronger and broader
     of the intuitions of men and women, and of Self-
    esteem and Personality;
Of the true New World — of the Democracies
     resplendent enmasse,
Of the conformity of politics, armies, navies, to them,

Of the shining sun by them — of the inherent
     light, greater than the rest,
Of the envelopment of all by them, and the effusion
     of all from them.

1860 1881

MEDIUMS

THEY shall arise in the States,
They shall report Nature, laws, physiology, and
     happiness,
They shall illustrate Democracy and the kosmos,
They shall be alimentive, amative, perceptive,
They shall be complete women and men, their pose
     brawny and supple, their drink water, their
     blood clean and clear,
They shall fully enjoy materialism and the sight of
     products, they shall enjoy the sight of the beef,
     lumber, breadstuffs, of Chicago the great city,
They shall train themselves to go in public to become
     orators and oratresses,
Strong and sweet shall their tongues be, poems and
     materials of poems shall come from their lives,
     they shall be makers and finders,
Of them and of their works shall emerge divine
     conveyers, to convey gospels,
Characters, events, retrospections, shall be convey'd
     in gospels, trees, animals, waters, shall be convey'd,
Death, the future, the invisible faith, shall all
     be convey'd.

1860 1871

WEAVE IN, MY HARDY LIFE

WEAVE in, weave in, my hardy life,
Weave yet a soldier strong and full for great campaigns
     to come,
Weave in red blood, weave sinews in like ropes, the
     senses, sight weave in,
Weave lasting sure, weave day and night the weft, the
     warp, incessant weave, tire not,
(We know not what the use O life, nor know the aim,