University of Virginia Library

30   Will the whole come back then?
Can each see signs of the best by a look in the look-     ing-glass? is there nothing greater or more?
Does all sit there with you, with the mystic, unseen      Soul?
31  Strange and hard that paradox true I give;
Objects gross and the unseen Soul are one.
32  House-building, measuring, sawing the boards;
Blacksmithing, glass-blowing, nail-making, coopering,      tin-rooting, shingle-dressing,
Ship-joining, dock-biulding, fish-curing, ferrying, flag-     ging of side-walks by flaggers,
The pump, the pile-driver, the great derrick, the coal-     kiln and brick-kiln,
Coal-mines, and all that is down there, — the lamps in      the darkness, echoes, songs, what meditations,      what vast native thoughts looking through      smutch'd faces,
Iron-works, forge-fires in the mountains, or by the      river-banks — men around feeling the melt with      huge crowbars — lumps of ore, the due com-     bining of ore, limestone, coal — the blast-fur-     nace and the puddling-furnace, the loup-lump      at the bottom of the melt at last — the rolling-     mill, the stumpy bars of pig-iron, the strong,      clean-shaped T-rail for railroads;
Oil-works, silk-works, white-lead-works, the sugar-     house, steam-saws, the great mills and factories;
Stone-cutting, shapely trimmings, for façades, or win-     dow or door-lintels — the mallet, the tooth      chisel, the jib to protect the thumb,
Oakum, the oakum-chisel, the caulking-iron — the      kettle of boiling vault-cement, and the fire un-     der the kettle,
The cotton-bale, the stevedore's hook, the saw and      buck of the sawyer, the mould of the moulder,      the working-knife of the butcher, the ice-saw,      and all the work with ice,
The implemements for daguerreotyping — the tools of      the rigger, grappler, sail-maker, block-maker,
Goods of gutta-percha, papier-mache, colors, brushes,      brush-making, glazier's implements,
The veneer and glue-pot, the confectioner's ornaments,      the decanter and glasses, the shears and flat-iron,
The awl and knee-strap, the pint measure and quart      measure, the counter and stool, the writing-     pen of quill or metal — the making of all sorts      of edged tools,
The brewery, brewing, the malt, the vats, every thing      that is done by brewers, also by wine-makers,      also vinegar-makers,
Leather-dressing, coach-making, boiler-making, rope-     twisting, distilling, sign-painting, lime-burning,      cotton-picking — electro-plating, electrotyping,      stereotyping,
Stave-machines, planing-machines, reaping-machines,      ploughing-machines, thrashing-machines, steam      wagons,
The cart of the carman, the omnibus, the ponderous      dray;
Pyrotechny, letting off color'd fire-works at night,      fancy figures and jets,
Beef on the butcher's stall, the slaughter-house of      the butcher, the butcher in his killing-clothes,
The pens of live pork, the killing-hammer, the hog-     hook, the scalder's tub, gutting, the cutter's      cleaver, the packer's maul, and the plenteous      winter-work of pork-packing,
Flour-works, grinding of wheat, rye, maize, rice — the      barrels and the half and quarter barrels, the      loaded barges, the high piles on wharves and      levees,
The men, and the work of the men, on railroads,      coasters, fish-boats, canals;
The daily routine of your own or any man's life — the      shop, yard, store, or factory;
These shows all near you by day and night — work-     men! whoever you are, your daily life!
In that and them the heft of the heaviest — in them      far more than you estimated, and far less also;
In them realities for you and me — in them poems for      you and me;
In them, not yourself — you and your Soul enclose all      things, regardless of estimation;
In them the development good — in them, all themes      and hints.
33   I do not affirm what you see beyond is futile — I do      not advise you to stop;
I do not say leadings you thought great are not great;
But I say that none lead to greater, than those lead to.