University of Virginia Library

1   I WANDER all night in my vision,
Stepping with light feet, swiftly and noiselessly step-     ping and stopping,
Bending with open eyes over the shut eyes of sleepers,
Wandering and confused, lost to myself, ill-assorted,      contradictory,
Pausing, gazing, bending, and stopping.
2  How solemn they look there, stretch'd and still!
How quiet they breathe, the little children in their      cradles!
3  The wretched features of ennuyés, the white fea-     tures of corpses, the livid faces of drunkards,      the sick-gray faces of onanists,
The gash'd bodies on battle-fields, the insane in their      strong-door'd rooms, the sacred idiots, the new-     born emerging from gates, and the dying emer-     ging from gates,
The night pervades them and infolds them.
4  The married couple sleep calmly in their bed — he      with his palm on the hip of the wife, and she      with her palm on the hip of the husband,
The sisters sleep lovingly side by side in their bed,
The men sleep lovingly side by side in theirs,
And the mother sleeps, with her little child carefully      wrap't.
5   The blind sleep, and the deaf and dumb sleep,
The prisoner sleeps well in the prison — the run-away      son sleeps;
The murderer that is to be hung next day — how does      he sleep?
And the murder'd person — how does he sleep?
6  The female that loves unrequited sleeps,
And the male that loves unrequited sleeps,
The head of the money-maker that plotted all day      sleeps,
And the enraged and treacherous dispositions — all,      all sleep.

7   I stand in the dark with drooping eyes by the      worst-suffering and the most restless,
I pass my hands soothingly to and fro a few inches      from them,
The restless sink in their beds — they fitfully sleep.
8  Now I pierce the darkness — new beings appear,
The earth recedes from me into the night,
I saw that it was beautiful, and I see that what is not      the earth is beautiful.
9  I go from beside to beside — I sleep close with      the other sleepers, each in turn,
I dream in my dream all the dreams of the other      dreamers,
And I become the other dreamers.

10   I am a dance — Play up, there! the fit is whirling      me fast!
11  I am the ever-laughing — it is new moon and twi-     light,
I see the hiding of douceurs — I see nimble ghosts      whichever way I look,
Cache, and cache again, deep in the ground and sea,      and where it is neither ground or sea.
12  Well do they do their jobs, those journeymen di-     vine,
Only from me can they hide nothing, and would not      if they could,
I reckon I am their boss, and they make me a pet      besides,
And surround me and lead me, and run ahead when      I walk,
To lift their cunning covers, to signify me with      stretch'd arms, and resume the way;
Onward we move! a gay gang of blackguards! with      mirth-shouting music, and wild-flapping pen-     nants of joy!
13  I am the actor, the actress, the voter, the politician;
The emigrant and the exile, the criminal that stood      in the box,
He who has been famous, and he who shall be famous      after to-day,
The stammerer, the well-form'd person, the wasted or      feeble person.
14  I am she who adorn'd herself and folded her hair      expectantly,
My truant lover has come, and it is dark.
15  Double yourself and receive me, darkness!
Receive me and my lover too — he will not let me go      without him.
16  I roll myself upon you, as upon a bed — I resign      myself to the dusk.
17  He whom I call answers me, and takes the place of      my lover,
He rises with me silently from the bed.
18   Darkness! you are gentler than my lover — his flesh      was sweaty and panting,
I feel the hot moisture yet that he left me.
19  My hands are spread forth, I pass them in all direc-     tions,
I would sound up the shadowy shore to which you are      journeying.
20  Be careful, darkness! already, what was it touch'd      me?
I thought my lover had gone, else darkness and he are      one,
I hear the heart-beat — I follow, I fade away.
21  O hot-cheek'd and blushing! O foolish hectic!
O for pity's sake, no one must see me now! my clothes      were stolen while I was abed,
Now I am thrust forth, where shall I run?
22  Pier that I saw dimly last night, when I look'd from      the windows!
Pier out from the main, let me catch myself with you,      and stay — I will not chafe you,
I feel ashamed to go naked about the world.
23  I am curious to know where my feet stand — and      what this is flooding me, childhood or manhood       — and the hunger that crosses the bridge      between.
24  The cloth laps a first sweet eating and drinking,
Laps lifecorn, milky      and just ripen'd;
The white teeth stay, and the boss-tooth advances in      darkness,
And liquor is spill'd on lips and bosoms by touching      glasses, and the best liquor afterward.

25   I descend my western course, my sinews are flaccid,
Perfume and youth course through me, and I am their      wake.
26  It is my face yellow and wrinkled, instead of the      old woman's,
I sit low in a straw-bottom chair, and carefully darn      my grandson's stockings.
27  It is I too, the sleepless widow, looking out on the      winter midnight,
I see the sparkles of starshine on the icy and pallid      earth.
28  A shroud I see, and I am the shroud — I wrap a body,      and lie in the coffin,
It is dark here under ground — it is not evil or pain      here — it is blank here, for reasons.
29  It seems to me that everything in the light and air      ought to be happy,
Whoever is not in his coffin and the dark grave, let      him know he has enough.

30   I see a beautiful gigantic swimmer, swimming naked      through the eddies of the sea,
His brown hair lies close and even to his head — he      strikes out with courageous arms — he urges      himself with his legs,
I see his white body — I see his undaunted eyes,
I hate the swift-running eddies that would dash him      head-foremost on the rocks.
31  What are you doing, you ruffianly red-trickled waves?
Will you kill the courageous giant? Will you kill him      in the prime of his middle age?
32   Steady and long he struggles,
He is baffled, bang'd, bruis'd — he holds out while his      strength holds out,
The slapping eddies are spotted with his blood — they      bear him away — they roll him, swing him, turn      him,
His beautiful body is borne in the circling eddies, it is      continually bruis'd on rocks,
Swiftly and out of sight is borne the brave corpse.

33   I turn, but do not extricate myself,
Confused, a past-reading, another, but with darkness      yet.
34  The beach is cut by the razory ice-wind — the wreck-     guns sound,
The tempest lulls — the moon comes floundering      through the drifts.
35  I look where the ship helplessly heads end on — I      hear the burst as she strikes — I hear the howls      of dismay — they grow fainter and fainter.
36  I cannot aid with my wringing fingers,
I can but rush to the surf, and let it drench me and      freeze upon me.
37  I search with the crowd — not one of the company is      wash'd to us alive;
In the morning I help pick up the dead and lay them      in rows in a barn.

38   Now of the old war-days, the defeat at Brooklyn,
Washington stands inside the lines — he stands on the      intrench'd hills, amid a crowd of officers,
His face is cold and damp — he cannot repress the      weeping drops,
He lifts the glass perpetually to his eyes — the color is      blanch'd from his cheeks,
He sees the slaughter of the southern braves confided      to him by their parents.
39  The same, at last and at last, when peace is declared,
He stands in the room of the old tavern — the well-     beloved soldiers all pass through,
The officers speechless and slow draw near in their      turns,
The chief encircles their necks with his arm, and      kisses them on the cheek,
He kisses lightly the wet cheeks one after another —      he shakes hands, and bids good-by to the army.

40   Now I tell what my mother told me to-day as we      sat at dinner together,
Of when she was a nearly grown girl, living home      with her parents on the old homestead.
41  A red squaw came one breakfast-time to the old      homestead,
On her back she carried a bundle of rushes for rush-     bottoming chairs,
Her hair, straight, shiny, coarse, black, profuse, half-     envelop'd her face,
Her step was free and elastic, and her voice sounded      exquisitely as she spoke.
42  My mother look'd in delight and amazement at the      stranger,
She look'd at the freshness of her tall-borne face, and      full and pliant limbs,
The more she look'd upon her, she loved her,
Never before had she seen such wonderful beauty and      purity,
She made her sit on a bench by the jamb of the fire-     place — she cook'd food for her,
She had no work to give her, but she gave her re-     membrance and fondness.
43  The red squaw staid all the forenoon, and toward      the middle of the afternoon she went away,
O my mother was loth to have her go away!
All the week she thought of her — she watch'd for her      many a month,
She remember'd her many a winter and many a      summer,
But the squaw never came, nor was heard of there      again.

44   Now Lucifer was not dead — or if he was, I am his      sorrowful terrible heir;
I have been wrong'd — I am oppress'd — I hate him      that oppresses me,
I will either destroy him, or he shall release me.
45  Damn him! how he does defile me!
How he informs against my brother and sister, and      takes pay for their blood!
How he laughs when I look down the bend, after the      steamboat that carries away my woman!
46  Now the vast dusk bulk that is the whale's bulk, it      seems mine;
Warily, sportsman! though I lie so sleepy and slug-     gish, the tap of my flukes is death.

47   A show of the summer softness! a contact of some-     thing unseen! an amour of the light and air!
I am jealous, and overwhelm'd with friendliness,
And will go gallivant with the light and air myself,
And have an unseen something to be in contact with      them also.
48  O love and summer! you are in the dreams, and in      me!
Autumn and winter are in the dreams — the farmer      goes with his thrift,
The droves and crops increase, and the barns are well-     fill'd.
49  Elements merge in the night — ships make tacks in      the dreams,
The sailor sails — the exile returns home,
The fugitive returns unharm'd — the immigrant is      back beyond months and years,
The poor Irishman lives in the simple house of his      childhood, with the well-known neighbors and      faces,
They warmly welcome him — he is barefoot again, he      forgets he is well off;
The Dutchman voyages home, and the Scotchman and      Welshman voyage home, and the native of the      Mediterranean voyages home,
To every port of England, France, Spain, enter well-     fill'd ships,
The Swiss foots it to toward his hills — the Prussian goes      his way, the Hungarian his way, and the Pole      his way,
The Swede returns, and the Dane and Norwegian re-     turn.

50   The homeward bound, and the outward bound,
The beautiful lost swimmer, the ennuyé, the onanist,      the female that loves unrequited, the money-     maker,
The actor and actress, those through with their parts      and those waiting to commence,
The affectionate boy, the husband and wife, the voter,      the nominee that is chosen, and the nominee      that has fail'd,
The great already known, and the great any time      after to-day,
The stammerer, the sick, the perfect-form'd, the      homely,
The criminal that stood in the box, the judge that      sat and sentenced him, the fluent lawyers, the      jury, the audience,
The laugher and weeper, the dancer, the midnight      widow, the red squaw,
The consumptive, the erysipelite, the idiot, he that is      wrong'd,
The antipodes, and every one between this and them      in the dark,
I swear they are averaged now — one is no better than      the other,
The night and sleep have liken'd them and restored      them.
51  I swear they are all beautiful;
Every one that sleeps is beautiful — everything in the      dim light is beautiful,
The wi1dest and bloodiest is over, and all is peace.
52  Peace is always beautiful,
The myth of heaven ;indicates peace and night.
53  The myth of heaven indicates the Soul;
The Soul is always beautiful — it appears more or it      appears less — it comes, or it lags behind,
It comes from its embower'd garden, and looks      pleasantly on itself, and encloses the world,
Perfect and clean the genitals previously jetting, and      perfect and clean the womb cohering,
The head well-grown, proportion'd and plumb, and      the bowels and joints proportion'd and plumb.
54  The Soul is always beautiful,
The universe is duly in order, everything is in its      place,
What has arrived is in its place, and what waits is in      its place;
The twisted skull waits, the watery or rotten blood      waits,
The child of the glutton or venerealee waits long, and      the child of the drunkard waits long, and the      drunkard himself waits long,
The sleepers that lived and died wait — the far ad-     vanced are to go on in their turns, and the far      behind are to come on in their turns,
The diverse shall be no less diverse, but they shall      flow and unite — they unite now.

55   The sleepers are very beautiful as they lie unclothed,
They flow hand in hand over the whole earth, from      east to west, as they lie unclothed,
The Asiatic and African are hand in hand — the Eu-     ropean and American are hand in hand,
Learn'd and unlearn'd are hand in hand, and male      and female are hand in hand,
The bare arm of the girl crosses the bare breast of      her lover — they press close without lust — his      lips press her neck,
The father holds his grown or ungrown son in his      arms with measureless love, and the son holds      the father in his arms with measureless love,
The white hair of the mother shines on the white      wrist of the daughter,
The breath of the boy goes with the breath of the      man, friend is inarm'd by friend,
The scholar kisses the teacher, and the teacher kisses      the scholar — the wrong'd is made right,
The call of the slave is one with the master's call, and      the master salutes the slave,
The felon steps forth from the prison — the insane      becomes sane — the suffering of sick persons is      reliev'd,
The sweatings and fevers stop — the throat that was      unsound is sound — the lungs of the consump-     tive are resumed — the poor distres't head is      free,
The joints of the rheumatic move as smoothly as ever,      and smoother than ever,
Stiflings and passages open — the paralyzed become      supple,
The swell'd and convuls'd and congested awake to      themselves in condition,
They pass the invigoration of the night, and the      chemistry of the night, and awake.

56   I too pass from the night,
I stay a while away, O night, but I return to you      again, and love you.
57  Why should I be afraid to trust myself to you?
I am not afraid — I have been well brought forward by      you;
I love the rich running day, but I do not desert her      in whom I lay so long.
I know not how I came of you, and I know not where      I go with you — but I know I came well, and      shall go well.
58  I will stop only a time with the night, and rise be-     times;
I will duly pass the day, O my mother, and duly      return to you.