University of Virginia Library

30 — Poem of The Propositions of Nakedness.

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317

Let the love that waits in them, wait! Let it die,      or pass still-born to other spheres!
Let the sympathy that waits in every man, wait!      or let it also pass, a dwarf, to other spheres!
Let contradictions prevail! Let one thing con-     tradict another! and let one line of my poem      contradict another!
Let the people sprawl with yearning aimless      hands! Let their tongues be broken! Let their      eyes be discouraged! Let none descend into      their hearts with the fresh lusciousness of      love!
Let the theory of America be management, caste,      comparison! (Say! what other theory would      you?)
Let them that distrust birth and death lead the      rest! (Say! why shall they not lead you?)
Let the crust of hell be neared and trod on! Let      the days be darker than the nights! Let      slumber bring less slumber than waking-time      brings!
Let the world never appear to him or her for      whom it was all made!
Let the heart of the young man exile itself from the      heart of the old man! and let the heart of the      old man be exiled from that of the young man!
Let the sun and moon go! Let scenery take the      applause of the audience! Let there be      apathy under the stars!

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318

Let freedom prove no man's inalienable right!      Every one who can tyrannize, let him tyran-     nize to his satisfaction!
Let none but infidels be countenanced!
Let the eminence of meanness, treachery,      sarcasm, hate, greed, indecency, impotence,      lust, be taken for granted above all! Let      poems, judges, governments, households,      religions, philosophies, take such for granted      above all!
Let the worst men beget children out of the worst      women!
Let priests still play at immortality!
Let death be inaugurated!
Let nothing remain upon the earth except      teachers, artists, moralists, lawyers, and      learned and polite persons!
Let him who is without my poems be assas-     sinated!
Let the cow, the horse, the camel, the garden-bee       — Let the mud-fish, the lobster, the mussel,      eel, the sting-ray and the grunting pig-     fish — Let these, and the like of these, be      put on a perfect equality with man and      woman!
Let churches accommodate serpents, vermin, and      the corpses of those who have died of the      most filthy of diseases!

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319

Let marriage slip down among fools, and be for      none but fools!
Let men among themselves talk obscenely of wo-     men! and let women among themselves talk      obscenely of men!
Let every man doubt every woman! and let every      woman trick every man!
Let us all, without missing one, be exposed in pub-     lic, naked, monthly, at the peril of our lives!      Let our bodies be freely handled and examined      by whoever chooses!
Let nothing but love-songs, pictures, statues, ele-     gant works, be permitted to exist upon the earth!
Let the earth desert God, nor let there ever hence-     forth be mentioned the name of God!
Let there be no God!
Let there be money, business, railroads, imports,      exports, custom, authority, precedents, pallor,      dyspepsia, smut, ignorance, unbelief!
Let judges and criminals be transposed! Let the      prison-keepers be put in prison! Let those      that were prisoners take the keys! (Say!      why might they not just as well be trans-     posed?)
Let the slaves be masters! Let the masters      become slaves!
Let the reformers descend from the stands where      they are forever bawling! Let an idiot or      insane person appear on each of the stands!

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320

Let the Asiatic, the African, the European, the      American and the Australian, go armed against      the murderous stealthiness of each other! Let      them sleep armed! Let none believe in good-     will!
Let there be no living wisdom! Let such be      scorned and derided off from the earth!
Let a floating cloud in the sky — Let a wave of      the sea — Let one glimpse of your eye-sight      upon the landscape or grass — Let growing      mint, spinach, onions, tomatoes — Let these      be exhibited as shows at a great price for      admission!
Let all the men of These States stand aside for a      few smouchers! Let the few seize on what      they choose! Let the rest gawk, giggle      starve, obey!
Let shadows be furnished with genitals! Let      substances be deprived of their genitals!
Let there be immense cities — but through any of      them, not a single poet, saviour, knower, lover!
Let the infidels of These States laugh all faith      away! If one man be found who has faith,      let the rest set upon him! Let them affright      faith! Let them destroy the power of breed-     ing faith!
Let the she-hariots and the he-harlots be prudent!      Let them dance on, while seeming lasts! (O      seeming! seeming! seeming!)

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321

Let the preachers recite creeds! Let the preach-     ers of creeds never dare to go meditate upon      the hills, alone, by day or by night! (If one      ever once dare, he is lost!)
Let insanity have charge of sanity!
Let books take the place of trees, animals, rivers,      clouds!
Let the portraits of heroes supersede heroes!
Let the manhood of man never take steps after      itself! Let it take steps after eunuchs, and      after consumptive and genteel persons!
Let the white person tread the black person under      his heel! (Say! which is trodden under      heel, after all?)
Let the reflections of the things of the world be      studied in mirrors! Let the things them-     selves continue unstudied!
Let a man seek pleasure everywhere except in      himself! Let a woman seek happiness      everywhere except in herself! (Say! what      real happiness have you had one single time      through your whole life?)
Let the limited years of life do nothing for the      limitless years of death! (Say! what do      you suppose death will do, then?)

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