University of Virginia Library

Thunder on! stride on Democracy! strike with vengeful      stroke!
And do you rise higher than ever yet, O days, O cities!
Crash heavier, heavier yet, O storms! you have done      me good;
My soul, prepared in the mountains, absorbs your im-     mortal strong nutriment;
Long had I walk'd my cities, my country roads, through      farms, only half satisfied;
One doubt, nauseous, undulating like a snake, crawl'd      on the ground before me,
Continually preceding my steps, turning upon me oft      ironically hissing low;
— The cities I loved so well, I abandon'd and left — I      sped to the certainties suitable to me;
Hungering, hungering, hungering, for primal energies,      and Nature's dauntlessness,
I refresh'd myself with it only, I could relish it only;
I waited the bursting forth of the pent fire — on the      water and air I waited long;
— But now I no longer wait — I am fully satisfied — I      am glutted;
I have witness'd the true lighting — I have witness'd      my cities electric;
I have lived to behold man burst forth, and warlike      America rise;
Hence I will seek no more the food of the northern soli-     tary wilds,
No more on the mountains roam, or sail the stormy sea.