 |
 |
|
|
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
| 7. |
| 8. |
| 9. |
| 10. |
| 11. |
| 12. |
| 13. |
| 14. |
| 15. |
| 16. |
| 17. |
| 18. |
| 19. |
| 20. |
| 21. |
| 22. |
| 23. |
| 24. |
| 25. |
| 26. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 | Leaves of grass. |  |
37
238 O Christ ! This is
mastering me!
Through the conquer'd doors they crowd. I am possess'd.
239 I embody all presences outlaw'd or suffering;
See myself in prison shaped like another man,
And feel the dull unintermitted pain.
240 For me the keepers of convicts shoulder their ear- bines and keep watch;
It is I let out in the morning, and barr'd at night.
241 Not a mutineer walks handcuff'd to jail, but I am handcuff'd to him and walk by his side;
(I am less the jolly one there, and more the silent one, with sweat on my twitching lips.)
242 Not a youngster is
taken for larceny, but I go up too,
and am tried
and sentenced.
243 Not a cholera patient lies at the last gasp, but I also lie at the last gasp;
My face is ash-color'd — my sinews gnarl — away from me people retreat.
244 Askers embody themselves in me, and I am embo- died in them;
I project my hat, sit shame-faced, and beg.
Through the conquer'd doors they crowd. I am possess'd.
239 I embody all presences outlaw'd or suffering;
See myself in prison shaped like another man,
And feel the dull unintermitted pain.
240 For me the keepers of convicts shoulder their ear- bines and keep watch;
It is I let out in the morning, and barr'd at night.
241 Not a mutineer walks handcuff'd to jail, but I am handcuff'd to him and walk by his side;
(I am less the jolly one there, and more the silent one, with sweat on my twitching lips.)
74
243 Not a cholera patient lies at the last gasp, but I also lie at the last gasp;
My face is ash-color'd — my sinews gnarl — away from me people retreat.
244 Askers embody themselves in me, and I am embo- died in them;
I project my hat, sit shame-faced, and beg.
| Leaves of grass. | |