 | Calamus Poems: Leaves of Grass |  |
25.
THE prairie-grass dividing—its own odor breathing,I demand of it the spiritual corresponding,
Demand the most copious and close companionship of men,
Demand the blades to rise of words, acts, beings,
Those of the open atmosphere, coarse, sunlit, fresh, nutritious,
Those that go their won gait, erect, stepping with freedom and command—leading, not following,
Those with a never-quell'd audacity—those with sweet and lusty flesh, clear of taint, choice and chary of its love-power,
Those that look carelessly in the faces of the Presidents and Governors, as to say, Who are you?
Those of earth-born passion, simple, never constrained, never obedient,
Those of inland America.
| Calamus Poems: Leaves of Grass | |