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Leaves of Grass (1891-92)
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THOU ORB ALOFT FULL-DAZZLING.
THOU orb aloft full-dazzling! thou hot October noon! |
Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, |
The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, |
And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; |
O sun of noon refulgent! my special word to thee. |
Thy lover me, for always I have loved thee, |
Even as basking babe, then happy boy alone by some wood edge,
thy touching-distant beams enough,
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Or man matured, or young or old, as now to thee I launch my
invocation.
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(Thou canst not with thy dumbness me deceive, |
I know before the fitting man all Nature yields, |
Though answering not in words, the skies, trees, hear his voice—
and thou O sun,
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As for thy throes, thy perturbations, sudden breaks and shafts of
flame gigantic,
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I understand them, I know those flames, those perturbations well.) |
Thou that with fructifying heat and light, |
O'er myriad farms, o'er lands and waters North and South, |
O'er Mississippi's endless course, o'er Texas' grassy plains, Kana-
da's woods,
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O'er all the globe that turns its face to thee shining in space, |
Thou that impartially infoldest all, not only continents, seas, |
Thou that to grapes and weeds and little wild flowers givest so
liberally,
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Shed, shed thyself on mine and me, with but a fleeting ray out of
thy million millions,
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Strike through these chants. |
Nor only launch thy subtle dazzle and thy strength for these, |
Prepare the later afternoon of me myself—prepare my lengthen-
ing shadows,
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Prepare my starry nights. |
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