The Walt Whitman Archive
Published Works
Books by Whitman
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [begin page 360] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Germs.
FORMS, qualities, lives, humanity, language, thoughts,
The ones known, and the ones unknown—the ones on
the stars,
the stars,
The stars themselves, some shaped, others unshaped,
Wonders as of those countries—the soil, trees, cities,
inhabitants, whatever they may be,
inhabitants, whatever they may be,
Splendid suns, the moons and rings, the countless com-
binations and effects;
binations and effects;
Such-like, and as good as such-like, visible here or any-
where, stand provided for in a handful of space,
which I extend my arm and half enclose with my
hand;
where, stand provided for in a handful of space,
which I extend my arm and half enclose with my
hand;
That contains the start of each and all—the virtue, the
germs of all.
germs of all.