The Walt Whitman Archive
Published Works
Books by Whitman
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RISE O DAYS FROM YOUR FATHOMLESS DEEPS.
1
RISE O days from your fathomless deeps, till you loftier, fiercer
sweep,
sweep,
Long for my soul hungering gymnastic I devour'd what the earth
gave me,
gave me,
Long I roam'd the woods of the north, long I watch'd Niagara
pouring,
pouring,
I travel'd the prairies over and slept on their breast, I cross'd the
Nevadas, I cross'd the plateaus,
Nevadas, I cross'd the plateaus,
I ascended the towering rocks along the Pacific, I sail'd out to
sea,
sea,
I sail'd through the storm, I was refresh'd by the storm,
I watch'd with joy the threatening maws of the waves,
I mark'd the white combs where they career'd so high, curling
over,
over,
I heard the wind piping, I saw the black clouds,
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Saw from below what arose and mounted, (O superb! O wild as
my heart, and powerful!)
my heart, and powerful!)
Heard the continuous thunder as it bellow'd after the lightning,
Noted the slender and jagged threads of lightning as sudden and
fast amid the din they chased each other across the sky;
fast amid the din they chased each other across the sky;
These, and such as these, I, elate, saw—saw with wonder, yet
pensive and masterful,
pensive and masterful,
All the menacing might of the globe uprisen around me,
Yet there with my soul I fed, I fed content, supercilious.
2
'Twas well, O soul—'twas a good preparation you gave me,
Now we advance our latent and ampler hunger to fill,
Now we go forth to receive what the earth and the sea never
gave us,
gave us,
Not through the mighty woods we go, but through the mightier
cities,
cities,
Something for us is pouring now more than Niagara pouring,
Torrents of men, (sources and rills of the Northwest are you
indeed inexhaustible?)
indeed inexhaustible?)
What, to pavements and homesteads here, what were those storms
of the mountains and sea?
of the mountains and sea?
What, to passions I witness around me to-day? was the sea risen?
Was the wind piping the pipe of death under the black clouds?
Lo! from deeps more unfathomable, something more deadly and
savage,
savage,
Manhattan rising, advancing with menacing front—Cincinnati,
Chicago, unchain'd;
Chicago, unchain'd;
What was that swell I saw on the ocean? behold what comes here,
How it climbs with daring feet and hands—how it dashes!
How the true thunder bellows after the lightning—how bright
the flashes of lightning!
the flashes of lightning!
How Democracy with desperate vengeful port strides on, shown
through the dark by those flashes of lightning!
through the dark by those flashes of lightning!
(Yet a mournful wail and low sob I fancied I heard through the
dark,
dark,
In a lull of the deafening confusion.)
3
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 immortal strong
nutriment,
nutriment,
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Long had I walk'd my cities, my country roads through farms,
only half satisfied,
only half satisfied,
One doubt nauseous undulating like a snake, crawl'd on the
ground before me,
ground before me,
Continually preceding my steps, turning upon me oft, ironically
hissing low;
hissing low;
The cities I loved so well I abandon'd and left, I sped to the
certainties suitable to me,
certainties suitable to me,
Hungering, hungering, hungering, for primal energies and Nature's
dauntlessness,
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;
I waited long;
But now I no longer wait, I am fully satisfied, I am glutted,
I have witness'd the true lightning, I have witness'd my cities
electric,
electric,
I have lived to behold man burst forth and warlike America rise,
Hence I will seek no more the food of the northern solitary wilds,
No more the mountains roam or sail the stormy sea.