There  was  a  child  went  forth  every  day ;

And  the  first  object  he  looked  upon,  that  object  he  became ;

And  that  object  became  part  of  him  for  the  day,  or  a  certain

part  of  the  day,  or  for  many  years,  or  stretching  cycles

of  years.
The  early  lilacs  became  part  of  this  child,
And  grass,  and  white  and  red  "  morning-glories,''  and  white

and  red  clover,  and  the  song  of  the  phoebe-bird,
And  the  Third-month  lambs,  and  the  sow's  pink-faint  litter,

and  the  mare's  foal,  and  the  cow's  calf.
And  the  noisy  brood  of  the  barn-yard,  or  by  the  mire  of  the

pond-side.
And  the  fish  suspending  themselves  so  curiously  below  there

— and  the  beautiful  curious  liquid.
And  the   water-plants   with  their  graceful  flat  heads — all

became  part  of  him.
The  field-sprouts  of  Fourth-month  and  Fifth-month  became

part  of  him ;
Winter-grain  sprouts,  and  those  of  the  light-yellow  corn,  and

the  esculent  roots  of  the  garden.
And  the  apple-trees  covered  with  blossoms,  and  the  fruit

afterward,  and  wood-berries,  and  the  commonest  weeds

by  the  road ;
And  the  old  drunkard  staggering  home  from  the  outhouse  of

the  tavern,  whence  he  had  lately  risen,


IVALT   WHITMAN.  277

And  the  schoolmistress  that  passed  on  her  way    to    the

school,
And  the  friendly  boys  that  passed — and  the  quarrelsome

boys,
And  the  tidy  and  fresh-cheeked  girls — and  the   bare-foot

negro  boy  and  girl,
And  all  the  changes  of  city  and  country,  wherever  he  went.
His  own  parents,

He  that  had  fathered  him,  and  she  that  had  conceived  him

in  her  womb,  and  birthed  him,
They  gave  this  child  more  of  themselves  than  that ;
They  gave  him  afterward  every  day — they  became  part  of

him.
