Yet all were lacking if sex were lacking, or if the moisture of
the right man were lacking.
Sex contains all, bodies, souls,
Meanings, proofs, purities, delicacies1, results, promulgations,
Songs, commands, health, pride, the maternal2 mystery, the
百度竞价推广inal3 milk,
All hopes, benefactions, bestowals, all the passions, loves,
beauties, delights of the earth,
All the governments, judges, gods, follow'd persons of the
earth,
These are contain'd in sex as parts of itself and justifications4
of itself.
Without shame the man I like knows and avows5 the
deliciousness of his sex,
Without shame the woman I like knows and avows hers.
Now I will dismiss myself from impassive women,
I will go stay with her who waits for me, and with those
women that are warm-blooded sufficient for me,
I see that they understand me and do not deny me,
I see that they are worthy6 of me, I will be the robust7
husband of those women.
They are not one jot8 less than I am,
They are tann'd in the face by shining suns and blowing
winds,
Their flesh has the old pine suppleness9 and strength,
They know how to swim, row, ride, wrestle10, shoot, run,
strike, retreat, advance, resist, defend themselves,
They are ultimate in their own rightthey are calm, clear,
well-possess'd of themselves.
I draw you close to me, you women,
I cannot let you go, I would do you good,
I am for you, and you are for me, not only for our own
sake, but for others' sakes,
Envelop'd in you sleep greater heroes and bards11,
They refuse to awake at the touch of any man but me.
It is I, you women, I make my way,
I am stern, acrid12, large, undissuadable, but I love you,
I do not hurt you any more than is necessary for you,
I pour the stuff to start sons and daughters fit for these
States, I press with slow rude muscle,
I brace13 myself effectually, I listen to no entreaties14,
I dare not withdraw till I deposit what has so long
accumulated within me.
Through you I drain the pent-up rivers of myself,
In you I wrap a thousand onward15 years,
On you I graft16 the grafts17 of the best-beloved of me and
America,
The drops I distil18 upon you shall grow fierce and athletic19
girls, new artists, musicians, and singers,
The babes I beget20 upon you are to beget babes in their turn,
I shall demand perfect men and women out of my love-
spendings,
I shall expect them to interpenetrate with others, as I and
you interpenetrate now,
I shall count on the fruits of the gushing21 showers of them, as
I count on the fruits of the gushing showers I give now,
I shall look for loving crops from the birth, life, death,
immortality22, I plant so lovingly now.