Humans have been hunters,
gatherers,
farmers,
machines,
thinkers,
and creators,
And have no idea what we'll next be.
I think that people will next be
-- simply --
Human Beings,
Full-time Human Beings --
More Human,
More Being...
And many will fail spectacularly.
Pity would be no more
If we did not make somebody Poor;
And Mercy no more could be
If all were happy as we.
And mutual fear brings peace,
Till the selfish loves increase;
Then Cruelty knits a snare,
And spreads his baits with care.
He sits down with holy fears,
And waters the ground with tears;
Then Humility takes its root
Underneath his foot.
Soon spreads the dismal shade
Of Mystery over his head;
And the Catterpiller and Fly
Feed on the Mystery.
And it bears the fruit of Deceit,
Ruddy and sweet to eat;
And the Raven his nest has made
In its thickest shade.
The Gods of the earth and sea
Sought thro' Nature to find this Tree;
But their search was all in vain:
There grows one in the Human Brain.
The efflux of the soul is happiness, here is
happiness,
I think it pervades the open air, waiting at
all times,
Now it flows unto us, we are rightly
charged.
Here rises the fluid and attaching character,
The fluid and attaching character is the
freshness and sweetness of man and
woman,
(The herbs of the morning sprout no fresher
and sweeter every day out of the roots of
themselves, than it sprouts fresh and
sweet continually out of itself.)
Toward the fluid and attaching character
exudes the sweat of the love of young and
old,
From it falls distill'd the charm that mocks
beauty and attainments,
Toward it heaves the shuddering longing
ache of contact.
The male is not less the soul nor more, he
too is in his place,
He too is all qualities, he is action and
power,
The flush of the known universe is in him,
Scorn becomes him well, and appetite and
defiance become him well,
The wildest largest passions, bliss that is
utmost, sorrow that is utmost become
him well, pride is for him,
The full-spread pride of man is calming and
excellent to the soul,
Knowledge becomes him, he likes it always,
he brings every thing to the test of
himself,
Whatever the survey, whatever the sea and
the sail he strikes soundings at last only
here,
(Where else does he strike soundings except
here?)
The man's body is sacred and the woman's
body is sacred,
No matter who it is, it is sacred -- is it the
meanest one in the laborers' gang?
Is it one of the dull-faced immigrants just
landed on the wharf?
Each belongs here or anywhere just as much
as the well-off, just as much as you,
Each has his or her place in the procession.
(All is a procession,
The universe is a procession with measured
and perfect motion.)
Do you know so much yourself that you call
the meanest ignorant?
Do you suppose you have a right to a good
sight, and he or she has no right to a
sight?
Do you think matter has cohered together
from its diffuse float, and the soil is on
the surface, and water runs and
vegetation sprouts,
For you only, and not for him and her?
I have perceiv'd that to be with those l like
is enough,
To stop in company with the rest at evening
is enough,
To be surrounded by beautiful, curious,
breathing, laughing flesh is enough,
To pass among them or touch any one, or
rest my arm ever so lightly round his or
her neck for a moment, what is this then?
I do not ask any more delight, I swim in it
as in a sea.
There is something in staying close to men
and women and looking on them, and in
the contact and odor of them, that
pleases the soul well,
All things please the soul, but these please
the soul well.
I am no priest of crooks nor creeds,
For human wants and human needs
Are more to me than prophets' deeds;
And human tears and human cares
Affect me more than human prayers.
Go, cease your wail, lugubrious saint!
You fret high Heaven with your plaint.
Is this the "Christian's joy" you paint?
Is this the Christian's boasted bliss?
Avails your faith no more than this?
Take up your arms, come out with me,
Let Heav'n alone; humanity
Needs more and Heaven less from thee.
With pity for mankind look 'round;
Help them to rise -- and Heaven is found.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 