Song of Myself

I have said that the soul is not more than the body,

And I have said that the body is not more than the soul,

And nothing, not God, is greater to one than one's self is,

And whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his

own funeral drest in his shroud,

And I or you pocketless of a dime may purchase the pick of

the earth,

And to glance with an eye or show a bean in its pod

confounds the learning of all times,

And there is no trade or employment but the young man

following it may become a hero,

And there is no object so soft but it makes a hub for the

wheel'd universe,

And I say to any man or woman, Let your soul stand cool

and composed before a million universes.

And I say to mankind, Be not curious about God,

For I who am curious about each am not curious about

God,

(No array of terms can say how much I am at peace about

God and about death.)

I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God

not in the least,

Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than

myself.

Why should I wish to see God better than this day?

I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four, and

each moment then,

In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own

face in the glass,

I find letters from God dropt in the street, and every one is

sign'd by God's name,

And I leave them where they are, for I know that wheresoe'er

I go,

Others will punctually come for ever and ever.