Howard was an unusually happy baby for me today – delightfully long enough for me to read some of The Treasury of Religious Verse, compiled by D.T. Kauffman. Taking care of a 4-month-old is physically taxing and causes mental bankruptcy. I try desperately to reverse the deterioration by reading things that challenge me at a variety of levels. This was my favorite thing I read today.
“I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars,
And the pismire[1] is equally perfect, and a grain of sand,
and the egg of the wren,
And the tree-toad is a chef-d’oeuvre[2] for the highest,
And the running blackberry would adorn the parlors of heaven,
And the narrowest hinge in my hand puts to scorn all machinery,
And the cow crunching with depress’d head surpasses any statue,
And a mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidels.”
from Walt Whitman’s[3] SONG OF MYSELF
My notes:
[1] an ant
[2] a masterpiece
[3] I couldn’t help but refresh my brain about Whitman by looking him up on Wikipedia: Deeply influenced by deism, Whitman embraced all religions equally; he accepted all churches and believed in none. Though apparently I disagree with his theology, I was fascinated by how much I agreed with his thoughts in these verses.
What about you? Any thoughts about Whitman’s perspective on nature?