THE WORLD BELOW THE BRINE
by: Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
- HE world below the brine,
- Forests at the bottom of the sea, the branches and leaves,
- Sea-lettuce, vast lichens, strange flowers and seeds, the
thick tangle openings, and pink turf,
- Different colors, pale gray and green, purple, white, and
gold, the play of light through the water,
- Dumb swimmers there among the rocks, coral, gluten, grass,
rushes, and the aliment of the swimmers,
- Sluggish existences grazing there suspended, or slowly crawling
close to the bottom,
- The sperm-whale at the surface blowing air and spray, or
disporting with his flukes,
- The leaden-eyed shark, the walrus, the turtle, the hairy
sea-leopard, and the sting-ray,
- Passions there, wars, pursuits, tribes, sight in those ocean-depths,
breathing that thick-breathing air, as so many do,
- The change thence to the sight here, and to the subtle air
breathed by beings like us who walk this sphere,
- The change onward from ours to that of beings who walk other
spheres.
MORE
POEMS BY WALT WHITMAN |
|