DEMOCRACY! O sombre swart face, now thou art very beautiful to me! O haughty brow, with glittering withdrawn eyes, not a little contemptuous, Thou art very beautiful to me! I am as a child before thee; All that I have learned, all my fancical knowledge, My familiarity with times and distances, All my refinement is nothing—my delicate hands, manners, My glibness is nothing; I crave the touch of thy soul, thou strong one, I crave thy love. Come! who art no longer a name: Gigantic Thou, with head aureoled by the sun—wild among the mountains— Thy huge limbs naked and stalwart erected member, Thy lawless gait and rank untameable laughter, Thy heaven-licking wildfire thoughts and passions— I desire. All conventions, luxuries, all refinements of civilization, and tyrannous wants, Acquisitions, formulated rules, rights, prescriptions, and whatever constitutes a barrier— I discard. All the cobwebs of science, and precedents and conclusions of authority, All possessions, and impedimenta of property, all rights of bundles and baggage— I disown. I stand prepared for toil, for hardship—this instant if need be to start on an unforeseen and distant journey— I am wholly without reserve: As a woman of a man so I will learn of thee, I will draw thee closer and closer, I will drain thy lips and the secret things of thy body, I will conceive by thee, Democracy. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DAUGHTERS OF JEPHTHA by LOUIS UNTERMEYER LEISURE by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES EPIGRAMS: BOOK I, 1 by MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIALIS INDIFFERENCE by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY MY SHADOW by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON FANCIES AT NAVESINK: 6 by WALT WHITMAN |