Page:Leaves of Grass (1860).djvu/392

384 I too knitted the old knot of contrariety, Blabbed, blushed, resented, lied, stole, grudged, Had guile, anger, lust, hot wishes I dared not speak, Was wayward, vain, greedy, shallow, sly, cowardly,
 * malignant,

The wolf, the snake, the hog, not wanting in me, The cheating look, the frivolous word, the adulterous
 * wish, not wanting,

Refusals, hates, postponements, meanness, laziness,
 * none of these wanting.

But I was a Manhattanese, free, friendly, and proud! I was called by my nighest name by clear loud voices
 * of young men as they saw me approaching or
 * passing,

Felt their arms on my neck as I stood, or the negligent
 * leaning of their flesh against me as I sat,

Saw many I loved in the street, or ferry-boat, or public
 * assembly, yet never told them a word,

Lived the same life with the rest, the same old laughing,
 * gnawing, sleeping,

Played the part that still looks back on the actor or
 * actress,

The same old rôle, the rôle that is what we make it,
 * as great as we like,

Or as small as we like, or both great and
 * small.

Closer yet I approach you, What thought you have of me, I had as much of you
 * —I laid in my stores in advance,

I considered long and seriously of you before you
 * were born.