Page:Leaves of Grass (1882).djvu/106

100 Here, out of my pocket, some moss which I pull'd off a live-oak in Florida as it hung trailing down,

Here, some pinks and laurel leaves, and a handful of sage,

And here what I now draw from the water, wading in the pond-side,

(O here I last saw him that tenderly loves me, and returns again never to separate from me,

And this, O this shall henceforth be the token of comrades, this calamus-root shall,

Interchange it youths with each other! let none render it back!)

And twigs of maple and a bunch of wild orange and chestnut,

And stems of currants and plum- blows, and the aromatic cedar,

These I compass'd around by a thick cloud of spirits,

Wandering, point to or touch as I pass, or throw them loosely from me,

Indicating to each one what he shall have, giving something to each;

But what I drew from the water by the pond-side, that I reserve,

I will give of it, but only to them that love as I myself am capable of loving.



