Poem by Walt Whitman

Leaves of Grass. 19. Sea-Drift. 7. The World below the Brine

The 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.

1. Leaves of Grass. 32. From Noon to Starry Night. 9. Excelsior
2. Leaves of Grass. 34. Sands at Seventy. 11. The Wallabout Martyrs
3. Leaves of Grass. 5. Calamus. 38. That Shadow My Likeness
4. Leaves of Grass. 20. By the Roadside. 28. Offerings
5. Leaves of Grass. 21. Drum-Taps. 35. How Solemn As One by One [Washington City, 1865]

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