Poem by Walt Whitman

Leaves of Grass. 32. From Noon to Starry Night. 20. Spirit That Form'd This Scene

[Written in Platte Canyon, Colorado]

Spirit that form'd this scene,
These tumbled rock-piles grim and red,
These reckless heaven-ambitious peaks,
These gorges, turbulent-clear streams, this naked freshness,
These formless wild arrays, for reasons of their own,
I know thee, savage spirit—we have communed together,
Mine too such wild arrays, for reasons of their own;
Wast charged against my chants they had forgotten art?
To fuse within themselves its rules precise and delicatesse?
The lyrist's measur'd beat, the wrought-out temple's grace—column
      and polish'd arch forgot?
But thou that revelest here—spirit that form'd this scene,
They have remember'd thee.

1. Leaves of Grass. 20. By the Roadside. 6. Thoughts
2. Leaves of Grass. 34. Sands at Seventy. 55. An Evening Lull
3. Leaves of Grass. 34. Sands at Seventy. Fancies at Navesink. 6. Proudly the Flood Comes In
4. Leaves of Grass. 35. Good-Bye My Fancy. 6. Apparitions
5. Leaves of Grass. 24. Autumn Rivulets. 20. Thought

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