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Saturday 1 September 2012

A woman waits for me- Walt Whitman


A WOMAN waits for me--she contains all, nothing is lacking,
Yet all were lacking, if sex were lacking, or if the moisture of the
right man were lacking.

Sex contains all,
Bodies, Souls, meanings, proofs, purities, delicacies, results,
promulgations,
Songs, commands, health, pride, the maternal mystery, the seminal
milk;
All hopes, benefactions, bestowals,
All the passions, loves, beauties, delights of the earth,
All the governments, judges, gods, follow'd persons of the earth,
These are contain'd in sex, as parts of itself, and justifications of
itself.

Without shame the man I like knows and avows the deliciousness of his
sex, 10
Without shame the woman I like knows and avows hers.

Now I will dismiss myself from impassive women,
I will go stay with her who waits for me, and with those women that
are warm-blooded and sufficient for me;
I see that they understand me, and do not deny me;
I see that they are worthy of me--I will be the robust husband of
those women.

They are not one jot less than I am,
They are tann'd in the face by shining suns and blowing winds,
Their flesh has the old divine suppleness and strength,
They know how to swim, row, ride, wrestle, shoot, run, strike,
retreat, advance, resist, defend themselves,
They are ultimate in their own right--they are calm, clear, well-
possess'd of themselves. 20

I draw you close to me, you women!
I cannot let you go, I would do you good,
I am for you, and you are for me, not only for our own sake, but for
others' sakes;
Envelop'd in you sleep greater heroes and bards,
They refuse to awake at the touch of any man but me.

It is I, you women--I make my way,
I am stern, acrid, large, undissuadable--but I love you,
I do not hurt you any more than is necessary for you,
I pour the stuff to start sons and daughters fit for These States--I
press with slow rude muscle,
I brace myself effectually--I listen to no entreaties, 30
I dare not withdraw till I deposit what has so long accumulated
within me.

Through you I drain the pent-up rivers of myself,
In you I wrap a thousand onward years,
On you I graft the grafts of the best-beloved of me and America,
The drops I distil upon you shall grow fierce and athletic girls, new
artists, musicians, and singers,
The babes I beget upon you are to beget babes in their turn,
I shall demand perfect men and women out of my love-spendings,
I shall expect them to interpenetrate with others, as I and you
interpenetrate now,
I shall count on the fruits of the gushing showers of them, as I
count on the fruits of the gushing showers I give now,
I shall look for loving crops from the birth, life, death,
immortality, I plant so lovingly now. 40
Walt Whitman

This poem is made up of eight stanzas,divided into two parts. Reading the poem allows for some interesting possibilities as to whether the poet's own existence was engraved in the elements arranged in the piece. First and foremost, one of the bare essentials of it is the element of women. The poet goes on about how important they are in our life. It seems from the first stanza that women alone hold the formula to make men's life perfect, with no tipping on its balance. Yet, shortly thereafter, he states that all would be lacking if sex were lacking, strongly hinting that it's sex itself  which holds meaning to life.

A turning point does occur from the second part on. The focus is shifted away from sex and onto human breeding. In a poignant passage stressing out the virtues of women as life spawners, Walt Whitman goes on how he must "plant his seed", thus impregnating the women on this earth by means of the -n reprooductive cell that he carries, which is to combine with women's -n cell (egg), in the process known to us as Meiosis I. Such process is also responsible for all life on Earth, which shall always find its way through a womb. "Through you I drain the pent up rivers of myself, in you I wrap a thousand onward years"

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