upuzun bir walt whitman saheseridir. leaves of grass kitabinda yer alir. basli basina aforizmalarla dolu, gaza getiren bir siirdir. en sevdigim kismi budur:
"O to struggle against great odds, to meet enemies undaunted!
To be entirely alone with them, to find how much one can stand!
To look strife, torture, prison, popular odium, face to face!
To mount the scaffold, to advance to the muzzles of guns with
perfect nonchalance!
To be indeed a God!
O to sail to sea in a ship!
To leave this steady unendurable land,
To leave the tiresome sameness of the streets, the sidewalks and the
houses,
To leave you O you solid motionless land, and entering a ship,
To sail and sail and sail!
O to have life henceforth a poem of new joys!
To dance, clap hands, exult, shout, skip, leap, roll on, float on!
To be a sailor of the world bound for all ports,
A ship itself, (see indeed these sails i spread to the sun and air,)
A swift and swelling ship full of rich words, full of joys."
"ah! mucadele etmek icin buyuk haksizliklarla, dusmanlarla gozupek yuzlesmek icin!
tamamen yalniz kalakalmak icin onlarla, kaci geriye kalabilecek bulmak icin!
kavgayi, istirabi, hapsi, meshur nefreti, yuz yuze aramak icin!
iskeleye cikmak icin, silahin namlusunu benzersiz umursamazlikla ilerletmek icin!
tanri olmak icin!
ah! gemide denize acilmak icin!
bu duragan, katlanilmaz diyari terk etmek icin!
sokaklarin biktirici ayniligini terk etmek icin, bu evlerin, kaldirimlarin,
ah kati ve kimiltisiz diyar, seni terk etmek icin, girmeye bir gemiye
acilmak ve acilmak ve acilmak icin!
ah bundan boyle yeni neseler siirinin yasamina sahip olmak icin!
dans etmek, el cirpmak, gururlanmak, bagirmak, atlamak, sicramak, donmek, havada suzulmek icin!
dunya hudutlarindaki tum limanlarin denizcisi olmak icin,
geminin kendisi, (sahiden gor, bu seferlerle gunese ve goge uzanirim,)
zengin kelimelerle, busbutun neselerle dolu, cabuk ve guclu gemi."
