Says
1.
I SAY whatever tastes sweet to the most perfect person
—That is finally right.
2.
I SAY the human shape or face is so great, it must
never be made ridiculous;
I say for ornaments nothing outré can be allowed,
And that anything is most beautiful without orna–
ment,
And that exaggerations will be sternly revenged in
your own physiology; and in other persons’ phys–
iology also;
And I say that clean-shaped children can be jetted and
conceiv’d only where natural forms prevail in
public, and the human face and form are never
caricatured;
And I say that genius need never more be turn’d to
romances,
(For facts properly told, how mean appear all ro–
mances.)
3.
I HAVE said many times that materials and the Soul
are great, and that all depends on physique;
Now I reverse what I said, and affirm that all depends
on the æsthetic, or intellectual,
And that criticism is great—and that refinement is
greatest of all;
And I affirm now that the mind governs—and that all
depends on the mind.
4.
WITH one man or woman—(no matter which one—I
even pick out the lowest,)
With him or her I now illustrate the whole law;
I say that every right, in politics or what-not, shall be
eligible to that one man or woman, on the same
terms as any.
Leaves of Grass
Otras obras de Walt Whitman...
