On my four days off work, I walk 3 to 4 miles each morning, starting at 5:45 am, in my rural neighborhood.
"Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose.
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune— I myself am good fortune;
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Strong and content, I travel the open road.
The earth—that is sufficient;
I do not want the constellations any nearer;
I know they are very well where they are;
I know they suffice for those who belong to them.
(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens;
I carry them, men and women—I carry them with me wherever I go;
I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them;
I am fill’d with them, and I will fill them in return.)
I believe you are not all that is here;
I believe that much unseen is also here."
- Walt Whitman, "Song of the Open Road," Leaves of Grass, 1890.
Thanks for the Whitman reference. His complete 12 section version of Song of the Open Road is available at The Project Gutenberg EBook of Leaves of Grass, BOOK VII, Song of the Open Road by Walt Whitman
ReplyDeleteThank you for the e-text link.
ReplyDeleteThe 1856 "Leaves of Grass" is worth rereading many times. A true gem of American literature.