From Leaves of Grass

By Walt Whitman

My words are words of a questioning, and to indicate reality;
This printed and bound book . . . but the printer and the printing-office boy?
The marriage estate and settlement . . . but the body and mind of the bridegroom? also those of the bride?
The panorama of the sea . . . but the sea itself?
The well-taken photographs . . . but your wife or friend close and solid in your arms?
The fleet of ships of the line and all the modern improvements . . . but the craft and pluck of the admiral?
The dishes and fare and furniture . . . but the host and hostess, and the look out of their eyes?
The sky up there . . . yet here or next door or across the way?
The saints and sages in history . . . but you yourself?
Sermons and creeds and theology . . . but the human brain, and what is called reason, and what is called love, and what is called life?