Laws for Creations
by Walt Whitman
You ask, Why do you cry
with such sweetness all around?
For strong artists and leaders -
for fresh broods of teachers,
and perfect literates for America,
for noble savants, and coming musicians.
All must have reference to the ensemble of the world,
and the compact truth of the world;
there shall be no subject too pronounced -
all works shall illustrate the divine law of indirections.
What do you suppose Creation is?
What do you suppose will satisfy the Soul,
except to walk free,
and own no superior?
What do you suppose I would intimate to you in a hundred ways,
but that man or woman is as good as God?
And that there is no God any more divine than Yourself?
And that is what the oldest and newest myths finally mean?
And that you or anyone must approach Creations through such laws?
- from The Leaves of Grass
12.1.14