Eidólons

Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)



I MET a Seer,
   Passing the hues and objects of the world,
   The fields of art and learning, pleasure, sense,
           To glean Eidólons.

           Put in thy chants, said he,
   No more the puzzling hour, nor day--nor segments, parts, put in,
   Put first before the rest, as light for all, and entrance-song of
         all,
           That of Eidólons.

           Ever the dim beginning;
   Ever the growth, the rounding of the circle;                       10
   Ever the summit, and the merge at last, (to surely start again,)
           Eidólons! Eidólons!

           Ever the mutable!
   Ever materials, changing, crumbling, re-cohering;
   Ever the ateliers, the factories divine,
           Issuing Eidólons!

           Lo! I or you!
   Or woman, man, or State, known or unknown,
   We seeming solid wealth, strength, beauty build,
           But really build Eidólons.                                 20

           The ostent evanescent;
   The substance of an artist's mood, or savan's studies long,
   Or warrior's, martyr's, hero's toils,
           To fashion his Eidólon.

           Of every human life,
   (The units gather'd, posted--not a thought, emotion, deed, left out;)
   The whole, or large or small, summ'd, added up,
           In its Eidólon.

           The old, old urge;
   Based on the ancient pinnacles, lo! newer, higher pinnacles;       30
   From Science and the Modern still impell'd,
           The old, old urge, Eidólons.

           The present, now and here,
   America's busy, teeming, intricate whirl,
   Of aggregate and segregate, for only thence releasing,
           To-day's Eidólons.

           These, with the past,
   Of vanish'd lands--of all the reigns of kings across the sea,
   Old conquerors, old campaigns, old sailors' voyages,
           Joining Eidólons.                                          40

           Densities, growth, façades,
   Strata of mountains, soils, rocks, giant trees,
   Far-born, far-dying, living long, to leave,
           Eidólons everlasting.

           Exaltè, rapt, extatic,
   The visible but their womb of birth,
   Of orbic tendencies to shape, and shape, and shape,
           The mighty Earth-Eidólon.

           All space, all time,
   (The stars, the terrible perturbations of the suns,                50
   Swelling, collapsing, ending--serving their longer, shorter use,)
           Fill'd with Eidólons only.

           The noiseless myriads!
   The infinite oceans where the rivers empty!
   The separate, countless free identities, like eyesight;
           The true realities, Eidólons.

           Not this the World,
   Nor these the Universes--they the Universes,
   Purport and end--ever the permanent life of life,
           Eidólons, Eidólons.                                        60

           Beyond thy lectures, learn'd professor,
   Beyond thy telescope or spectroscope, observer keen--beyond all
         mathematics,
   Beyond the doctor's surgery, anatomy--beyond the chemist with his
         chemistry,
           The entities of entities, Eidólons.

           Unfix'd, yet fix'd;
   Ever shall be--ever have been, and are,
   Sweeping the present to the infinite future,
           Eidólons, Eidólons, Eidólons.

           The prophet and the bard,
   Shall yet maintain themselves--in higher stages yet,               70
   Shall mediate to the Modern, to Democracy--interpret yet to them,
           God, and Eidólons.

           And thee, My Soul!
   Joys, ceaseless exercises, exaltations!
   Thy yearning amply fed at last, prepared to meet,
           Thy mates, Eidólons.

           Thy Body permanent,
   The Body lurking there within thy Body,
   The only purport of the Form thou art--the real I myself,
           An image, an Eidólon.                                      80

           Thy very songs, not in thy songs;
   No special strains to sing--none for itself;
   But from the whole resulting, rising at last and floating,
           A round, full-orb'd Eidólon.

Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 03, 2023

2:35 min read
184

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCD EXXFD GHXD HGXD XXXD IXXJ KXXJ XCXD AXGD XEXD XXXG GXXJ XXXE CEXD BLKD MFXLED XXMD XXXD XCXD IENJ XNGJ
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 3,954
Words 502
Stanzas 21
Stanza Lengths 4, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 6, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Walt Whitman

Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. more…

All Walt Whitman poems | Walt Whitman Books

35 fans

Discuss the poem "Eidólons" with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Eidólons" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/38002/eidólons>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    12
    days
    22
    hours
    20
    minutes

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    "I celebrate myself, and sing myself."
    A William Wordsworth
    B Walt Whitman
    C Billy Collins
    D Countee Cullen