Be composed--be at ease with me--I am Walt Whitman, liberal and lusty as Nature, Not till the sun excludes you do I exclude you, Not till the waters refuse to glisten for you and the leaves to rustle for you, do my words refuse to glisten and rustle for you. (Walt Whitman, "Leaves of Grass")
I swear I begin to see the meaning of these things. It is not the earth, it is not America, who is so great, it is I who am great or to be great… (Walt Whitman, "Leaves of Grass")
I will sleep no more but arise, You oceans that have been calm within me! how I feel you, fathomless, stirring, preparing unprecedented waves and storms. (Walt Whitman, "Leaves of Grass")
Oxen that rattle the yoke and chain or halt in the leafy shade, what is that you express in your eyes? It seems to me more than all the print I have read in my life. (Walt Whitman, "Leaves of Grass")