The Maker of Moons and Other Stories

I am myself just as much evil as good, and my nation is--
And I say there is in fact no evil;
(Or if there is, I say it is just as important to you,
to the land, or to me, as anything else.)

Each is not for its own sake;
I say the whole earth, and all the stars in the sky
are for Religion's sake.
I say no man has ever yet been half devout enough;
None has ever adored or worshipped half enough;
None has begun to think how divine he himself is, and
how certain the future is.
--WALT WHITMAN

I have heard what the Talkers were talking,--the talk
Of the beginning and the end;
But I do not talk of the beginning or the end.