The World Below the Brine

Walt Whitman

THE WORLD below the brine, Forests at the bottom of the sea, the branches and leaves, Sea-lettuce, vast lichens, strange flowers and seeds, the thick tangle, openings, and pink turf, Different colors, pale gray and green, purple, white, and gold, the play of light through the water, Dumb swimmers there among the rocks, coral, gluten, grass, rushes, and the aliment of the swimmers, Sluggish existences grazing there suspended, or slowly crawling close to the bottom,

The sperm-whale at the surface blowing air and spray, or disporting with his flukes, The leaden-eyed shark, the walrus, the turtle, the hairy sea-leopard, and the sting-ray, Passions there, wars, pursuits, tribes, sight in those ocean-depths, breathing that thick-breathing air, as so many do, The change thence to the sight here, and to the subtle air breathed by beings like us who walk this sphere,

The change onward from ours to that of beings who walk other spheres.

Walt Whitman (1819–1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential poets in the American canon, often being referred to as the “father of free verse”. Whitman’s most notable publication, Leaves of Grass, consists of 12 untitled poems and a preface that was first published in 1855, and is considered to be a landmark in the history of American literature