1 singing my days singing the great achievements of the present singing the strong light works of engineers our modern wonders in the old world the east the suez canal the new by its mighty railroad spannd the seas inlaid with eloquent gentle wires i sound to commence the cry with thee o soul the past the past the past the past the dark unfathomd retrospect the teeming gulf the sleepers and the shadows the past the infinite greatness of the past for what is the present after all but a growth out of the past 2 passage o soul to india eclaircise the myths asiaticthe primitive fables not you alone proud truths of the world nor you alone ye facts of modern science but myths and fables of eldasias africas fables the far darting beams of the spirit the unloosd dreams the deep diving bibles and legends the daring plots of the poetsthe elder religions o you temples fairer than lilies pourd over by the rising sun o you fables spurning the known eluding the hold of the known mounting to heaven you lofty and dazzling towers pinnacled red as roses burnishd with gold towers of fables immortal fashiond from mortal dreams you too i welcome and fully the same as the rest you too with joy i sing 3 passage to india lo soul seest thou not gods purpose from the first the earth to be spannd connected by net work the people to become brothers and sisters the races neighbors to marry and be given in marriage the oceans to be crossd the distant brought near the lands to be welded together 4 passage to india lo soul for thee of tableaus twain i see in one the suez canal initiated opend i see the procession of steamships the empress eugenies leading the van i mark from on deck the strange landscape the pure sky the level sand in the distance i pass swiftly the picturesque groups the workmen gatherd the gigantic dredging machines in one again different i see over my own continent the pacific railroad surmounting every barrier i see continual trains of cars winding along the platte carrying freight and passengers i hear the locomotives rushing and roaring and the shrill steam whistle i hear the echoes reverberate through the grandest scenery in the world i cross the laramie plainsi note the rocks in grotesque shapesthe buttes i see the plentiful larkspur and wild onionsthe barren colorless sage deserts i see in glimpses afar or towering immediately above me the great mountains i see the wind river and the wahsatch mountains i see the monument mountain and the eagles nesti pass the promontory i ascend the nevadas i scan the noble elk mountain and wind around its base i see the humboldt rangei thread the valley and cross the river i see the clear waters of lake tahoei see forests of majestic pines or crossing the great desert the alkaline plains i behold enchanting mirages of waters and meadows marking through these and after all in duplicate slender lines bridging the three or four thousand miles of land travel tying the eastern to the western sea the road between europe and asia 5 passage to india struggles of many a captaintales of many a sailor dead over my mood stealing and spreading they come like clouds and cloudlets in the unreachd sky along all history down the slopes as a rivulet running sinking now and now again to the surface rising a ceaseless thought a varied trainlo soul to thee thy sight they rise the plans the voyages again the expeditions again vasco de gama sails forth again the knowledge gaind the mariners compass lands found and nations bornthou born america for purpose vast mans long probation filld thou rondure of the world at last accomplishd 6 o vast rondure swimming in space coverd all over with visible power and beauty alternate light and day and the teeming spiritual darkness unspeakable high processions of sun and moon and countless stars above below the manifold grass and waters animals mountains trees with inscrutable purposesome hidden prophetic intention now first it seems my thought begins to span thee down from the gardens of asia descending radiating adam and eve appear then their myriad progeny after them wandering yearning curiouswith restless explorations with questionings baffled formless feverishwith never happy hearts with that sad incessant refrain wherefore unsatisfied soul and whither o mocking life ah who shall soothe these feverish children who justify these restless explorations who speak the secret of impassive earth who bind it to us what is this separate nature so unnatural what is this earth to our affections yet soul be sure the first intent remainsand shall be carried out after the seas are all crossd after the great captains and engineers have accomplishd their work after the noble inventorsafter the scientists the chemist the geologist ethnologist finally shall come the poet worthy that name the true son of god shall come singing his songs then not your deeds only o voyagers o scientists and inventors shall be justified all these hearts as of fretted children shall be soothd all affection shall be fully responded tothe secret shall be told all these separations and gaps shall be taken up and hookd and linkd together the whole earththis cold impassive voiceless earth shall be completely justified trinitas divine shall be gloriously accomplishd and compacted by the son of god the poet nature and man shall be disjoind and diffused no more the true son of god shall absolutely fuse them 7 year at whose opend wide flung door i sing year of the purpose accomplishd year of the marriage of continents climates and oceans i see o year in you the vast terraqueous globe given and giving all europe to asia africa joind and they to the new world the lands geographies dancing before you holding a festival garland as brides and bridegrooms hand in hand 8 passage to india cooling airs from caucasus far soothing cradle of man the river euphrates flowing the past lit up again lo soul the retrospect brought forward the old most populous wealthiest of earths lands the streams of the indus and the ganges and their many affluents the tale of alexander on his warlike marches suddenly dying on one side china and on the other side persia and arabia to the south the great seas and the bay of bengal the flowing literatures tremendous epics religions castes old occult brahma interminably far backthe tender and junior buddha central and southern empires and all their belongings possessors the wars of tamerlane the reign of aurungzebe the traders rulers explorers moslems venetians byzantium the arabs portuguese the first travelers famous yet marco polo batouta the moor doubts to be solvd the map incognita blanks to be filld the foot of man unstayd the hands never at rest thyself o soul that will not brook a challenge 9 the medieval navigators rise before me the world of 1492 with its awakend enterprise something swelling in humanity now like the sap of the earth in spring the sunset splendor of chivalry declining and who art thou sad shade gigantic visionary thyself a visionary with majestic limbs and pious beaming eyes spreading around with every look of thine a golden world enhuing it with gorgeous hues as the chief histrion down to the footlights walks in some great scena dominating the rest i see the admiral himself behold him sail from palos leading his little fleet his voyage beholdhis returnhis great fame his misfortunes calumniatorsbehold him a prisoner chaind behold his dejection poverty death 10 passage indeed o soul to primal thought not lands and seas alonethy own clear freshness the young maturity of brood and bloom to realms of budding bibles o soul repressless i with thee and thou with me thy circumnavigation of the world begin of man the voyage of his minds return to reasons early paradise back back to wisdoms birth to innocent intuitions again with fair creation 11 o we can wait no longer we too take ship o soul joyous we too launch out on trackless seas fearless for unknown shores on waves of extasy to sail amid the wafting winds caroling freesinging our song of god chanting our chant of pleasant exploration with laugh and many a kiss o soul thou pleasest mei thee ah more than any priest o soul we too believe in god but with the mystery of god we dare not dally o soul thou pleasest mei thee sailing these seas or on the hills or waking in the night thoughts silent thoughts of time and space and death like waters flowing bear me indeed as through the regions infinite whose air i breathe whose ripples hearlave me all over bathe me o god in theemounting to thee i and my soul to range in range of thee o thou transcendant namelessthe fibre and the breath light of the lightshedding forth universesthou centre of them thou mightier centre of the true the good the loving thou moral spiritual fountain affections source thou reservoir thou pulse thou motive of the stars suns systems that circling move in order safe harmonious athwart the shapeless vastnesses of space how should i thinkhow breathe a single breathhow speakif out of myself i could not launch to those superior universes swiftly i shrivel at the thought of god at nature and its wonders time and space and death but that i turning call to thee o soul thou actual me and lo thou gently masterest the orbs thou matest time smilest content at death and fillest swellest full the vastnesses of space greater than stars or suns bounding o soul thou journeyest forth what love than thine and ours could wider amplify what aspirations wishes outvie thine and ours o soul what dreams of the ideal what plans of purity perfection strength what cheerful willingness for others sake to give up all for others sake to suffer all reckoning ahead o soul when thou the time achievd surrounded copest frontest god yieldest the aim attaind as filld with friendship love complete the elder brother found the younger melts in fondness in his arms 12 passage to more than india are thy wings plumed indeed for such far flights o soul voyagest thou indeed on voyages like these disportest thou on waters such as these soundest below the sanscrit and the vedas then have thy bent unleashd passage to you your shores ye aged fierce enigmas passage to you to mastership of you ye strangling problems you strewd with the wrecks of skeletons that living never reachd you 13 passage to more than india o secret of the earth and sky of you o waters of the sea o winding creeks and rivers of you o woods and fields of you strong mountains of my land of you o prairies of you gray rocks o morning red o clouds o rain and snows o day and night passage to you o sun and moon and all you stars sirius and jupiter passage to you passageimmediate passage the blood burns in my veins away o soul hoist instantly the anchor cut the hawsershaul outshake out every sail have we not stood here like trees in the ground long enough have we not grovelld here long enough eating and drinking like mere brutes have we not darkend and dazed ourselves with books long enough sail forth steer for the deep waters only reckless o soul exploring i with thee and thou with me for we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go and we will risk the ship ourselves and all o my brave soul o farther farther sail o daring joy but safe are they not all the seas of god o farther farther farther sail 1