f upon
whoever or whatever will accept him, tossing hints and clues right and
left, provoking and stimulating the thought and imagination of his reader,
but finishing nothing for him, leaving much to be desired, much to be
completed by him in his turn.

IV

The reader who would get at the spirit and meaning of "Leaves of Grass"
must remember that its animating principle, from first to last, is
Democracy,--that it is a work conceived and carried forward in the spirit
of the genius of humanity that is now in full career in the New
World,--and that all things characteristically American (trades, tools,
occupations, productions, characters, scenes) therefore have their places
in it. It is intended to be a complete mirror of the times in which the
life of the poet fell, and to show one master personality accepting,
absorbing all and rising superior to it,--namely, the poet himself. Yet it
is never Whitman that speaks so much as it is Democracy that speaks
through him. He personifies the spirit of universal brotherhood, and in
this character launches forth his "omnivorous words." What would seem
colossal egotism, shameless confessions, or unworthy affiliations with
low, rude persons, what would seem confounding good and bad, virtue and
vice, etc., in Whitman the man, the citizen, but serves to illustrate the
boundless compassion and saving power of Whitman as the spokesman of ideal
Democracy. With this clue in mind, many difficult things are made plain
and easy in the works of this much misunderstood poet.

Perhaps the single poem that throws most light upon his aims and methods,
and the demand he makes upon his reader, is in "Calamus," and is as
follows:--

"Whoever you are holding me now in hand,
Without one thing all will be useless,
I give you fair warning before you attempt me further,
I am not what you suppos'd, but far different.

"Who is he that would become my follower?
Who would sign himself a candidate for my affections?

"The way is suspicious, the result uncertain, perhaps destructive,
You would have to give up all else, I alone would expect to be your
sole and exclusive standard,
Your novitiate would even then be long and exhausting,
The whole past theory of your life and all conformity to the lives
around you would have to be abandon'd,
Therefore release me now before troubling yourself any further, let
go your hand from my shoulders,
Put me down and d