Evening star., 1925-02-10

Eight cardinal principles were sung
BY Walt Whitman In Leaves of
Grass" They ara:
l. Proper egotism.
2. Optimism.
3. Personality.
4. Relation OF body and soul.
B. The outdoors.
6. Happiness.
Z. Democracy.
8. The United States. j.
Ones self I sins-a simple. separate person!
Yet utter the word democratic. the word en-
masse.
He was the "chanter of personality.
outlining what is yet to be-" and pro-
jecting tho history Of the future" All
too briefly, 1t is necessary to point out
here that much of what we take for
granted today was first brought to
public notice by Whitman, who gets
precious little credit for II, even to-
day.
The perfect relationship OF mind. body
and spirit. was sung by Walt Whit
man. time and time again.
Was somebody asking to see the soul,
See! your own shape and countenanee persons.
substances, beasts, the trees, the running
rivers, the rocks and sands.
The great outdoors" of which we
hear so much today, both seriously
and as a joke, was first introduced to
the minds OF the American people by
Walt Whitman. The American Ma
tion was built up on the great out
doors, but America scarcely realized
1T until Whitman came forward with
his Song of the Open Road" and
countless lines. such as:
The atmosphere is not q perfume--it has no
taste of the distiiia tion--it Is odorless;
1t is f"- nv mouth forever am in love
with it.
And me following:
l am enamored of growing outdoors,
uf men that live among cattle. or taste Of the
ocean woods,
OF the builders and sfeerers Of ships, and the
wielders of axes and mauls. and the
drivers Of horses:
week out.
Whitman distilled--not for the men
who live among cattle, or the WELD
ers of mauls--they never read him
but for those of US who need more
roughness and coarseness in our civ
iAzed lives-something of the spirit
of the great outdoors. which reaches
climax in that passage beginning:
am he that walks with the tender and grow
ing night;
l call ~ tn- earth and sea- half held BY the
night.
He brings to US the need for a
| certain and proper egotism, a true
pride in ourselves, which will not al
low us to be sneered down by those
who would profit by SO sneering us
down.
He recalls to us the prime need for
optimism, so that we may feel we are
doing something in the world very
much worth while. and, though the
sneerers sneer and the admirers re-
frain from praising US. still we feel
| that we are doing good and are ad-
mircd
He brings home to every man and
woman the divine necessity for hap
piness-
Happinesx-which, whoever hears me let
him her set cut In search OF this day
And again:
DO you see, o my brothers and sisters7
Ii is not chaos OF death. II IL FORM union
plan. 1t 10 eternal life. 1t Is happiness
Truly. his words itch at our ears"
until we understand them.
You will hardly know who I am or what
But shall be good health to you never.
/, And filter and aber your blood.
tsilinE to fetch me At first, keep encouraged: |:
Missing me one place. search another;
stop somewhere, waiting for you
Every Washingtonian can take an
especial pride in Walt Whitman and
his work, because much of il had its
genesis here. 1t was here he visited
the wounded soldiers in hospitals.
spending his meager salary upon
fruits and tobacco for them.
find the wealth of his themes
his hints as he called them-too
much for the confines Of one short
article. Perhaps we shall have more
about Walt Whitman and his Leaves
OF Grass If there is any more de-