14. Think of womanhood, and you to be a woman;
The creation is womanhood,
Have I not said that womanhood involves all?
Have I not told how the universe has nothing better
than the best womanhood?
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Leaves_of_Grass_%281860%29%2C_page_182.png/150px-Leaves_of_Grass_%281860%29%2C_page_182.png)
7.
1. With antecedents,
With my fathers and mothers, and the accumulations
of past ages,
With all which, had it not been, I would not now be
here, as I am,
With Egypt, India, Phenicia, Greece, and Rome,
With the Celt, the Scandinavian, the Alb, and the
Saxon,
With antique maritime ventures—with laws, artisanship,
wars, and journeys,
With the poet, the skald, the saga, the myth, and the
oracle,
With the sale of slaves—with enthusiasts—with
the troubadour, the crusader, and the monk,
With those old continents whence we have come to this
new continent,
With the fading kingdoms and kings over there,
With the fading religions and priests,
With the small shores we look back to, from our own
large and present shores,