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He was six feet tall, he was over eighty years old—
his sons were massive, clean, bearded, tan-faced,
handsome,
They and his daughters loved him —all who saw him
loved him,
They did not love him by allowance—they loved him
with personal love;
He drank water only—the blood showed like scarlet
through the clear-brown skin of his face,
He was a frequent gunner and fisher—he sailed
his boat himself—he had a fine one presented
to him by a ship-joiner—he had fowling-pieces,
presented to him by men that loved him;
When he went with his five sons and many grandsons
to hunt or fish, you would pick him out
as the most beautiful and vigorous of the
gang.
You would wish long and long to be with him—you
would wish to sit by him in the boat, that you
and he might touch each other.

8.I have perceived that to be with those I like is
enough,
To stop in company with the rest at evening is
enough,
To be surrounded by beautiful, curious, breathing,
laughing flesh is enough,
To pass among them, or touch any one, or rest my
arm ever so lightly round his or her neck for a
moment—what is this, then?
I do not ask any more delight—I swim in it, as in
a sea.