Page:Leaves of Grass (1860).djvu/379

29.

One flitting glimpse, caught through an interstice,
Of a crowd of workmen and drivers in a bar-room,
around the stove, late of a winter night—And
I unremarked, seated in a corner;
Of a youth who loves me, and whom I love, silently
approaching, and seating himself near, that he
may hold me by the hand;
A long while, amid the noises of coming and going
—of drinking and oath and smutty jest.
There we two, content, happy in being together,
speaking little, perhaps not a word.

30.

A promise and gift to California,
Also to the great Pastoral Plains, and for Oregon:
Sojourning east a while longer, soon I travel to you,
to remain, to teach robust American love;
For I know very well that I and robust love belong
among you, inland, and along the Western
Sea,
For These States tend inland, and toward the Western
Sea—and I will also.