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color: gray; background-color: inherit; - letter-spacing: 0; text-indent: 0; text-align: right; font-style: normal; - font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: x-small; - border: 1px solid silver; padding: 1px 4px 1px 4px; - display: inline; } - -div.centerpic { text-align:center; text-indent:0; display:block; } -div.centerpic img { max-width:100%; } - -@media handheld { - body { margin-left:0; margin-right:0; } - div.epi { max-width:inherit; } - div.frontmatter { max-width:inherit; } - div.frontmatter .editorial span.firstchar { float:left; } - div.backmatter { max-width:inherit; } - div.ads { max-width:inherit; border:0; border-top:1px solid black; } - div.ads .narrow { width:inherit; } - a.pagenum { display:none; } - a.pagenum:after { display:none; } -} - -@media speech { - div.coverpage { display:block; } -} - -</style> -</head> - -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Glebe 1914/04 (Vol. 2, No. 1): Collects, by -Horace L. Traubel - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Glebe 1914/04 (Vol. 2, No. 1): Collects - -Author: Horace L. Traubel - -Editor: Alfred Kreymborg - Man Ray - -Release Date: September 24, 2020 [EBook #63281] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GLEBE 1914/04, VOL 2, NO 1: COLLECTS *** - - - - -Produced by Jens Sadowski and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. This book was -produced from images made available by the Blue Mountain -Project, Princeton University. - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="frontmatter chapter"> -<div class="centerpic"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - <div class="coverpage"> -<p class="journal"> -THE<br /> -GLEBE -</p> - -<p class="issue"> -VOLUME 2<br /> -NUMBER 1 -</p> - -<p class="issue"> -APRIL<br /> -1914 -</p> - -<p class="price"> -SUBSCRIPTION -Three Dollars Yearly -THIS ISSUE 50 CENTS -</p> - -<p class="tit"> -COLLECTS -</p> - -<p class="aut"> -<span class="line1">By Horace Traubel</span> -</p> - - </div> -</div> - -<div class="frontmatter chapter"> -<p class="first editorial"> -<span class="firstchar">T</span><span class="postfirstchar">he</span> only editorial policy of THE GLEBE is -that embodied in its declaration of absolute -freedom of expression, which makes for a range -broad enough to include every temperament from -the most radical to the most conservative, the only -requisite being that the work should have unmistakable -merit. Each issue will be devoted exclusively -to one individual thereby giving him an opportunity -to present his work in sufficient bulk to -make it possible for the reader to obtain a much -more comprehensive grasp of his personality than -is afforded him in the restricted spaces allotted by -the other magazines. Published monthly, THE -GLEBE will issue twelve books per year, chosen -on their merits alone, since the subscription list -does away with the need of catering to the popular -demand that confronts every publisher. Thus, -THE GLEBE can promise the best work of American -and foreign authors, known and unknown. -</p> - -<p> -The price of each issue of THE GLEBE will be -fifty cents and the yearly subscription three dollars. -</p> - -<p class="sign"> -Editor<br /> -ALFRED KREYMBORG -</p> - -<p class="published"> -Published by<br /> -ALBERT AND CHARLES BONI<br /> -96 FIFTH AVENUE<br /> -New York City -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="frontmatter chapter"> -<p class="halftitle"> -COLLECTS -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="frontmatter chapter"> -<p class="hdr"> -BOOKS BY HORACE TRAUBEL -</p> - -<p class="books"> -CHANTS COMMUNAL<br /> -OPTIMOS<br /> -COLLECTS<br /> -WITH WALT WHITMAN IN CAMDEN -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="frontmatter chapter"> -<h1 class="title"> -COLLECTS -</h1> - -<p class="aut"> -<span class="line1">HORACE TRAUBEL</span> -</p> - -<div class="centerpic logo"> -<img src="images/logo.jpg" alt="" /></div> - -<p class="pub"> -NEW YORK<br /> -ALBERT AND CHARLES BONI<br /> -96 FIFTH AVENUE<br /> -1914 -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="frontmatter chapter"> -<p class="cop"> -Copyright, 1914<br /> -By<br /> -Albert and Charles Boni -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="toc" id="chapter-0-1"> -CONTENTS -</h2> - -</div> - -<div class="table"> -<table class="toc" summary="TOC"> -<tbody> - <tr> - <td class="col1">I’m So Glad I Was Born</td> - <td class="col_page"><a href="#page-7">7</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">Pankhurst</td> - <td class="col_page"><a href="#page-18">18</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">What Is the Color of Your Skin?</td> - <td class="col_page"><a href="#page-28">28</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">You Writers Who Are Trying to Write</td> - <td class="col_page"><a href="#page-36">36</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">All the Engineers Perished</td> - <td class="col_page"><a href="#page-49">49</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">What Are You Doing for the Cause?</td> - <td class="col_page"><a href="#page-60">60</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">I Claim Everything for the People</td> - <td class="col_page"><a href="#page-70">70</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">To Leave No Door Unopened</td> - <td class="col_page"><a href="#page-79">79</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">Have You Sold Your Soul for Dirt?</td> - <td class="col_page"><a href="#page-90">90</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">When I Look Into the Faces</td> - <td class="col_page"><a href="#page-101">101</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">Loving is the Only Life</td> - <td class="col_page"><a href="#page-111">111</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">Keep Your Face to the Sun</td> - <td class="col_page"><a href="#page-121">121</a></td> - </tr> -</tbody> -</table> -</div> - -<div class="epi chapter"> -<p> -<a id="page-6" class="pagenum" title="6"></a> -I never found any use for birth or birthdays, dear comrades, -till I knew what it was to love: -</p> - -<p> -I could not tell how successful my life is by the number of -those who love me: I could only tell that by the number -of those I love: -</p> - -<p> -I am victorious only when I have won my love of you from -myself: winning your love of me from you is not enough: -</p> - -<p> -And so this day though you may not gather me to you I -gather you to me, body and spirit: -</p> - -<p> -And so this day I count myself up, not in figures but in -love, and say forgiving and jubilant things to my soul -about us all. -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="chapter" id="chapter-0-2"> -<a id="page-7" class="pagenum" title="7"></a> -I’M SO GLAD I WAS BORN -</h2> - -</div> - -<p class="first"> -<span class="firstchar">I</span><span class="postfirstchar">’m</span> so glad I was born. It seemed so right -for me to come. And some day it will seem just -right for me to go. Maybe not just yet but sometime. -I dont know whether it matters much -which side of mystery God feeds me on. I am -fed. Here or there, nowhere or anywhere, I am -joyous, a part of things, not to be skipped—an -atom but for which the stars would not hold -together. That’s enough for any sane man to -know about himself. Yet that’s not all I know -about myself. I know God made no mistake -making me. Or making you, either. Saint or -scoundrel, making anybody. I can see other -things put aside for my entrance. The Lord said: -Give him a show. So I was piloted to this earth-star. -Nobody specially welcomed me. My father -and mother were there. And a few others. -Some may have been sorry. But luckily I was -there and in my baby way welcomed myself. I -did not rock in that first cradle and say nothing. -Think of the journeys I had lived through and -sung through before I got here. Think of gods -and men and animals and suns and all sorts of -soul stuffs and body stuffs that compounded to -produce me. Is it any wonder I am stuck on myself -after that? I would not be paying great tribute -to what went before or to what is to come -after if I did not stand here now in great pride -and declare the wonder of my flesh and the wonder -of my spirit. I tell you gods are all right. -Yes, and the law of gravitation is all right. Yes, -<a id="page-8" class="pagenum" title="8"></a> -and Beethoven and Socrates and Lincoln were all -right. But how about me? Am I not just as -much all right? Suppose an impossibility. Suppose -I had not been born. Suppose something -had sidetracked me. What would have happened -to eternity? I dont see how Jesus could have -been passed by. Nor do I see how I can be -passed by. God had to do it. When the time -came for me God had no alternative. You might -as well put off to-morrow as put off a man when -his day has come. So I got my size and shape. I -am as big as anything because nothing big or -little could get along without me. I am as beautiful -as anything because nothing beautiful could -be beautiful without me. Do you call yourself a -worm? That’s all right if you mean to honor -the worm. But if you mean to abase yourself -then you are unjust to the worm. I never ask -myself: Do you know how little you are? I am -always nudging myself in the ribs and asking: -Do you realize how big you are? Nor how bad -I am. No. But how good I am. Nor how possible -it is for me to fail. No. But how impossible -it is for me not to succeed. So you see -how it is I am glad I was born. You may see how -far back my reasons go. You may see how far -ahead my reasons go. I have trailed no sable -clouds of regret across my past. I drag no obstructing -burden of doubt up to the door of the -future. I keep all ways open to all life. I have -received an inheritance. It crowds me to repletion -with riches. It builds on after all traditional -builders are done. It is fiery with extra-mortal -inspirations. Which all comes with being -<a id="page-9" class="pagenum" title="9"></a> -glad I was born. I hear people speak of being -born right. Was anybody ever born wrong? I -was born incomplete but I was born right. The -complete invites the incomplete. I was not put -here finished. I was put here on the way. I -would be sorry if I thought I was born finished. -A man born finished, his task is done. He could -retire. That would be the mistake. But the -cosmos never errs. The cosmos is process. It is -not end. So I’m glad I was born. Glad for the -grief. Glad for the joy. Satisfied to struggle. -To fall in hell and pick myself up in heaven. Satisfied -with the devil in me and the god in me -working off their equal debts. I’m glad I was -born. I might go on using words forever saying -that. Yet my account would only then begin to -be paid. I’m so glad I was born. -</p> - -<p> -I’m so glad I was born. And you are one of -my reasons for being glad. You were born, too. -And I hope you are as glad about me as I am glad -about you. I hope you are glad you were born. -They say this is a vale of tears. So it is. It is -also a vale of laughter. And laughter and tears -give life a single purpose. And laughter in tears -is glorious. Do you think I try to hide sorrow -from myself? It sweetens the sap of the tree. I -take sorrow for the uses of joy. I dont let sorrow -get away with the field. I dont let the bad -increase and crowd out salvation. I’m so glad I -was born. There’s so much work to do. And I’m -glad I was born just this time. If I had been -given a choice of all ages I would have chosen -just this age. Not old Greece with all its art -or old Rome with all its conquests or France in -<a id="page-10" class="pagenum" title="10"></a> -eighty-nine or America in seventy-six or sixty-one. -No age of Pericles for me. No Weimar. -No Granada. No Elizabethan era. No age of -privileged exceptions. Give me the Bowery and -nineteen hundred six. Give me the democratic -rule. God anticipated my whim and said: -Humor him—it wont hurt. So I came along as -well prophesied as anybody. And I know it wont -hurt. It will help. Do you suppose I mean nothing? -Then if I mean nothing God means nothing -and the stars mean nothing and the love in -your heart means nothing. I am not in doubt -about my power and my style. The earth wont -be just the same after I am done. It will be different -and better. I am appointed to make it -better. So are you. Do you not see that plainly -indicated everywhere: So are you? I will not -bray a path into history. Nor fill ostentatious -offices. Nor be recognized as the supreme master -this or that of a profession. But the universe -cant spare me. I, too, must mount the cross. -The universe needs my mediation. I know I was -not produced for nothing. It cost a heap to produce -me. I must catch up with an immense ancestral -obligation. I must make good for my cosmic -bed and board. I have got to prove that the -first atom in faraway time knew what it was -about when it attracted and repulsed and -dreamed towards me. I’ve got to justify all of -my ancestors and I’ve got to lay my plans so -my descendants will justify me. I must pass -everything on with something added to it. Music -with more music. Painting with more painting. -Good books with more good books. All the -<a id="page-11" class="pagenum" title="11"></a> -noble work of man with more noble work of -men added. No way turning the tide back. With -happiness enough in me to last all the misery -out. With light enough in me to last all the -misery out. With light enough in me to last all -the darkness out. With strength enough in me -to last all the weakness out. Sad, too, for those -in grief. But gladder, too, for those who are -reprieved. Certain that whatever may come no -eclipsing harm can come. Certain that no raindrop -in the universe can lose its way. Certain -that we are jealously cared for though we do not -always see the hand that cares and though that -hand is sometimes cruel. When I see how much -there is in my life to be glad for I forget that -there is anything in my life to be sorry for. I -have no quarrel with the barbarous minute the -hour is so gentle. With the contrary day the -yielding year is so conciliatory. With distorted -ages the symmetry of time is so perfect. I do -not feel like a waif lost somehow in chaos. I am -at home in the midst of order. It seems worth -while to live in a universe that is making, that -has not made, its title. The universe did not do -all its work the first day. It said to itself: I’ll -always leave something over for the workers to -do. It said to itself: Traubel will come some -day: leave something over for Traubel. It said -to itself: Or anybody, everybody, millions of -bodies, will come some day: leave something over -for them all. The cosmos is left at loose ends -here and there. That was just meant for you. -Go to work on it. Dont fret and growl. Dont -sit down and cry and tell yourself that it’s a -<a id="page-12" class="pagenum" title="12"></a> -rather shameful cosmos anyway and might have -been immaculate if it had chosen to. No. Be a -cosmos yourself. Be a god or a first assistant -or a fourth remove man or somebody and put in a -bit of perfection over your own name. Get into -the nebulous push somewhere. Drag, shove, pull, -lift: do something to add to the active substance -of deity. I’m mighty glad so much was left over. -I dont want to send in to the celestial court any -excuse for default. The lords god may say: We -need not worry: our brother is there. The lords -god know what they are about. They know their -brother can be relied on. They may sleep without -bad dreams. Does it ever occur to you to -give the overworked gods a rest and get busy -yourself? The heart’s good will should come out -of the heart with gladness on its lips. The song -should be glad it got done. It should lift its -tones in praise. I am glad I got done. I lift my -tones in praise. Creation belongs to gladness. -Can anything that is sorry it was born give birth -to life that will be glad it is alive? Laughter is -the headline and footnote and signature of creation. -When the dream to be a man became a -man cosmos laughed. It was happy. It had done -a creditable job. When a man somewhere lived -love’s equal and final life with a woman somewhere -and a child somewhere flamed from the -mutual fire, the sun laughed in kinder beams of -light and the starshine smiled over the cradled -hope. I go everywhere saying I am glad I was -born. It is such an innocent thing to say. It -seems so like a child to say it. Yet I never heard -you say it. I am waiting to hear you say it. I -<a id="page-13" class="pagenum" title="13"></a> -want to hear you say it once. Then I want to -hear you say it always. Get in the habit of saying -it. So possessed you cant help saying it. -No matter who or what says no saying yes yourself. -Saying it to yourself when you are alone, -saying it to us, saying it in silences, saying it out -loud. No: I never heard you say it. I have heard -you read the riot act on creation. I have heard -you growl like a bear and squeak like a rat. I -have heard you tell how bad life is. Not how -good life is: no: how bad. How bad a toothache -is. Not how good a sound tooth is: no: how bad. -There are bleak winds and consuming fires. I -have been frostbitten and burned. Why should -you make so much the most of misery and so -much the least of health? Why should you enter -all the charges and none of the credits? Why -should you not put in a figure or two on the -other side and admit the balance of benefit? -What’s the use always going down stream? Why -not also go up with the flood? I am possessed -with gladness. I can see that all the worlds -groan and travail in laughter. I can see that the -shadow laughs in the sun. I can see that the -wrongs laugh in the right. I can see the greeds -that destroy laugh in the generosities that save. -I can see all that is crooked in the social order -laughing itself into all that will be straight in -the social order. Over all I prevail: I, too, god -by heritage, recreating the forever recreated -stars. I, too, adding more gladness to the multiplied -gladness of time. I, too, pouring out of my -limitless stores limitless streams of rejoicing. I, -too, an equal maker and sustainer of undoubted -<a id="page-14" class="pagenum" title="14"></a> -life. I, too, smiling back order into any chaos. -I, too, always merry and rejuvenescent. I who -am so glad I was born. -</p> - -<p> -I’m so glad I was born. I like to tell about -that. I like to say it to people who want to hear -and to people who do not want to hear. I like to -tell it to the man who is about to give up. I notice -that he begins again. I like to tell it to the -musician who thinks his inspiration is all gone. I -notice that now he writes the finest songs ever. I -like to tell it to the lover who is not loved. I notice -that he is afterwards satisfied to love, not -crazy to be loved. I like to tell it to the man who -is robbed and to the man who robs. I notice that -both hear me right for both see that it is better to -be robbed than to rob. I like to tell it to the sick. -The sick take hope. The sick, too, say: We are -glad we were born. Glad to be born even if born -to sickness. (Though no one is born to sickness.) -And gladness is forever the footway of dreams. I -can go to the injustices of the world with my joy. -I am not afraid that the injustices can refute my -joy. For injustice never can refute justice. My -jubilant rhapsodies will prevail. They will go -where nothing else will go. They will go where -arguments will not go and figures will not go. -They will go where logic will not go and law will -not go. They will go where the pride of faith will -not go and the humility of faith will not go. They -will go where the sun will not go and the rains -will not go. I say I’m glad I was born. I am -good seed for any ground. No soil could be so -bad my seed is not good for it. I am good will -for any life. No life could be so poor my seed is -<a id="page-15" class="pagenum" title="15"></a> -not rich for it. I am the victorious day that -comes after every other day has come and failed. -I am the courage that comes after every other -resolution has come and failed. I am everything -true that comes after everything false has come -and failed. I am the conquering work of your -brains and your hands that comes after all other -work has come and failed. I’m so glad I was -born. Glad for the universe. What luck it was -to the universe the day I was born. I feel that -the universe was full paid all old credits that day. -I came. I do not hesitate to tell anybody how -magnificent I am. I do not try to divert attention -from myself by calling attention to the earth -that is so many miles through and the sun that -is so many degrees hot. I let the devastators do -that. I see how much more than their less I -amount to. Earths and suns are only a meager -per cent. to the plenty of my exaltation. You -cant take earths and suns to your heart. But -you can take me to your heart. You cant take -your degrees and decorations to your heart. They -always fall short of solace and must fall short. -But you can take me to your heart. I never fall -short. You cant take your position in society to -your heart. You cant take your overcapitalized -name to your heart. You cant take your riches -to your heart. Oh, you cant take your riches, all -your thousands, all your houses, all your swell -possessions, to your heart: and they cost you -much. But you can take me to your heart, you -can take my eyes that see and ears that hear to -your heart, you can take my announcements of -immortal life to your heart: they never default, -<a id="page-16" class="pagenum" title="16"></a> -never fall short: and they cost you nothing. I -guess I have said all I can say about that. I have -got so far in my raptures now I have got beyond -words. You must get the rest without words. -I’m so glad I was born. -</p> - -<div class="epi chapter"> -<p> -<a id="page-17" class="pagenum" title="17"></a> -And so I have come to sing life: I have come to bring that -which is hidden to the surface: -</p> - -<p> -And so I have been set apart to deal honestly with man -and woman and sex and suffer for it: -</p> - -<p> -And so I have been chosen from all the rest as the one who -can say what the rest think and desire and dare not -justify: -</p> - -<p> -And so I declare for them: for the discredited dreams: for -the obscured purposes: declare for them and invite those -who are angry to take it out of me: -</p> - -<p> -And so I stand about where the most people are and issue -my challenge and wait for the result: -</p> - -<p> -Feeling back of me holding me up the brave beautiful average -men and women my comrades who look to me to serve -them: -</p> - -<p> -Coming into the big world with my little challenge: receiving -my cues from what is suppressed in others: -</p> - -<p> -Casting my uncompromising nos into the faces of the rulers -of the earth: defying their fences and their written -compacts. -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="chapter" id="chapter-0-3"> -<a id="page-18" class="pagenum" title="18"></a> -PANKHURST -</h2> - -</div> - -<p class="first"> -<span class="firstchar">P</span><span class="postfirstchar">ankhurst.</span> The world has been saying that -word under its breath and over its breath. You -have been saying it. The papers have been saying -it. It has been on the lips of professors and -agitators. It has been made fun of and been -shuddered over. Maybe you have thought it was -the name of a woman. So it was. But it was -more than that. It was the name of a revolution. -As the name of a woman it would mean nothing -in particular. As the name of a revolution it becomes -prophecy and history. That’s why the -people who put the woman in jail found that they -couldn’t put the revolution in jail. And if you -cant forcibly feed a woman how much less likely -you are to forcibly feed a revolution. That single -word of two syllables. It cuts into prejudice -like the blade of a knife. A woman’s name. Say -it over to yourself. At first it may sound commonplace. -But keep on. Say it over and over. -It will become marching armies. It will become -martial music. It will trumpet you to vast victories. -Women don’t need to say woman now. -They only need to say Pankhurst. You tell -me I am talking of an arrogant woman only -a few feet high who is bent upon destruction. -Yes: I am talking of her. She is the gateway -through which I pass. But I am also talking of -the revolution which is so high no vision can -reach its summit. Pankhurst is a dream come -true. Pankhurst is an ideal in action. This -<a id="page-19" class="pagenum" title="19"></a> -law. She’s inveterate. She asserts, she summons, -she demands. Yet she’s calm. She: the -mother incarnate. She’s the maternal made revolution. -She’s sex. Women don’t all recognize -her. They are dubious. But she proceeds and -says nothing. She asks no favors and gives none. -She dont apologize. She asks nobody’s forgiveness. -She makes no palsying explanations. She -goes on and on. Just as gravitation goes on and -on. Just as time goes on and on. My eyes never -stop with the woman. I pass to that by which -she is fortified. Listen to what she says. Do -you belittle her message? Return: listen again: -weigh her grave confessions. Every word she -says is the word of revolution. Dont you think -you’ve been warned enough? Get your impudent -property out of the way. That infernal property. -It interrupts the vision. But for it we’d go -straight to our end. Pankhurst. I heard her -speak the other night. It was in a hall. Thousands -of people were there. She was on the big -stage in the half dark. She spoke to us. The -great building disappeared. The woman who -spoke and those who were spoken to disappeared. -I was left alone with an idea. The pure, the -undefiled, idea. Revolution. Are you afraid -now? Is the mother in you afraid—or the -father? Or is the child in you afraid? Do you -shrink back with horror from this issue? You -dare to acknowledge mothers. But are you afraid -of the maternal? You dare to say woman. But -are you afraid to say revolution? Woman is -offering no petition. She is not saying her -prayers. She is not humbly beseeching anybody -<a id="page-20" class="pagenum" title="20"></a> -for anything. Woman is vehemently afoot full -armed marching victoriously across the earth exacting -tribute making light of the phantom obstacles -that formerly drove her back into the -lambpit. If I say Pankhurst I say all of you not -one of you. The great auditorium disappeared. -I was alone somewhere with an idea. Her -phrases are the least of her. Revolution is the -most of her. What she was there before my eyes -making a speech was as nothing compared with -what she became to me in the unseen and the -silences. I am awed. The revolution becomes -flesh. The revolution becomes woman. She -sailed across the ocean in a ship. She put her -name on the ship’s register. Revolution came in -another name. And the registry registered it in -another name. Then they didn’t want her to -land. Some of them. They didn’t know her by -her real name but even as it was they felt that -her ominous entrance promised no good. Revolution -waited for revolution. Woman waited for -woman. Have you gone about all these years -supposing woman wouldn’t finally strike her -blow? She waited till it was time. The woman’s -day is here. The man’s day, too: for man can -have no day without woman nor woman without -man. Many of you still tremble. You’d rather -she hadn’t come. But it had to happen. The -revolution was due. You harbored it under disguise. -She set it out in the open. You didn’t -want to acknowledge how big round it was. She -refused to hide the fact from itself. You were -the disciples of revolt. Or the partners. Or the -revolutionary faithfuls. But she was more. She -<a id="page-21" class="pagenum" title="21"></a> -was revolution incarnate. She was the godmade -woman sent to earth to proclaim the future. -There you have it. Not a mere woman. Though -a mere woman is no more to be made light of than -a mere man or a mere cosmos. Yet not a mere -woman. That, surely: then infinitely more than -that. Revolution. Pankhurst. -</p> - -<p> -Pankhurst. The shadow on the horizon. The -black darkness gathering overhead and around. -The threatening forefinger of fate. The menace -of maternity. The uprising of a sex. The comrade -woman challenges the wife woman. It must -be resented. We must throw back the waves of -the sea. Here is another revolt against property. -These people too put people first. How monstrous. -To put a woman or a man first. To -put a mother first. We must teach mothers their -place. And people too: we must teach them their -place. The death of a man or a woman: what is -that? But burning down a house: that is an -attack on civilization. These new women want -everything. They treat husbands as if they were -no more than men. They treat property as if it -was dirt under their feet. They say nothing matters -but hearts and love. Well: hearts and love -are not bad if you keep them where hearts and -love belong. But if you bring hearts and love -into politics or economics then you are invading -a forbidden sphere. We’ve got to set back the -clock. Time’s going too fast. A man said: I -dont like it. I asked him: Dont like what? He -said: This woman business. I asked: What -woman business? He said: Woman in politics. -I asked: Dont you think they’re capable of politics? -<a id="page-22" class="pagenum" title="22"></a> -He exclaimed: My God, yes: too capable! -I asked: Then why do you kick? He said: Because -if they go into politics they’ll make this a -woman’s world and I dont want to live in a woman’s -world. That’s it. When the woman becomes -real they dont want to live in a woman’s -world. Just as profit-believing people don’t want -to live in a man’s world when a real man appears. -If this is not a mother’s world whose world is it? -The man said: I dont want to live in a woman’s -world. Just as profit-believing people dont want -from their own side: We don’t want to live in -a man’s world. Yet if this is not a father’s world -whose world is it? You dont want the world the -women will make it possible for real fathers to -live in. You don’t want the world the men will -make it possible for real mothers to live in. You -say: Half a world’s a good enough world for me. -You say: A whole world’s too big for me. Then -you hear the reply. Then you see the reply. -Words reply. Mobs reply. Conflagration replies. -Quarrels, battles, reply. This still water -of man’s peace has been ruffled by woman’s tempest. -Things were going on so good. Then -these sexless rebels had to come. Just as money -says to people in the economic sphere: Things -were so serene: then you had to come. Yes, -something always has to come. Every time orthodoxy -settles itself for a long tenure something -has to come. Just as clear days are getting -used to themselves stormy days come. We had -things arranged just about right. It wasn’t ideal. -We acknowledge imperfections. But on the -whole it was about right. Woman was just about -<a id="page-23" class="pagenum" title="23"></a> -where she ought to be. Labor too was just about -where it ought to be. Then something happened. -Something always does happen. Labor got to -growling. And now woman’s got to growling. -Woman. Haven’t we given woman the choicest -tidbits of life? And yet she says no. She says -that would be all right if something else was first -all right. That something else is her freedom. -Is her claim to herself. She says that comes -first. Why: that’s just what labor is saying. -We’ve got to fight labor. We’ve got to fight -her. It’s in fact one quarrel with two wings. -And we’ll crush them with one answer. We’ve got -to or this world’ll go to pot straightaway. If it’s -got so that a man’s got a right to be a man -through a woman’s right to be a woman. If it’s -got so that a woman’s got a right to be a woman -through a man’s right to be a man. If that’s so -then I want to know the reason why. This whole -liberty stuff is nonsense. Don’t you see how it -is? My God! If this keeps up the first thing you -know this’ll be a liberty world. Look at it honest. -Dont you see it yourself? Reason it -out in your own mind. Every other consideration -will be set aside. Democracy will run homes, -business, states, everything. Horrible. This will -be a liberty world. And I dont want to live in a -liberty world. Pankhurst. -</p> - -<p> -Pankhurst. When I hear you say that word -I can tell what you think of yourself. I dont -have to ask you for other evidences. Whether -you lift your voice or drop it. That tells the -whole story. Whether there is any mother in -your voice. Whether there is any love in it. -<a id="page-24" class="pagenum" title="24"></a> -You’re not dealing here with a person. You’re -dealing with a race. The person comes and goes. -But the new day; it comes and never goes. Now -and then the world names a new star. All the -glasses are lifted towards the revealed luminary. -There’s the clamor of those who see it and those -who half see it and those who dont see it at all. -You cant know Pankhurst by reading the personals -in the newspapers. You cant get acquainted -with her by taking the stories of her -life for what they literally say. She brings all -that woman can bring. Then she brings what -was before and what is after. If you have the -great person theory you’ll not understand why -she is here and what she has accomplished. But -if you have the great race theory the clouds’ll -wash out of the skies and you’ll see the sun. We -have long said: Man shall hold no property in -man. The women come along now and say: -Man shall hold no property in woman. Then -I go farther. I go to the end. I say: Man shall -hold no property in property. What are you -listening for? It’s a great voice. Women are -not primarily voters. They are women. They -are sex. They are mothers. The maternal is -speaking up for itself. Votes for women. That’s -the mere surface of the stream. Souls for women. -Bodies for women. That’s the far cry. -Every woman has a father in her. Every man has -a mother in him. That which has been confined. -That shall be released. That which has been refused -woman. That she demands. That which -woman has refused herself. That she will resume. -A great flame lit in a vast shadow. That’s -<a id="page-25" class="pagenum" title="25"></a> -what it all is. This little woman overflowing -with calm vehemence: what is she? Just the -mother of two daughters? Just the wife of a -dead husband? Just a prisoner in British jails? -That’s the average of her. But that’s not the -most of her. She reaches out over the earth. -She ceases to be a person. She becomes a presence. -She who can be measured becomes the -immeasurable. My eyes sweep her inspiring horizons. -I follow her lead. Let her go where her -feet and her wings take her. Down anywhere, -up anywhere. Resisted no matter how, welcomed -no matter where. Every mile she travels is sacred -to a common trust. Dedicated to a universal -purpose. Are you skulking? Do you -worry the years away with quibbles? Rather -that every atom of property should go up in -smoke if the people are left. Rather anything -than that the soul should pay the bills of property. -When men are victims you say: We are -saved. When dollars are victims you say: We -are ruined. You can brush aside a man or a -woman. But you cant alter the will of the fates. -You can turn your back to the sunshine. But -you cant stand in the way of the sun. You can -take the splash of the sea. But you cant stop -it from rolling up the shore. You can lock yourself -in your house. But you close the rest of -us out. When the man comes what has the woman -got to say? When the woman comes what -has the man got to say? The answer of the man -is found in the woman. The answer of the woman -is found in the man. The woman has the -floor. She asks her pertinent impertinent questions. -<a id="page-26" class="pagenum" title="26"></a> -She asks whys and wherefores. You exhibit -your tax receipts in reply. She asks you -what you are. You answer by showing her what -you have. You think you shine through what -you own. Far from that. You can only shine -through what you dont own. This little woman -has made all your big fortunes look mean. This -little idea has made all your big theories look -cheap. Everything else always does look insignificant -when a real man or woman comes round. -When you shook hands with this woman you -more than touched the palms of life and death. -When you looked into her eyes you read more -than the tablets of Sinai. When you heard her -speak words you listened to more than the music -of waters and winds. When you measured her -and weighed her you tested more than the sizes -and shapes of starry universes. The woman -comes. Oh man: what has the woman in you -got to say of it? The man comes. Oh woman: -what has the man in you got to say of it? Pankhurst. -</p> - -<div class="epi chapter"> -<p> -<a id="page-27" class="pagenum" title="27"></a> -I have met men and women and men and women: they are -all sizes: yet they are all one size: -</p> - -<p> -I have never so far met a man or a woman little enough -for me to be arrogant with: -</p> - -<p> -I have never so far met a man or a woman big enough for -me to humble myself to: -</p> - -<p> -Men and women dont seem to me made to be figured upon: -they are made to be immeasurable: -</p> - -<p> -They dont seem to me made to be accepted or rejected: they -are made to be my comrades: -</p> - -<p> -We are all so much alike I dont see how we could be -different: -</p> - -<p> -We are all so different I don’t see how we could fail to be -alike: -</p> - -<p> -A few horizons added to a man’s dream: do they make one -man better than another? -</p> - -<p> -A few inches added to a man’s waist: do they make one -man superior to another? -</p> - -<p> -From way up these are such minor matters: the wave drops -away in the sea: -</p> - -<p> -From way up our castes and borderlines are such minor -matters: they lapse away in the soul: -</p> - -<p> -For we are in the end not masters and slaves, not up and -down: we are only brothers and sisters. -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="chapter" id="chapter-0-4"> -<a id="page-28" class="pagenum" title="28"></a> -WHAT IS THE COLOR OF YOUR SKIN? -</h2> - -</div> - -<p class="first"> -<span class="firstchar">W</span><span class="postfirstchar">hat</span> is the color of your skin? Are you a -child of the sun or a child of the snow? Do -you come with red in your face? Or is there a -shadow across your head? Are you the white child -of a black mother or the black child of a white -mother? I see your brown red right hand. How -warm it feels to me. I look into your glowing -equatorial eyes. How like being led to fathers -and mothers that is. You bring me north south -east west. You guide yourselves to me. You -distribute me among yourselves. I am your child -no matter how. Your child no matter where. -There are seas everywhere. But there is no sea -between us. There are interfering miles of space -and hours of time. But they dont break us from -each other. I was born of my mother and here -I am. You were born of your mothers and there -you are. The earth was born of the sun. The -sun was born of what? I mix up the elements. -I come out one place. You come out another -place. From the same mother womb. From -the same father seed. To the same brother earth. -Do you hold a noose over me? Or drop a sword -from above as I pass? Or shoot me down in -my tracks? Or pass laws of which I’m the victim? -Or lock your housedoors when I knock? -My credentials are the same as yours: no better -than yours. I am the harvest of the same planting: -no more than that harvest. Like you I have -one life to live on one earth before I pass on. Do -I stand on my icy heritage and freeze the heat -<a id="page-29" class="pagenum" title="29"></a> -out of your love? Remember the stream: go up -with it to its sources: go down with it to the sea. -Every atom dancing in the light or clouded by the -storm advances and retreats in perfect equity and -perfect order. Dear prouds and humbles: by -God I’m yours and you’re mine. Do you believe -that anything can take you from me or take -me from you? I meet you. I read about you. -I am told all the terrible truths. But everything -draws me nearer. Nothing drives me away. If -you could be less to me than I am to myself then -I would have to be more to myself than I could -be to you. That would violate my democracy. -That would be setting one thing above another. -When I elevate myself with all I am a democrat. -When I lift myself above the rest I am a tyrant. -Listen to me. You who are reading what I write. -Maybe you are black. Maybe you are pink or -white or yellow. Maybe you are between or -across. All that goes with maybe. But when -you are my brother there is no maybe to it. If I -could look at any man and not see his mother as -my own I’d be false to all motherhood. If I -could look at any woman and not see her father as -my own I’d be false to all fatherhood. I’m not -satisfied with one mother. I want all mothers. -Nor with one father. I want all fathers. Nor -with my children. I want all children. I’m not -satisfied with one color. I want all colors. Nor -with one race. I want all races. Nor with one -language. I want all languages. My hunger is -fiercely universal. I’m not fed till I’ve eaten at -every table. I can only know one woman by -knowing all women. I can only know one people -<a id="page-30" class="pagenum" title="30"></a> -by knowing all peoples. What is the color -of my skin? What is the sound to the song? -What is the water to the ocean? That’s what -the rest of me is to my exterior. That’s what -the substance in me is to my show. That’s what -my foundations are to my rooftree. There at the -bottom we are together. And at the top: there -we are together. We begin together and end together. -But we are alienated in the journey. -When we start out in the morning we say good -by. When we meet again at night we ask: How -do you do? What wrenched us apart in the struggle -of the pilgrimage? Why should those who -are friends before and friends again after be enemies -while they travel? I say to the other-colored -peoples: You have to be my brothers whether -you want to or not, thank God. Do they say -to me: You have to be my brother whether you -want to or not, thank God? What is the color -of your soul? What is the color of your skin? -</p> - -<p> -What is the color of your skin? I see. You -are a nigger. You are a damned dago. You are -the man on the other side of the wall. The man -over somewhere. The yellow peril. The ignorant -dirty emigrant. The two for a quarter six -for a half dollar mill slave. There is a border -line between us. There are incomes between us. -There is a whole code of manners between us. -You are the godforsaken polack. You are the -hooknosed jew. You are the monkeyfaced irishman. -You are the beerguzzled deutscher. I call -you names. I can’t see you. You are in the next -yard. The stars look just as well from the next -yard. But I insist upon the exclusive astronomy -<a id="page-31" class="pagenum" title="31"></a> -of my own garden. I smell your stale clothes. I -am choked by the aromas of your foul kitchens. -Would you like your sister to marry an african? -I’m not fussy. I’m only a man. A white man. -I don’t draw lines ferninst you. I only draw -lines in favor of myself. Do you mean to say -you think these ignoramuses as good as yourself? -Do you tell me that you’re no better than the -herd? Nonsense. There’s the nietzschean word -for it. The average man is the herd. The awkward -big-fisted loon. The idiot crowd. The people -everybody kicks. The folks everybody despises. -The men women children you wouldn’t -invite into your home. I use them. Ride them. -Make money off them. But that’s all I want of -them. Just the robber money. Not the man love. -Look at them filing to work tired to start with. -Look at them filing back from work like a funeral -nearly dead to end with. They’re a rum lot. -They’re worth a hundred cents on the dollar and -up in the labor market. They’re worth about ten -cents on the dollar and under on the social plane. -My God! but they’re a scabby bunch. It makes -me sick to see them. Look at them as they work -their treadmill. Don’t they give themselves -away? Right and left, north and south, look -where you choose: they are the slobbering tobaccoey -stay-behinds and passbacks of the dumpheap. -Every mother’s son of ’em useful to me -maybe but useless to themselves. Down in their -luck, to be sure. But sentenced for life just the -same. The jackjohnsons of society. The refuse -of birth and death. The clods. The dullards. -The heavyfooted and heavyheaded bowlegs and -<a id="page-32" class="pagenum" title="32"></a> -knock-knees. The slave asses yoked to an inescapable -burden. Who are you that you dont -belong? Are you of us few or of their very -many? Are you of the interest bearing rent -collecting profit class or do you fester in these -maggoty bottoms of fate? Stay where you fall -no matter how far down you are. Dont try to -climb. We shove you all over the cliff again. -We throw dust in your eyes. We confuse you in -clouds of verbiage. We disarm you. We have -laws to make you afraid. We have creeds to -make you hopeless. We have poets who kill you -with pensive despairs. Do you dare aspire to -anything? Stay where you are in your deep -mud. There is no above to you. No beyond. -No ease. No dreamworld. You were condemned -before you were born. You remain condemned -while you live. And you will continue condemned -when you become the dung in the barnyard -at last. A woman heard me expressing my -race faith. She asked me: “How would you -like to have a grandchild with a black skin?” -That was it. That was the whole devilish poisonous -story. The entire problem prejudice in a -nutshell. She didn’t ask: How would you like -to have a grandchild with a black soul? That -would have meant something. But she wasn’t -interested in souls. She was interested in skins. -How would I like to have a grandchild with a -black skin. What is the color of your skin? -</p> - -<p> -What is the color of your skin? Maybe you -have a black skin and a white heart. Maybe you -have a white skin and a black heart. I dont -know. We talk about the yellow peril when we -<a id="page-33" class="pagenum" title="33"></a> -think of Asia. And we talk about the brown -peril when we think of Italy. And we talk about -the black peril when we think of South Carolina. -But all of us are afraid to talk of the white peril. -I see no perils. My arms reach out to all. I -want the Chinaman to possess himself of the -earth if he’s an earth man. Let him freely pass -right and left testing himself and us. Dont put -up pennywise barriers built on poundfoolish -laws. Rather do anything than stop your fraternities -short of the total census of man. Every -interfering sea, every contradicting statute, every -counterchecking prejudice, every adventure in -money-making, that nullifies the international inference -is a slap in the face of brotherhood. -Damn up the human stream. Then you damn -down the soul. The old negro mammy in Georgia -asked me as I left: Will you do something for -me? I said: Yes, if you’ll do something for -me? She asked: Will you kiss me good by? I -said: Yes—on condition that you kiss me good -by. I would only be worthy to take if I was -worthy to give. I’d say to all the world: I would -only be worthy of loving if I was worthy of being -loved. I would only be worthy of being an American -if I was worthy of being a Jap. I would -only be worthy of serving if I was worthy of -being served. I would only cease being a peril -if I ceased calling others perilous. How could I -be worthy of being a white man if I was too good -to be a black man? Ethiopia cries out loud to -Scandinavia. India cries out loud to England. -All the peoples cry out loud from everywhere to -all the peoples. There is no peril in peoples. -<a id="page-34" class="pagenum" title="34"></a> -There is only peril in you and me. There is no -peril in anything that brings any of us together. -There is only peril in what keeps us or drives us -apart. I go with mothers fathers children. I go -with birth and death. I go with dreaming and believing. -I go with mixing and mating. These are -the same everywhere. The same with you black -and me white. The same with my skin burnt to -fire and the same with your skin frozen to the -whiteness of snow. The same with duskies and -palefaces. I dont go with maps. With geographies. -With diplomacies. With kingdoms and -republics. With genius aristocracy pauperism. -With success and the main chance. I only go -with people. With folks. And with them I go -anywhere they go. Into any hell or any heaven. -Into any hope or any despair. With people. -Where people go I may go too. But where people -are refused there I am shut out. The woman -asked me: Would you like to have a grandchild -with a black skin? She brought her question to -the wrong court. She should not have addressed -it to me. She should have taken it to God. -Would God like to have a grandchild with a -black skin? It’s as though we asked God: What -would you think of yourself if you happened to -be black or red? What is the color of your soul? -What is the color of your skin? -</p> - -<div class="epi chapter"> -<p> -<a id="page-35" class="pagenum" title="35"></a> -O you despairers of destiny! O you plunderers of time! -you make a great noise in the silences: -</p> - -<p> -All that you need to do is to open your eyes: that is the -secret: look: -</p> - -<p> -You come to me; I cant look for you: I can only say, look: -</p> - -<p> -I cant give you a free pass to the promised land: I can -only say look: if you only look you will need no pass: -</p> - -<p> -O, why do you bury your face in the dust? get up: lift -yourself high enough to look over your own head: -</p> - -<p> -Everything you love is yours. -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="chapter" id="chapter-0-5"> -<a id="page-36" class="pagenum" title="36"></a> -YOU WRITERS -</h2> - -</div> - -<p class="first"> -<span class="firstchar">Y</span><span class="postfirstchar">ou</span> writers who are trying to write. You artists -anywhere who are trying for art. You who -may be successful but have not arrived. You who -hold yourselves in a class apart and play the -game of temperament. You fools, liars, ornamenters, -hypocrites, prostitutes, of words. You -who wouldn’t sell your bodies but who sell your -souls. You who have taken to the street for -profit. You who hunger for flattery and thirst -for fame. You betrayers of the people. You -who put words on yourselves as chains. You -who are goods to the highest bidder. All of you. -I have something to say to you. You may have -said it to yourself. But I’m going to say it anyhow. -Both for your good and mine. Something -serious. Something that goes to the root. I’ll -talk right out. For somehow you who might be -are not. You to whom a trust is given have betrayed -it. I believe in the sacredness of the word. -I want words to be gods, paradises, service. I -want words to live. I want words to be creators. -Some writers are so vital they cant say and or -the or but without thrilling you. There are some -writers so dead they cant say immortality without -a funeral. I want the living word. How -can I get it? By using words instead of being -used by words. By speaking out of my heart -instead of out of books. By not trying to write. -By living. Some authors write as if they never -had been born. They say: I did my best. I say: -Rather your worst. When you talk to me face -<a id="page-37" class="pagenum" title="37"></a> -to face you are worth every minute. When you -talk to me on paper in a book you are a waste -of time. What happens to a man in the period -between what he feels and what he does? What -catastrophe occurs? Why does he go to smash -in the process? He is so alive in what he humanly -and so dead in what he professionally -says. What is the poison that comes between? -Money? Prestige? Or is it some false principle -of art? Do your words, do your colors, do your -tones, take you away from rather than towards -your inspiration? You try too hard. You -shouldn’t try at all. An artist’s sketches are wonderful. -His finished canvases are commonplace. -His sketches are impromptu. His paintings are -designed. He did the sketches. The paintings -did him. He didn’t try in the sketches. He was -all try in the paintings. You writers who are -trying to write. Are you trying to live? I admit -your display. I admit your phrases. But you? -Do I admit you? Yes. But not the you you -get into your books. My words belong where -my heart is. I am not willing to feel one thing -and write another. Let me be the servant of my -emotions. Down below all my words is all my -life. Rooted in the soil. Established in the -unalterable laws. Dedicated to the supreme inferences. -If my words dont say that they lie -about me. I am the fact the words are supposed -to report. If they dont express me I go unrepresented. -I dont try to be anything. I just let -myself be whatever results. It would be as bad -for me to force myself to be something as for me -to force myself not to be something. There are -<a id="page-38" class="pagenum" title="38"></a> -so many artists and there is so little art. There -are so many writers and there is so little writing. -There is so much painting and there are so few -pictures. We are overclothed. Our wardrobe -is rich. We are jeweled. We are placed on -thrones. But what are we anyhow? We are -humbug kings. We are fraud citizens. What -we are not we are. What we are we are not. -The same thing which makes some men look for -social prestige makes an author look for literary -prestige. We give up the same things for it. We -lie and duck and play sycophant for it. We fool -people. We make black white and white black. -We trifle away serious things. And we are serious -over trifles. All for what? In order to appear -to be what we are not. We are masqueraders. -Words are the tools of our burglary. -Words are the cant of our religion. Words are -the sophistry of our law. Words are the fog we -lose our way in. We’d be safe if it wasn’t for -words. Words are our peril. Words are the obstacles -in the way. If you want to be understood -dont talk. Whatever you have to say, -dont trust it to words. Try not to try. Cut -loose. Throw the reins on their necks. I see -many books. And yet there is only one book. I -see the broad highway and the countless journeyers. -Where are they all going? The girl looks -at herself in the glass. She wants to be pretty. -A little paint and powder is added here and -there. A few words are added here and there. -It’s all the same thing. You bribe, steal, seduce. -You make use of words not for the purpose of being -true but for the purpose of being beautiful. -<a id="page-39" class="pagenum" title="39"></a> -Show: that’s what you want. Distinction: that’s -what you want. To be considered clever. To be -a best seller. To go into many editions. To be -invited to lecture in colleges. To be asked to -write for the magazines. To be in demand. That’s -what you use words for. So as to be listed in -the literary four hundred. So as to be set apart -somehow. You want to be extraordinary. It has -got so the writer stands above and condescends. -He don’t stand below and look up. He regards -the people as pawns. He’ll use them in the game. -But he won’t concede their equality. He plans -for so much a year. He figures at receptions. -The colleges give him titles. He dont want to -be average. He wants to be exceptional. So he -tries to write. He gives his writing little pulls -and twists so as to adjust it to the market. He -takes words off here and puts words on there because -he wants his disguise to be complete and -impressive. Go look at the books in libraries. -They are the endless roster of the dead. Most -men bury themselves in books. Only occasionally -does a man resurrect himself in a book. He -makes his writing the parade. It marches with -brass bands. Everybody knows it’s coming. And -everybody knows of it after it’s gone. But nothing -can make it live. Active as it seems to be -it’s still a burial. You who have tried so hard -and have not succeeded may yet learn that he -only succeeds who dont try at all. When you -try—that means that you’re up against it. When -you’ve got to engineer. When you’ve got to -watch your ps and qs. When you’re afraid you’ll -not know how to turn a sudden corner. Then -<a id="page-40" class="pagenum" title="40"></a> -you’re no use. Then you’re firing in the air. -You’re to discover how to win without caring -whether you win or lose. You’re to find out that -you’ll arrive without worrying over the process. -He is surest who dont ask for pledges. Words -are a fatality. You writers who are trying to -write. -</p> - -<p> -You writers who are trying to write. You -who’d do anything rather than be thought of no -importance. You who’d murder the language or -rape it or rob it or do anything to it rather than -not make your point. You: what have I to say -to you? Just what I have been saying. Go on -with your dance. Get what you can out of the -disgraceful scramble. Poke your heads into the -slop trough. Let me paraphrase the man who -advised his boy to get money. Make books. -Honestly if you can. But make books. Try -for points. If you cant make them on the square -make them on the foul. Try to write. Dont try -to think. Dont try to love. Dont try to serve. -Try to write. Get a reputation. Never mind -your character. Do everything you can to convince -everybody that you are what you know you -are not. A man has to make a living. Therefore -he has to do what he has to do to get it. So you -have to be notorious. Therefore you have to do -what you have to do to get notoriety. If you -have to murder your mother to get success murder -your mother. What’s one mother to one success? -If you have to starve children in factories -to get success starve children. What are a few -children out of so many? You are the spokesman -of life and death. You can be hired for so -<a id="page-41" class="pagenum" title="41"></a> -much per to aid and abet the orthodoxies. Sell -your soul. What is one soul, even if it’s your -soul, to one success? Your words. You can -turn them into nugget values. You can set a -high figure on them. And you can hypnotize -the purchaser. Not a word without pay. This -is a world and a time of bargain and sale. Make -the world pay. Watch the market. See what it -wants. Give it that. Try to conform. Try to -write not your soul’s words or your heart’s words -but trade’s words. Give the verbal stock market -all the preferences. Everybody else sells whatever -he can. You have words. Words are your -only treasure. Why shouldn’t you sell words? -And you will sell the words that are according to -fashion not the words that are according to truth. -Just as the rhyming lilting poets write the words -not of faith but of formula. If the issue is between -the rules and the exception the rule has to -go. Write book words. And write pretty words. -Even if the ugly word says more than the pretty -word choose the pretty word. Be an artist. Work -for the art result. Whatever you do, dont work -for the human result. Keep your eye on alphabets -and words and sentences. Dont let your -eye wander off to life. If you give your spirit -any liberties it’s liable to play the bull in the -china shop and smash your fine wares into a -tragic litter. You want to know whether I’d -seriously advise such treason. I say yes. Why -not? You are an artist. You are not a man. -You want me to price you by art standards. You -dont want me to price you by human standards. -The art standard might just as well be crooked as -<a id="page-42" class="pagenum" title="42"></a> -straight. It might just as well be a whore as a -woman. It might just as well grovel and snuff -and wallow as aspire and soar. The crook says: -Dont judge me by the human standards. He -wants to be judged by the crook standards. And -from the crook standards why shouldn’t a crook -be a crook? The writer says: Dont judge me -by the human standards. He wants to be judged -by the writer standards. And from the writer -standard why shouldn’t a writer be a writer? -Artist or crook. Crook or artist. It’s the same. -People think it wrong to steal money. But they -dont think it wrong to steal words. The only -word that belongs to the writer is the word that -belongs where it’s put. If it dont belong there -then it’s stolen. It’s far worse to play false with -words than to play false with money. Money? -The next dollar may purify the money account. -Words? Words may be prostituted forever. But -dont let that discourage you. Make good even -if you have to make bad. I cant see any other -way out for you. Let the worst in you do its -best for you. Dont be too squeamish. Remember -that it’s all dirty business anyway. Every -step you take is a surrender. Down, down, into -bottomless confusions you sink yourself. You -haven’t grown into art. You have built yourself -into art. You haven’t written out of people and -life. You have written out of scholars and books. -You have committed in words all the felonies of -the calendar. But because they are words you -haven’t felt guilty. You say: They are only -words. Why should a man be expected to be -scrupulous with words? You might as well say -<a id="page-43" class="pagenum" title="43"></a> -of love: Love is only love. And you might as -well ask: Why should a man be expected to be -scrupulous with love? If the right word pays -use it. But if it’s more profitable to use the -wrong word, use that. You express every horror -of the white slave traffic. But what shall we -say of the word slave traffic? There are houses -of bondage. And there are books of bondage. -Writers say words. But only a writer rare among -writers says the word. Who is the criminal? The -man who steals goods or the man who violates a -thought. What are you doing with words? Giving -them to life or giving them to death? Making -them counterfeit or keeping them genuine? -Not trying to get life from words? But rather -giving life to words? You merchants in words. -You traders of dreams. You who are always trying -for art but who never try for love. You who -always estheticise with the elect but refuse to -fraternize with the crowd. You who go the way -the wind blows. You who yield to art the tribute -of life instead of exacting for life the tribute -of art. You who are the climbers. You who -would give up your souls for a phrase. You who -would rather write a pretty sentence. You who -would rather have a style. You who would -rather be classified with the intellectuals. You -who whatever you are beg, borrow or steal your -way into eminence. You distorters of scripture. -You criminals of words. You parricides of gospels. -You executioners of discovery. You smotherers -of freedom. You writers who are trying to -write. -</p> - -<p> -You writers who are trying to write. Stop trying -<a id="page-44" class="pagenum" title="44"></a> -to write. Then you can write. Live. Let -the writing take care of itself. Trust yourselves -to moods. Trust yourselves to words. Trust -yourselves to what may happen. Then something -worth while will turn up. The man who argues -about his sins is sick. The artist who argues -about his technique is sick. That accounts for -all the dead books. A man who’s busy telling a -story is spending no time wondering how his English -is. I wouldn’t advise you to study to be an -artist? No. I’d rather have you study not to -be an artist. If you’ll only let yourself alone -your art will come. And if you’ll only let your -art alone your life will come. In that perfect result -your spirit will triumph. But if you interfere -with the fine balance either way you’ll nullify -the victory. Sometimes when I see all the -liars of the world I wish all the books might -have remained unwritten. But sometimes when -I read a great book I see how even all the little -books are excused. The man who tries to live -generally dies. But the man who is indifferent -to life becomes immortal. The super man is the -man who’s superior to life or death. The super -book is the book that’s superior to technique. -The super merchant is the merchant who’s superior -to buying and selling. Super writing is the -writing that’s superior to authorship. You are -not to be curious about writing. You are to just -write. You are not to be curious about the reward. -You are to just take what comes. If -you’re prosperous you’re to ask: What’s wrong -with me? And if you’re a failure you’re to ask: -Do I deserve such honor? You are not to say: -<a id="page-45" class="pagenum" title="45"></a> -I’ll put a book into my life. You’re to say: I’ll -put a life into my book. You are not to produce -a work of art. You are to produce a work of life. -You may have to give up your best adjectives. -Or maybe your largest nouns. Or maybe a virile -verb or two. To get what? To get life. You’ve -got to give up everything to get life. The whole -language if necessary. The whole fabric of delicate -grace. All the flowers of speech. All the -rhymes and lilts. All the niceties of manner and -the assurances of routine. They must all go. All -effort must go. You’ve not only got to be free of -the alphabet. And not only free of the traditions. -And not only free of the cliques. But you’ve got -to be free of effort. You’ve got to cease trying. -You’ve got to get where you have stopped caring -or not caring. My call is for indifference. I say -you are not to go round humble about what you -dont do and proud about what you do do. Life -dont call for arguers and hairsplitters. Do what -you cant help doing. Refuse to do what you -can help doing. Ease up on your nerves and -your ambitions. Desire is richest in the absence -of desire. A man’s lungs dont ask any questions. -They just breathe. His feet walk. His eyes -open and shut. Shall a man’s art do less? Shall -it consume itself in quibbles? Shall it dress itself -according to the mode? Or shall it stay in rags? -You cant have both things. So which will you -have? You cant advance and retreat at the same -time. So which will you do? Can you imagine -yourself neither alive nor dead? Can you see -yourself neither anxious nor not anxious? Can -you conceive of yourself as staking all and staking -<a id="page-46" class="pagenum" title="46"></a> -nothing on the survival of a book? No man -can become an artist short of that. No artist can -become a man short of that. Nirvana to technique. -Oblivion to rules and traditions. Letting -the soul retreat to nebula every time it -wishes to advance to creation. Starting all over -again with every word. Making every word again -the first word. Are you to refrain from scheming? -Yes. You are to let the waters flow unto -their normal levels. You are to let the law take -its course. The law of words. The law of books. -A man may get into the way of looking too much -into himself. A book may have a man’s fault. It -too may brood too much. Most every book that -ever tried to be a book has gone bankrupt. And -most every book that didn’t worry whether it was -a book or not has won a place in the human circle. -It’s an awful thing for a man to want to -be good. It’s as awful as for a man to want to -be bad. It’s an awful thing for a man’s style to -want to be a book. It’s as awful for a man’s -book to want to be a style. It’s terrible to want -to be the worst man in the world. But it’s far -more terrible to want to be the best man in the -world. You writers who try: you must keep on -trying till you get beyond trying. The man who -tries: he may sell out: he may go into the market -with his equity. But the man who’s got past trying: -he’s unshakably defiant. You fraud rhymers. -You humbug versifiers. You dictionary hunters. -You users of crooked words for straight. You -professors and poets. I call on you to stop trying. -I dont want to hear any more of your -claims. I only want to hear of your love. I -<a id="page-47" class="pagenum" title="47"></a> -dont want you to waste your time naming yourselves. -I dont care what you are called. I am -only interested in what you are. You make me -sick trying to be clever. Now make me well not -trying to be dull. I’m as tired seeing you try to -write as I’d be seeing you trying not to write. -I want you to quit. I want you to get where you -couldn’t sell if there was a buyer and where no -one else could buy if there was a seller. I want -to see you who have been in verbal bond set spirit -free. I want to see you who have given up all -the life you know for words willing to give up -every word you know for life. You writers who -are trying to write. -</p> - -<div class="epi chapter"> -<p> -<a id="page-48" class="pagenum" title="48"></a> -Every seed counts in the harvest: -</p> - -<p> -In the harvests of orchards and fields: in the harvests of -bodies and souls: -</p> - -<p> -In the harvests of the topless years: in the harvests of the -bottomless spaces: -</p> - -<p> -In the harvests of cruelty and war: in the harvests of fires -and frosts: -</p> - -<p> -In the harvests we win in our love: in the harvests we lose -in our hate: -</p> - -<p> -In the harvests that are swept into graves: in the harvests -that finish before they begin: -</p> - -<p> -There is no better or worse in the harvests: all counts for -all in all: -</p> - -<p> -Every seed counts in the harvest. -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="chapter" id="chapter-0-6"> -<a id="page-49" class="pagenum" title="49"></a> -ALL THE ENGINEERS PERISHED -</h2> - -</div> - -<p class="first"> -<span class="firstchar">A</span><span class="postfirstchar">ll</span> the engineers perished. The ship went -down. Some were saved. Some were lost. The -rich were mostly saved. The poor were mostly -lost. But the engineers: they all drowned. They -all stuck to their posts. Not one of them lived -to tell how the rest died. They had no chance to -tell the world about each other. How heroic they -were. How they nonchalantly smoked their pipes -as they stood waist deep in water. How they -cracked jokes to the last. They just stayed below. -They took their medicine. They may have -squealed. God knows. But they didn’t run. -They kept the lights burning as long as their -hearts kept beating. Who has told their story? -Let me tell it. While you are busy with the -somebodies let me speak of the nobodies. While -you are celebrating the people with names let -me celebrate the people who have no names. -While you are trying to estimate how much -money went down in the cabin let me try to -figure how much manhood went down in the engine -room. While you are counting up the gods -who are not men let me count up the men who -are gods. It may be easy to die with the band -playing and the world looking on. But to die in -the stillness with no one looking on may be a bit -more solemn. I’m not against dying. Dying -has its points. Dying may be the surest way -to life. Nor am I against living. Living too has -things to be said for it. Living may be the noblest -way to death. But I want to say things -<a id="page-50" class="pagenum" title="50"></a> -about these men and boys I never saw. I want -to say things about all the men and boys I have -never seen. The world over, everywhere, yellow -or black or white; the men and boys. I -want to call the attention of forgetful people to -the crowd. The crowd itself forgets the crowd. -It was sad to have the crew die. It was sad to -have the steerage bunch die locked in a hole. -But that wasn’t half as sad as to have the crowd -on shore more curious about the millionaires who -died than about the paupers who died. I’m not -drawing lines on heroes. I’m not worrying about -heroes anyway. I’m thinking of people. My -heart is drawn to people. It dont hurt what they -wear. Let them wear velvet or canvas. Do you -suppose I care whether they’re bad or good? -Rich or poor, they’re people. Every man belongs -somewhere in the crowd. Do you suppose -I care whether he’s at the top or the bottom? -When the boat went to pot people went with it. -Some because they had to. Some because they -chose to. I cant separate the heroes from the -cowards. So I accept them all as people. When -I read of the fifty engineers that perished I felt as -if fifty gods had been snuffed out. People talk of -a man or two or of a few dozen men as if their -death was only a soso bit of news. To me dying -seems sense enough. I can see how we might get -used to dying and enjoy it. But we shouldn’t -waste people. Our civilization is jealous of property -and prodigal of people. I cant see such -waste with equanimity. I want to save people. -There’s such use for people. They are so precious. -They are our brothers. I want my brothers. -<a id="page-51" class="pagenum" title="51"></a> -I dont like you to drown them cruelly in -the sea. I dont want you to destroy them in -railroad disasters. I hate your wars. They rob -me of my people. What do I care about your -balance in bank? One man’s life is worth all -balances in bank. Even a mean man’s life? Yes. -Any man’s life. I pass the derelicts on the street. -They are thrown aside. They have no right in -the stream. If they raise a protest they are -called to order. The police tell them to move on. -And the priests do too. And the statesmen. The -stores and the factories say move on. There’s no -place for them to rest. They’re hounded across -the earth. So the engineers perished. No one -said much about it. They took the engineers for -granted. Did they take anyone else for granted? -They always take the poor for granted. They -expect them to be heroes. And they expect them -to die without a growl. If they growl they are -in a panic. If they say: You die too, they are -ungrateful. If they refuse to die they are set -down for cowards. Or maybe killed. They do -die. They are sacrificed everywhere. They give -up their lives for everybody and for each other. -Trainmen. Sailors. Soldiers. They are all set -up to be shot at or starved. The women who -scrub the floors. The mothers who wash our -clothes. They die for us. These engineers died -for us. Fifty-three of them. Gods who kept a -world moving. Gods who stood by the law. Laborers -keep our world going. They’re always -dying for us. Dying for everybody. With no -decoration. No medals or shoulder straps. Their -names dont get into the papers. They get no -<a id="page-52" class="pagenum" title="52"></a> -hero badges. Poems are not written to them. -No one says: He died like a gentleman. No. -Laborers are so busy dying like men they have -no time to die like gentlemen. They just get a -little line or two when the time comes. All the -engineers perished. That sort of a line. Just a -statistical record without adjectives. Just a -farewell without gunfire. Just a shrug of the -shoulders. Three hundred nobodies were buried -in a mine. Three hundred mere men. Three -hundred dirty Italians perhaps. Three hundred -nobodies the slaves of one somebody. Were they -heroes? No one cares. No one even asks. The -world is not curious. They take care of the -world. Like the gods. They do everything. They -are the providence of all alike loafers and workers. -But they remain anonymous. They live a -little while and die for good. They are not names. -They are numbers. It’s not John this or Stephen -that or William the other. It’s twelve men. The -story dont list them. The story says: Twenty -died. The next day the story says: Two more -have died of their wounds. Nobodies. Died to -save you and me. And yet they are despised. -Not buried in consecrated ground. Though consecrating -the ground they are buried in. Or -the sea. The nondescript atoms of destiny. Lost -in the cosmic shuffle. My brothers. My lovers. -Given to the sea when it was not hungry and -asked nothing. My darling comrades. Stolen -from me when I had a right to them. I tried not -to see the big letters in the paper. But it was -too plain to be avoided. All the gods of the machine -went down. All the engineers perished. -</p> - -<p> -<a id="page-53" class="pagenum" title="53"></a> -All the engineers perished. All the coal miners -were choked to death. All the children took sick -in the factories. All the girls in stores fainted -and had to be sent home. While you’ve been -looking for heroes I’ve been looking for women -and men. Women and men are good enough for -me. Being a man or a woman is far harder than -being a hero. I can find you heroes but they are -growing scarce. The heroes are not improving -any. But the men and women are improving all -the time. The heroes are on top. They dance on -the roofs of the world. But the men and women -are the foundations. They are not heroes. They -are men and women. When things happen they -are of course scared. All brave people are scared -in danger. Only the cowards have no fear. Only -the blind and deaf and loveless are heroes. A -man has a right to be scared. And a woman. -That dont mean that they run or do anything -shameful or ridiculous. It only means that they -know what they’re up against. But they stay -where they belong. They take care of things. -Of this world. They remain in the shadows. -Work on horror-struck in the darkness. Face -death trying to beg off in the dead of the night. -The men and women. Who are you who build -on men and women? Who put your palaces on -their backs? Who make them carry your burdens? -Who suck them dry? You are heroes. -You strut in spectacular places. You are heroes. -But you rob them while they sleep. You are -heroes. But you hit them in the back. You are -heroes. But you lock them in the steerage and -let them drown in a box. Yes, you lock them in -<a id="page-54" class="pagenum" title="54"></a> -the steerage. You have made the labor world a -steerage. You have locked all the laborers in. -They live and die without hope. They are jailed -in your profits. Your incomes turn the key in -the door. How can they get out? Your world -is for the cabins. There are no boats for the -steerage. The boats are for those who live without -working not for those who work without -living. No poor man has a right to live. Existing -should satisfy him. This is not a world -of live and let live. It’s a world of live and let -die. The heroes own the world that the people -make. It takes time to be a hero. People have -no time. They must work. How could the -heroes be heroes if the people stopped working? -So the people are not heroes. They’re only men -and women. They dont ornament the world. -They just feed it. They just nurse it along -through its sicknesses. They just do everything. -Men and women are the ground the heroes walk -over. They are the treasure all the incomes are -drawn from. They are the ragtag and bobtail -who are everything and count for nothing. The -heroes got the band playing. No band plays for -men and women. A princess in England had a -baby. Parliament was about to congratulate her. -Keir Hardie said: Yes, do it. But he also said: -Let’s condole with the widows and <a id="corr-4"></a>children of -the miners who were blown to death to-day. -Hardie had no taste. They all told him so. The -papers told him so. And the em pees. And the -priests of the church. And scholars in colleges. -They agreed that Hardie had no sense of decorum. -For they were congratulating a hero. A -<a id="page-55" class="pagenum" title="55"></a> -princess mother. But he was only condoling -with men and women. What do a hundred mere -men miners amount to compared with one titled -baby hero? This world is not made for men -and women. It’s made for heroes. It’s true -it’s made by men and women. But that’s no -matter. Making a world is one thing. I can see -that. Letting the fellow who didn’t make it -possess himself of it. Dont you see that’s another -thing? Resisting his invasion would be -treason. Every man can see that too. Dont -you see it? If you fight for what dont belong -to you you are a hero. If you fight for what -does belong to you you are a coward. How could -a bricklayer be a hero? Why, the very word is -against it. Bricklayer. How could such a word -describe a hero? But gentleman. Ah! that’s a -word now. That’s the real thing. It’s natural -for a gentleman to be a hero. But no man could -accomplish such a distinction. A man would first -have to become a gentleman before he could in -turn become a hero. So the men have given it -up. And the women. They take a back seat. -They retire before the grandeur of an impossible -reputation. They just keep on doing what they -have always done. They keep on working and -dying. They go down in ships. They starve. -They get maimed by machinery. They look -heavy and stunned. They are stubborn. They -make good in their jobs. But they are never mistaken -for heroes. No one points them out on -the street for heroes. They bob along like ordinary -atoms. Like ordinary sunlight. Like ordinary -air and water. They are not visited by the -<a id="page-56" class="pagenum" title="56"></a> -great or asked to serve on committees. They -just stay ordinary. They just remain like ordinary -food and shelter. Like ordinary love and -hate. Like ordinary gods. And after a while -they perish. They all perish. Like the engineers. -Doing last what they did first. Keeping -their appointments. They die ordinary just as -they lived ordinary. Not even aspiring to be -heroes. Not referred to as honorable misses and -misters anybody at all. Not spoken of as though -a man or a woman was dead. Spoken of as if a -number was wiped off the slate. These men and -women who perish being only men and women. -Just as the engineers who perished were only engineers. -</p> - -<p> -All the engineers perished. Did you ever meet -a hero? I have met heroes. But they never wore -medals or labels. Did you ever meet a martyr -who was conscious of martyrdom? I have met -martyrs. But they never knew who they were. -And I never told them. Heroes dont hunt for -you. You have to hunt for them. The hero is -not the sun. The hero is an atom in the sun. If -light was conscious of being light it would cease -to be light. I know countless heroes. But they -never say anything about heroism. Life is not -heroism. Life is life. One man has more life -than another man. He is not better than other -men. He is only more alive. He weighs more. -He looks farther. But he is no hero. A man is -affronted if you call him a hero. He would rather -just be a man. I think of a certain man. He was -nonchalantly the most effective man I ever met. -Was he a hero? He never went anywhere theatrically -<a id="page-57" class="pagenum" title="57"></a> -to do anything. He just stayed where -he was and acted his part. The engineers just -stayed where they were and acted their part. As -the simplest workman does. As the scavengers -do. Just acted their part. Can a god do more? -Should a man do less? I don’t say there are no -heroes. I say they are countless. You see the -hero in the exception. I see the hero in the rule. -My hero never flourishes a whip. I see him serving. -Let my hero stop serving and he abdicates. -Dont believe anything the hero tells you about -himself. Sure things dont insist on their reality. -Every man has his place. Do you call a man a -hero for staying in his place? If I heard anybody -call me a hero I’d begin to suspect myself. I’d -take my size and shape over again. I’d go forty -days into the wilderness. I’d bury myself in the -slums. I’d want to get away. To be where I’d -escape the measurer. I see the heroes everywhere. -But I see no hero. I see people in their -places everywhere. Often most beautifully in hideous -places. Often most hideously in beautiful -places. Like the engineers they all serve. Like -the engineers they will all finally perish. Like -the engineers they will all reappear somewhere -again. Heroes? The heroes work underground -and overhead unheralded and unseen. The heroes -make our shoes. They work in the trenches. -They nurse babies. They take care of the world. -They make it dirty. And they clean it up. They -are its crowd. They are the mobs. They are -the herd. They are the mass. They are all -always called by all names but their real names. -They are called dangerous. But if it was not for -<a id="page-58" class="pagenum" title="58"></a> -them nobody would be safe. They are called ugly. -But if it was not for them nobody would be graceful. -They are called stupid. But if it was not -for them nobody would be enlightened. They -are the eclipsed, the obscured, the submerged. -But if it was not for them nobody would be a -genius. And you sometimes speak of them as -cowards. But if it was not for them nobody -would be brave. You repeat it often enough as -a matter of course that if it was not for the light -there would be no shadow. Let me say it once -for all the other way. That if it was not for the -shadow there would be no light. I’m glad. I -look everywhere. I discover no hero. I look -everywhere. I never fail to discover heroes. All -the engineers perished. -</p> - -<div class="epi chapter"> -<p> -<a id="page-59" class="pagenum" title="59"></a> -I dont know what it is: I dont know where it leads me: I -go on and on: -</p> - -<p> -Whether along the common road or into the wilderness, I -follow: I go on and on: -</p> - -<p> -The days are as mysterious as the nights: and the years: -they baffle me: I go on and on: -</p> - -<p> -Something persuades me: something I like the feel of: it is -veiled but sure: I go on and on: -</p> - -<p> -I dont know what it is: I dont know where it leads me: -I go on and on. -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="chapter" id="chapter-0-7"> -<a id="page-60" class="pagenum" title="60"></a> -WHAT ARE YOU DOING? -</h2> - -</div> - -<p class="first"> -<span class="firstchar">W</span><span class="postfirstchar">hat</span> are you doing for the cause? Not for -yourself. For all. Not to keep yourself going. -To keep the race going. What are you doing -for to-morrow that you didn’t do yesterday for -to-day? I dont say for what cause. I say for -any cause. I dont ask you what you are doing -with tasks I might set you. I ask what you are -doing with tasks that you yourself set. I know -what you do in eating and working at your trade -and sleeping at night. You do that in order not -to die. Everybody does that. I ask you what -you are doing in order to live. I know what you -say. I read what you write. I have heard your -promises. But this is not enough. This hardly -tells me what I want to learn. I know what you -do with what you have to do. I want to know -what you do with what you dont have to do. I -can see how your pay may make you think. I -want to know how you make your pay think. In -short, I know what you do as a slave. What I -want to find out is what you do as a master. Did -I say master? Yes. Master of yourself. I never -feel like accusing anybody. Like sitting in judgment -on anybody. Down in my heart I acknowledge -the last compassion. Rather anything than -that I should forget your priority. Every man -somehow belongs first to himself. Do I say that? -Yes. Then I say something more. He also belongs -first to the race. He stands for personality. -There he’s for himself. He stands for -service and progress. There he stands for the -<a id="page-61" class="pagenum" title="61"></a> -race. I cant interpret his moods or his impulses. -I can guess them. But their interior purport is -beyond the reach of my vision. That is why I -ask: What are you doing for the cause? And -that is why I say: I shall not say what cause. -The cause has done everything for you. What -are you doing for it? In all the past it has been -doing something for you. Now you have come. -You have inherited its accumulations. What are -you doing for it? I hear you say you dont see -what you’ve got to be thankful for. I dont -charge you with ingratitude. I only ask whether -you are grateful. I dont even say you should do -anything for the cause. I only remind you of -what the cause has done for you. I dont ask you -whether you have done your duty. I only ask -you whether you feel that you have a duty. I’m -not presenting a bill to you. I only ask whether -you owe a bill. The cause has run an account -with you. Do you run an account with the -cause? Again you ask: What cause? And -again I say: I wont name the cause. That which -is the holy of holies to you. That is your cause. -That which you say must come before what you -put into your belly and on your back. That -is your cause. That which demands sacrifice. -That which insists upon its initial sanctity. That -which persuades you more than anything else. -That is the cause. I dont suggest the cause to -you. You suggest it to me. Therefore I have -the right to ask you that question which your own -confession leads up to. You dont have to answer -to me for it. You have to answer to your life for -it. There’s no appeal from the cause. It’s the -<a id="page-62" class="pagenum" title="62"></a> -last court. It says the closing word. What can -you say when you have defaulted? When you -have done nothing for the cause? When you -have simply existed and not lived? No man -owes anything to a world to which he cant feel -related. If you are an alien. If you are a cosmic -vagrant. If you are lost. If you think of -yourself as debris. Then you are not responsible. -Then I dont wonder that you deny your -heritage. But if in any rapt moment of inspiration -you but once catch the face between the -clouds you are from that time the servant of the -eternal. Then there’s no excuse for pettifogging. -Then you can no longer disavow your responsibility. -What are you doing for the cause? For -the beyond? For the next step? Are you giving -up anything for it? Or are you asking it to -give up something for you? Do you pray to it for -favors? Do you want cash down? Or are you -willing your grandchildren should collect? Do -you sell the cause like you sell goods? And -if it’s profitable do you bless it? And if it’s -profitless do you curse it? When I ask: What -have you done for the cause? I dont refer to -anything that you’ve had visible pay for. I refer -to something that there’ll never be any visible -pay for. The cause is always in the darkness -ahead. It’s always the path unbroken. It’s always -the rough of fate. It’s always the veil. Always -the curtain. Always the shrouding mystery. -Do you serve it for pay or work for it with -love? Do you want to get life from it or do you -give life to get it? One man says God. Another -man says Cause. Any name might be any other -<a id="page-63" class="pagenum" title="63"></a> -name so it means the same thing. When I see -what you do or dont do I know whether you are -only a <a id="corr-5"></a>boarder on the earth or whether the earth -is your home. I know whether you are a brother -among comrades or a chance acquaintance among -enemies. What are you doing for the cause? -</p> - -<p> -You are doing nothing for the cause. You are -making a living. But you are not making life. -You are personal. You have not surcharged -yourself with the general inspirations. Your motive -is profit not service. You want to get ahead -no matter how. You dont want to stay behind -no matter why. Let anybody suffer. You mean -to rejoice. You dont make way for the world. -The world makes way for you. Service is not -master. Profit is master. Downing someone -else. Making good because someone else makes -bad. That is your code. Staying alive no matter -who goes dead. Sponging on life. Loafing -on others. Taking anything you can any way -you can get it. Accepting none of the odium of -the cause. Shrinking from anathema. Avoiding -unpopular opinions. Letting anyone do the work -of progress. You doing nothing. That’s the -code. Others queer themselves for an idea. Do -you? Anything but that. You pat them on the -back. But you sneak the price. You encourage -them to go on. But you dont go on with them. -You scab on the revolution. They put up their -lives. You put up nothing. They die that you -may live. You live that they may die. It’s bad -enough to scab on the body. But it’s infinitely -worse to scab on the soul. You are strike breakers. -You undersell. Just as you undertalk. Just -<a id="page-64" class="pagenum" title="64"></a> -as you underspend. Just as you underact. You -hear the cause defamed and say nothing. When -the battle is on you are nowhere to be found. -You dont even carry water. You scab on your -brother. You scab on your age. You are the -revolutionist gone to wood. There’s no flower -on your stem. You let the others do the fighting. -But you claim your share of the spoils. -You say: These theories will be all right some -time. But that some time will never be your -time. My ears know your voice. I can tell -when you are around though you say nothing. -Little as you know it, I follow you through all -the intricacies of your psychic retreats. Do you -think you can cover your tracks? Right or left, -up or down, in or out, across or around: wherever -you go I tally you. Every step you take is within -my horizon. Do you resent my inevitable attendance? -You say: I mean the same thing you do. -And you say: I am with you, only not so fast. -You say: You can count on me, too, but not too -soon. You say: You can depend upon my good -will, but not too far. You’ve always some reason -for holding back. Some reason for not putting -up money or service. Some reason for withholding -your confession. Somebody is always too -violent for you. Too extreme. Too exacting. -Too inevitable. You want at the same time to -be and not to be. You let other men queer -themselves for you. You see them lose their -reputations. You know they put their livings in -the scale for the cause. But you dont raise a -finger to help them. You hug your poor life as -if it was rich. You husband your prostituted -<a id="page-65" class="pagenum" title="65"></a> -treasure as if it was righteous. You let them -work for all while you work for yourself. You -are the master scab. You are the scab left over -after all the other scabs have been beaten. And -you not only scab on your contemporaries. You -scab on your grandchildren. You scab on the -future. You are sold out. You are pinkertoned. -You have betrayed the crowd. You are one thing -when you think and another thing when you -live. You are one thing in what the world knows -you for and another thing in what you know -yourself for. You are the shot from the rear. -Our enemies challenge us face to face. But you -knife us in the dark. You are the margin of -faithless revolution. You are the interior force -which flings us into the clutches of reaction. I -meet you every day I live. You pat me on the -back. You congratulate me. You do everything -but avow me. You are half a revolutionist minus -a whole revolutionist. You dont scab the labor -market. You scab civilization. You scab the -army on the march. You create the panic of -battle. You put the poison in the soup. You -take all and give nothing. You beg what you -cant borrow. You borrow what you dont want -to steal. You steal what you dont mean to work -for. You are the scab of the revolution. You -do nothing for the cause. -</p> - -<p> -What are you doing for the cause? You do -everything for the cause. You work for the -cause as the sun sheds light. You dont hunt -places in which to hide yourself away. You hunt -the open and there face the world. You dont -wait to hear someone else say the word first. -<a id="page-66" class="pagenum" title="66"></a> -You say it. You dont ask anybody to try the -water to see if it’s cold. You try it. And you -dont care if it is cold. You’re as ready to spend -your last as your first cent. Some people are always -wondering what other people will give -them. Some people are always wondering what -they’ll give other people. But the lover dont argue -about himself. He loves. Nor do givers argue -about themselves. They give. They are niagaras -of benefaction. They dont know it themselves. -They have to be reminded of it. Nothing -so surprises a great man as the idea that he -amounts to anything. Nothing so startles the -generous man as the idea that he is liberal. -Nothing seems so impossible to the hero as the -idea that he is courageous. My heart has no -shall I or shall I not. I am not allowed to play -any yes and no game with myself. Listen to -what I say. Down in me where I’m deepest -there’s no hissing snake’s-nest of alternatives. -Run your knives clear through me and I wouldn’t -do but the one thing. Every drop of my blood -flows the one way. Down over that steep cliff -goes all my love, which is all my life. I never -spend a minute trying to find out what my duty -is. There is no duty. I’m just driven. There -is no duty. I just keep on. When I say cause -I say sun and stars and earth and air and food. -I say love and those I love. I say that which -makes life and is made by life. If I hesitated an -instant there would be no cause again. There -would be only empty space and hourless time. -If I drew back one inch order would revert to -chaos. That which is not worth all is worth -<a id="page-67" class="pagenum" title="67"></a> -nothing. If I said I’ll see I’d be lost. If the -tides said they’d see. If the storm said it’d see. -If yesterday said to to-morrow that it’d see. If -birth said to being born that it’d see. If dying -said to death it’d see. If Etna’s fires said they’d -see. If the ices of the north said they’d see. If -a fragment of an atom said it’d see. It’d be the -same as if I’d say I’ll see when my name is called. -If I left it to my purse to see. If I left it to my -properties to see. If I left it to my prospects or -my privileges to see. Then I’d not see at all. -I’d be stone blind. If I said that the cry of the -scab is the voice of God. If I said that the chorus -of the dollars is the psalm of paradise. If I -said that the prayer of apology is the savior of -souls. Then I’d not hear at all. I’d be stone -deaf. What are you doing for the cause? Do I -want you to be a fool for the cause? Yes. That’s -the only way you can be wise for yourself. Do I -want you to give up facts for dreams? Yes. -That’s the only way you can turn dreams into -facts. Do I want you to give everything to the -poor? Yes. That’s the only way you can become -rich to the crowd. I dont want you to put -your hand into your pocket and take it out empty. -I dont want you to put thought into your brain -and take it out empty. I dont want you to put -love into your heart and take it out empty. I -don’t want you to say to the cause: I’ll think it - -out over night. I dont want you to say: I may -help some but dont expect too much of me. I -dont want you to say: I’ll ask my wife or my husband -or my father or my mother or somebody. I -<a id="page-68" class="pagenum" title="68"></a> -dont even want you to ask your own spirit. I -want you to act. I want you to answer before -the question is put. I want you to spring before -the challenge is issued. I want you to warm up -before the fire is lit. Do I want you to go out -cold nights when you might stay home and be -comfortable? Yes. More than that. Do I want -you to take your fortune in your hands and go do -something impossible? Yes. More than that. -Do I want you to choose misery maybe in place -of joy? Yes. More than that. Do I want you -to stake your life on the issue? Yes. More than -that. I want you to do more than all that. I -want you to do more than debate and quarrel and -wonder and waver even if you decide right in the -end. I want you to go on as if you had nothing to -do with proceeding: I want you to surrender as -if you had nothing to do with yielding. I dont -want you to wait till you are called. I want you -to call. Whenever anything goes short: I want -you to step into the gap. I dont want you to -ask: How can I? I want you to say: I couldn’t -do anything else. What are you doing for the -cause? -</p> - -<div class="epi chapter"> -<p> -<a id="page-69" class="pagenum" title="69"></a> -They talk about the rock of ages: there is no rock of ages: -there are only the people: -</p> - -<p> -If I build on the people I build true for always: if I build -on myself I build on the shifting sand: -</p> - -<p> -There is no rock of ages: there is only the human heart: -there is only love: -</p> - -<p> -If I build on the heart, on love, I build for always: if I build -on the body, on hate, I build on the shifting sand. -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="chapter" id="chapter-0-8"> -<a id="page-70" class="pagenum" title="70"></a> -I CLAIM EVERYTHING -</h2> - -</div> - -<p class="first"> -<span class="firstchar">I</span> claim everything for the people. And everything -is not too much. The individual has got -to learn to say: I am the people. And the people -have got to learn to say: We are the individual. -Everything springs from the people. Everything -goes back to the people. I’m not interested in -suns. I’m interested in people. Mountains and -moons and trees have no meaning to me until -they are peopled. Your philosophies and dreams -are insignificant till they are peopled. I know -nothing but people. I comprehend nothing but -people. If you sing a song I hear people in it. -If you paint a picture I see people in it. If I -didn’t hear the people or see the people I might -as well be deaf and blind. If you tell me there -are so many rivers in a country or so many acres -of ground and ask me: What do you think of -that? I say: I dont think of that: I only think -of people. If you name the great men to me and -ask: What do you make of them? I answer: I -make nothing of them: I make everything of the -people. If you ask me: What do you read in the -book? I reply: I read the people in the book. -I am at home where people are. I am alien where -people are not. There’s no use trying to get me -to approve of anything that dont include the -people. That which dont include the people is -empty. Just as a man’s heart if it does not -include the people is void. I am drunk with -the crowd. I am bathed in the mass. I give myself -to the common stream. I dont want to be -<a id="page-71" class="pagenum" title="71"></a> -found somewhere off alone. I want to be lost -somewhere off alone. I want to be lost somewhere -in the crowd. I never feel so pinioned as -when I’m alone. I never feel so free as when -I’m in the crowd. The crowd is my father and -mother. My eyes are not enthralled by sunsets -and seastorms. I want people: only people. Let -me have people and I’m happy. Deny me people -and I’m defeated. Rich as a man’s soul may -be in its own right a man’s soul is incomputably -richer in the people’s right. Every time I wander -from the people I feel as if I am choosing a -vacuum for my inheritance. Dont you see how -it is? I draw all my checks on the people. My -personal signature is not valid. I have no account -with myself. I can never overdraw my account -with the people. You say: God said: Let there -be light. I say: The people say: Let there be -light. You talk about inferior people and superior -people. I see no superior people and no inferior -people. I see only people. When I say -people I dont say good and bad. No: nor geniuses -nor fools. No: nor the saved and the -damned. No. When I say people I only mean -people. I dont mean whites or blacks or Hindus -or Americans. I mean people. If I say that the -world belongs to people I don’t mean a few owning -for all or all owning for a few but all owning -for all. If I say the people are divine I dont -mean divine people. No. I only mean people. -The people are divine but there are no divine -people. So when I say I claim everything for -the people I dont mean everything with exceptions. -I mean everything without exception. I -<a id="page-72" class="pagenum" title="72"></a> -dont owe the good people as separated from the -bad people. I owe both. And I owe the bad -people more than I owe the good people. For -the good people have been good for themselves. -And the bad people have been bad for me. I -claim everything for the people because the people -are everything. I make no claims for the -green grass and earthquakes and shipwrecks and -arts and the will of the majority. Such incidents -are secondary. My claims are all for the -people. After you give me the people I have -everything else. But if you refuse me the people -then I have nothing at all. If your theories dont -give me the people. Or your governments. Or -your sciences. Or your vast cities. Or anything -you build or pride yourselves upon. If they dont -give me the people they are a fraud against which -I revolt. But if they give me the people then I -return you a receipt in full. I want people. I’m -willing to go without anything. Without what -you poorly call riches. Without what you weakly -call power. Without what you obscurely call -distinction. I’m willing to go without all that if -you’ll only give me people. Any people. The -rough and tumble average. The nonchalant -non-elect. The noisy quiet brutal kind crowd. -Though I am dashed to death against its rocky -shores I surrender myself without equivocation -to the furious sea. Everything is not too much. -I claim everything for the people. -</p> - -<p> -You claim nothing for the people. Nothing is -not too little for the people. You lock your doors -to keep the people out. You lock your heart to -keep yourself in. You say dollars. I say people. -<a id="page-73" class="pagenum" title="73"></a> -You say kings and Presidents. I say people. -You say the sculpture of Greece, the paintings -of Italy, the music of Germany. I say people. -You say: But for them. I say: But for -these. You point out a few figures lost in the -distance. I direct you to the crowd at your elbow. -You say one and another. You say somebody. -I say all. You say fame. Intermediaries. -Middlemen. Interpreters. I say people. You -are eminent for a while by reason of what you -take. But I say no one can be eminent for good -except by reason of what he gives. You think -the people need saviors. I say the saviors need -people. The people make money for you. You -spend money for the people. The people make so -that you may have. You dont make so that people -may have. You give me leaders. I give you -people. You say the leaders lead. I say the -leaders follow. That the people lead. Leaders -would be useless without people. People would -still be people without leaders. You say brain -should be paid extra. I say nothing should be -paid extra. That pay should not be for talent but -for need. What a man needs. That should be -his pay. What a man contains. That should be -what he gives. A witty man said: The more I -see of men the more I think of dogs. I will say -that in another way. The more I see of those -you call the somebodies the more I think of those -you call the nobodies. We live in an age of -saviors. I am looking for an age of people. The -saviors are multitudinous. The priest takes your -soul. He’s going to save your soul. The plutocrat -takes your body. He’s going to save your -<a id="page-74" class="pagenum" title="74"></a> -body. You see, they’re going to save you by -destroying you not by fortifying you. So they -seize the pictures to save art. And the operas -and symphonies to save music. You are to be -saved by being denied everything. If they gave -you anything you’d be lost. They are safe from -luxury no matter how much they have. You are -in peril of luxury no matter how little you have. -They fool you with their paraphernalia. You -are awed not by their brains but by what they -tell you of their brains. You take their word -for it. You should take your life for it. You -are willing they should enjoy for you. Should -travel for you. Should eat and drink for you. -Should play games for you. What have you for -yourself? Resignation. Remember that text -which has been immemorially the solace of the -robber. The poor you have with you always. You -must have the poor with you always because you -must have the rich with you always. Who would -save the poor if the rich didn’t? And if the poor -were not saved what would become of the rich? -The great you have with you always. You must -have the little with you always because you must -have the big with you always. It wouldn’t do -to wipe out the distinctions. To fill in the gap. -That chasm is kept impassable by the hand of -providence. You cant live for yourselves. -Someone must live for you. You cant live for -yourself. You who dig in ditches. You who -work in mills. Harry Thaw must live for you. -You who eat at lunch counters. You cant live -for yourself. The fellow who dines at the St. -Regis: he must live for you. Every time you try -<a id="page-75" class="pagenum" title="75"></a> -to live for yourself some savior interferes to live -for you. You’ve got to keep yourself thin to keep -him fat. There’s no other way to sustain the -delicate balances of destiny. The church will live -for your soul. The state will live for your body. -You find all the saviors waiting to live for you. -Insisting on living for you. Refusing to let you -live for yourself. Taxing you to death to crown -themselves for life. You have thought of the -saviors dying that you might live. Think again. -And you will see yourself dying that the saviors -may live. My life is the people’s life. I no more -die for the people than the people die for me. -Look the saviors straight in the face. Defy them. -Refute them by an appeal to your own treasure. -Every time by an appeal to your own treasure. -Every time you save yourself you destroy a savior. -Do you want to be saved by another? -Better be damned by yourself than saved by another. -What is the price of salvation? Your -body and soul are the price. You are to give up -everything. That is the price. Not give up everything -to all. No. That would be a fair price. -Give up everything to the saviors. That is the -price. That is the pirate fee. What is the price -of salvation? Your alleys and gutters and prostitutes -and factories and premature death are -the price. At every doorway stands a savior. -He charges you for going in. He charges you for -coming out. Profit is a savior. You pay its toll. -Rent is a savior. You pay its toll. Interest is a -savior. You pay its toll. What is left after you -have settled with the saviors? The saviors are -left. But nothing is left of you. Nothing is -<a id="page-76" class="pagenum" title="76"></a> -not too little for the saviors. You claim nothing -for the people. -</p> - -<p> -I claim everything for the people. And everything -is not too much. What do the people claim -for themselves? So far they have claimed little. -They have let the saviors give them religions. -They have let the saviors give them economics. -They have stood aside to let the saviors pass. -Instead of making the saviors stand aside to let -the people pass. The saviors have given them religions -which were blasphemies. The saviors -have given them economies which were robberies. -The saviors have been. The people are to be. The -people are next. Now the people will give the saviors -religions which are reverent. And they will -give the saviors economies which are justice. The -saviors used to succeed. Now you may notice -that the saviors fail. The saviors only succeed -when the people fail. When the people succeed -the saviors fail. Saviors belong with kings and -owners and bosses. When the people at last object -to being ruled or owned or bossed the saviors -will disappear with the saved. The mendicant -and the millionaire are symptoms of the same disease. -The savior and the saved are symptoms of -the same disease. The superior person and the -inferior person are symptoms of the same disease. -The capitalist and the laborer are symptoms -of the same disease. They require only one -treatment. You cant get one without the other. -You cant <a id="corr-8"></a>rid yourself of one without the other. -The people dont need saviors because they dont -need to be saved. You cant save people for the -same reason that you cant damn people. The -<a id="page-77" class="pagenum" title="77"></a> -people are people. That’s the answer to all the -saviors. The people are themselves enough answer. -People intoxicate me. My eyes see people. -(I dont acknowledge things.) Look for, -find, abandon themselves, to people. Dont acknowledge -saviors. Reach out to, are reached -out from, people. Everywhere I meet the threatening -saviors. Do you shrink in the mire till -you can borrow wings to take you to heaven? -I know the black in the people. But the black -in the people is not the people. Even the white -in the people is not the people. The hate or -love in a man is not the man. The man is the -man. The people are the people. It’s stupid to -say that. It’s like saying a cloud is a cloud. It’s -like saying a star is a star. But what else can be -said? Time and space are time and space. Can -you damn or save time and space? The people -are the people. Can you damn or save the people? -You might as well tax the skies as tax a -man. As well assume to save the sun for pay as -save the people for pay. As well pretend to -be the necessary middleman between Jupiter and -the moon as between people and <a id="corr-9"></a>people. I make -the whole claim because I have the whole faith. -And everything is not too much. I claim everything -for the people. -</p> - -<div class="epi chapter"> -<p> -<a id="page-78" class="pagenum" title="78"></a> -I see what you see all around: the half lives lived: the -cruel quarrels of brothers: -</p> - -<p> -I see what you see: haven’t I lived where the fight is thickest? -</p> - -<p> -But I would have no hope of peace if I could not say: I -guess it’s all about love: -</p> - -<p> -Just as a man with a woman and their child are just about -love: -</p> - -<p> -Just as passion is just about love and consecration is just -about love: -</p> - -<p> -Just so the brute is just about love and the man into whom -he emerges is just about love: -</p> - -<p> -I would miss the main point if I missed that: if I could -see hell and not see heaven, I would miss the main point: -</p> - -<p> -I guess it’s all about love: I dont know what it’s all about -but I guess it’s all about love. -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="chapter" id="chapter-0-9"> -<a id="page-79" class="pagenum" title="79"></a> -TO LEAVE NO DOOR UNOPENED -</h2> - -</div> - -<p class="first"> -<span class="firstchar">T</span><span class="postfirstchar">o</span> leave no door unopened. To pass freely -in and out. To leave no heart unopened. To -leave no life unopened. To get everything between -out of the way. To make it possible for -desire to reach across the gap. That is your -business and mine. That is what we owe ourselves -and each other. To make light of boundary -lines. To efface barriers. To abolish tollgates. -All civilization is the opening of doors. -All art is the opening of doors. And science. -It, too, is the opening of doors. We have been -out of sight of each other. Too many of us sit in -perpetual executive session. Most of us exclude. -We dont include. We close ourselves in somewhere. -We look down and up but we dont look -face to face. Not because we dont trust others. -Rather because we dont trust ourselves. We -think the trouble is with them. The trouble is -with us. We withdraw. We get away. Crawl -into holes. Into incomes and fames. Crawl into -them and draw the covers over. We dont welcome -life. We shrink from it. We never keep -open house. We live in prisons and we are our -own jailers. We are not trying to live as big -as we can but as little as we can. What are we -after? You: what are you after? And I: what -am I after? I say we must step out and around -and over and under and across. We must do all -we can to discredit what holds us down and keeps -us in. It is not life but death for us to shrink -from the alternatives of liberty. I give a free -<a id="page-80" class="pagenum" title="80"></a> -pass to the universe. For day and night. For -always. For the suns and stars to walk in any -time. For the seasons to come and go as they -choose. That is, I declare myself wide open. I -take all the shutters down. I put all the doors -back on their hinges as far as they will go. I -throw all keys away. Then I invite the world in. -I say to the world: Possess yourself of me. I -say to the world: I dont want to deny you -anything. I want the world to take me at my -word. And you, my brother: I want you to take -me at my word. If life is a monastery then I -choose death. If life is asceticism then I choose -death. If life is classes and superiors and owners -then I choose death. If life is a stockade. -If life is the sacrifice of all to a few. If life is -being blind and deaf and dumb. If life is living -back of a high wall. If life is this sort of thing -then I choose death. The path of life is not to -the grave but to the cradle. The signal, the symbol, -of life is not division but unity. What is the -use of living if you cant be alive? Why should -I hide in a hole when I should be a rover? Why -should I keep myself out of the main currents of -experience? Man from the start has been breaking -loose from the drag of the dust. He has -sometimes resorted to violent means to his end. -He has dashed thrones to the earth and killed -tyrants. He has gone to war. He has robbed -his neighbor. He has so far not called his brother -by his right name. He has lived inside himself. -But that’s only half a life. You live a whole life -only when you live inside others as well as inside -yourself. But with all his pausings and writhings -<a id="page-81" class="pagenum" title="81"></a> -he has helped himself along towards deliverance. -For there is only one deliverance. The deliverance -of a man to his brother. The unimpeded -approach of one man to another. All time, all -space, are for that. That is what time and space -are. That is what civilization is. Getting acquainted. -That is civilization. Mercilessly wiping -out the last atom between. So that there is -not only nothing to climb over but nothing to -stumble over in passing to and fro. That is what -it was and is and must hereafter all be for. Life. -Art. Everything. It must all be for that. To -get armies and navies and properties from between. -If it was not all for that then it would all -be for nothing. If it left that unachieved then it -would leave life unachieved. If it is right for anything -to remain between then I see no reason why -everything you please should not remain between. -Do you see a door anywhere? Throw it open -wide. Do you see an interfering income or ambition -anywhere? Throw it open wide. I do -not say: Be gentle in doing it. I say: Throw it -open: dont wait a minute: throw it open. -</p> - -<p> -To leave no door unopened. Is there any short -cut from a man to himself? Every time you shut -a door you shut it on yourself. When you close -one out you are one time shut in. When you -close the people out you are millions of times shut -in. You cant shut out without shutting in. -Every dollar you lay away against others is laid -away against yourself. The barrier you set up -against the world. It’s as hard for you to get -over it as for the world to get over it. It’s like -hating somebody. You may do him some harm. -<a id="page-82" class="pagenum" title="82"></a> -But you do yourself worse harm. Your hate -could not stick to him. But it sticks to you. The -hater always wears the scars of hate. You cant -have yourself unless you have others. The penalty -of being exclusive is exclusion. You feed -only one light. If you put that light out for me -you put it out for yourself. I know you think -you can go it alone. But you cant. You may -stand very firm. But you are on the common -ground. There is no other ground. You may -breathe in the air off your housetop. But you -breathe the common air. There is no other air. -Nothing will work if it is set up to separate individuals -or peoples. It may last for awhile. But -it cant be perpetuated. That which is not rooted -in the people cannot survive in the person. You -cant alienate your life. You can kill yourself. -But you cant alienate yourself. You may do it -through an income. You may do it through an -art. You may do it through ambition. It makes -no difference how. But you are from then on -dead. You may still hang around. But you are -dead. For no man can live only in his own few -feet and pounds of mortal flesh. He needs a -world to live in. To live in a world means to -live the life of that world. Not monkeyishly. -Not as a slave. No. But within the horizon of -its ideals and sympathies. Living the world’s -life in your own way. Giving the world’s life -your identity. But living it. Not trying to -break with it. Not using property or fame or -anything as a pretext for isolation. Our institutions -and systems are arbitrary checks put -upon the spirit. Even seats of learning. Even -<a id="page-83" class="pagenum" title="83"></a> -exhibitions of pictures. The artist is used as a -check upon art. That is, upon life. He is put -in the way instead of leading the way. You cant -steer a world into your back yard. But you can -steer your back yard into a world. You say man -cant live by bread alone. No. He cant. He -must live by love. He cant live in himself alone. -He can only live in the crowd. How can you -pass from yourself to yourself again? With all -the money between. With the power between. -With the pride between. With the ambition between. -How can you? How can you hope to -live a true life in such a false relation? How -can you expect to lead a seeing life in such a blind -contingency? You are all closed out as well as -closed in. It cant matter which side of the door -you are on. It is equally fatal either side of that -door. Worse, if worse either side, on the inside -than the outside. It is better to be closed out -than to close out. It is better to be a pauper outside -than a millionaire inside. I would rather die -in the life of the crowd than live in the death of -myself. You are in on the ground floor. The -ground floor is hell. Dont you feel the flames -lick and bite at you? I cant put anything between -myself and others. It is perfidy. It is as -if I sold the people out. Any personal wish. -Any individual instinct. Anything. Any interrupting -item however innocent is a crime. That -is why our proud profits are ignoble. That is -why the professional successes are cluttering debris. -That is why nothing but absolute abandon -will signify in the last count. We dont want to -be hid away in holes. Our fortunes hide us away -<a id="page-84" class="pagenum" title="84"></a> -in holes. Our eminences hide us away. Getting -ahead of competitors hides us away. I get a -little more money than the next man. Then I -hide away from him. Then I hide him away -from me. A private victory is not integration. -It is dissolution. Social wealth stands for the -open door. Personal acquisition stands for the -frowning wall. I indict the systems because they -drive men apart. Every institution created for a -caste sits with closed doors. It thinks itself the -custodian of a treasure. It is only the trustee of -an assumption. For it always closes out infinitely -more than it closes in. I indict the systems -because they close their creators in. Because -they make themselves useless. Because -they are arrayed against the mob. There’s only -one good side to the mob. That’s the inside. The -mob. All. There’s only one good side to it. -Nothing is so little as a big thing in a jail. Nothing -is so big as a little thing free out of doors. -Our civilization is a big thing. But it’s in jail. -We’ve got to get it out of doors. That is, you’ve -put our civilization in vaults and used it for the -few against the crowd. We’ve got to level the -vaults. We’ve got to get our civilization out of -doors. We’ve got to hand it around. Open all -the doors. Let everybody in. Yes, even the derelicts. -Hand civilization around. Let everybody -help himself. That’s crazy? So it is. But nothing -in this world ever got its growth till it was -crazy. No man ever did anything to push things -along beyond till he began to be called a fool and -a suspect and was avoided by his friends. Throw -everything wide open. Dont worry about the -<a id="page-85" class="pagenum" title="85"></a> -weather. The weather with love in it wont hurt -whatever it is. Your job, my job, is this: To -leave no door unopened. -</p> - -<p> -To leave no door unopened. Do you know -what that means? It means to leave no heart -unopened. To leave no income unopened. To -leave no book or picture or song unopened. It -is a challenge. You are to trust yourself to love -not to a lock. You are to trust yourself to people -not to yourself. You are to trust yourself to the -whole not to a part. You will no longer trust -yourself to your dollars. You will no longer -fasten yourself in. You will no longer worry -to-night wondering about to-morrow morning or -worry to-morrow morning wondering about sundown. -You have great evidences. The vast -properties. The cities and the farms. The railroads -and the telegraphs. The sure and the counterfeit. -They are immense. They cant be counted -up. But there are better evidences. You dont -quote them. You sneer at them or you pass them -by. The people. They are better evidences. -The love of the people. The idealism of the -people. The revolt of the people. They are -better evidences. After all your buildings are -set on the ground. Your riches are hidden dead -in vaults. But the people are vital and flowing. -People make houses. But have houses ever made -people? I have seen houses so large they became -aware of their littleness. I have seen people so -modest they became aware of their immeasurability. -We have made our towns ruthless. They -are not fit to live in. We expect people to live in -them without love. We can live nowhere without -<a id="page-86" class="pagenum" title="86"></a> -love. It may be necessary to sweep half our world -away in the interest of the other half. It may be -necessary to stampede all values. To abrogate -all treaties. To repeal all laws. To annul all -respectabilities. All in the interest of life. We -have to open all doors. No plea can resist this -purpose. As sure as the sun comes up this will -come up. You have planned your world. But -you have left love out. You want everything -protected. Especially property. Property. I -say take all your protectives off property. I say -put all your protectives on people. If no one -owns no one will steal. If all own all will be fed. -Every time you write a deed a door is closed. -Every time you repudiate possession a door is -opened. If you take down your shutters you -will find it is day. Matters have gone on farther -than you suppose. Farther towards love. Give -them a show. Forget that you are a proprietor -and remember that you are a man. Forget that -you own anything and remember that you are -something. I dont advise you to destroy your -properties. I only say: Take your name off -them. How much better it looks not to be a -boss or a superior. How much more like opening -doors. How much more like fraternity. We -cant have a world of brothers as long as any door -is closed any where against any body. Nor while -any piece of land or goods or any power of man’s -arms or brains is closed against any body. This -has got to be made a wide open world. I dont -care where profits go. Nor where privileges. -Nor what becomes of the elect. Nor whether -anyone ever paints a picture again or preaches of -<a id="page-87" class="pagenum" title="87"></a> -beauty. I dont care. I am first of all interested -in men and women. I want to know first of all -what becomes of men and women. If men and -women get what belongs to them the graces will -take care of themselves. But if the ornaments -are put first then they are discredited and must -be dethroned. What we will do with the esthetic -will depend first and last of all upon what we do -with men and women. I want every door opened -as far as it will go. And every heart. And every -fortune. And every opportunity. And every -vista. I dont want anybody standing anywhere -asking anyone: Where’s your ticket? As if the -sun before shining should ask: Where’s your -ticket? Or the air we breathe: Where’s your -ticket? All have made what the few have. Yet -the few ask: Where’s your ticket? As if love -should ask: Where’s your ticket? There is no -ticket. There is the open way. There is no -ticket. There is the eager willing impulse. There -is no ticket. There is the unhesitating sacrifice -and consecration. There is no ticket. There are -only fields on which we share the harvest. There -is no ticket. There is the commune. There is no -ticket. There are only people. When you push -through no one asks: Where are you going? -Everybody says: Walk right in. When you -look for what you want no one asks: Will you -pay cash down for it or shall I charge it? Everyone -says: Help yourself. You say: People never -will work in your world. I say: People who get -too little so hard will not stop work because they -are to get enough so easy. Everywhere we go -now everything is closed and everybody is asked: -<a id="page-88" class="pagenum" title="88"></a> -Where’s your ticket? Everywhere we go then -everything will be wide open and everybody will -be told: Make yourself at home. We are to -continue on and on till the last outcast becomes -the first citizen. Till this generation of exiles -becomes the next generation of comrades. To -leave no door unopened. -</p> - -<div class="epi chapter"> -<p> -<a id="page-89" class="pagenum" title="89"></a> -When you hear of a ship going down at sea do you say: -That is the conclusion? -</p> - -<p> -When you see one man do a mean thing to another man do -you say: That is the conclusion? -</p> - -<p> -When you see systems substituted for souls do you say: -That is the conclusion? -</p> - -<p> -I love the people: I never see the enemy of the people as -the conclusion: -</p> - -<p> -There is something more to come: after the shadow light is -to come: -</p> - -<p> -When you fall down, when you are only half a man, I say -there is something more to come: -</p> - -<p> -Why, dear comrade—after half a man a whole man is to -come: out of you, too, is to come: -</p> - -<p> -For the conclusion of a man is only in the perfection of a -man: nothing else is a conclusion: -</p> - -<p> -For the conclusion of sex is only in the perfection of sex: -nothing else is a conclusion: -</p> - -<p> -And you may be sure that after all the black has come that -can come white will follow: -</p> - -<p> -And you may be sure that after all the journeys down hill -you will find your way to the crest again. -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="chapter" id="chapter-0-10"> -<a id="page-90" class="pagenum" title="90"></a> -HAVE YOU SOLD YOUR SOUL? -</h2> - -</div> - -<p class="first"> -<span class="firstchar">H</span><span class="postfirstchar">ave</span> you sold your soul for dirt? And what -have you sold your body for? Have you given -away what you are for what you can get? Have -you traded off your body for your soul or your -soul for your body? Or have you gone on taking -both with you on equal terms? You may think -you have profited when you have lost. You may -believe you are a victor when you are defeated. I -have no quarrel with the earth. But dirt can -never take the place of a man. Nor can a man’s -living ever take the place of a man’s life. What -a man does may be successful. And what a man -is may be a failure. Any one thing in the place -of any other thing is a failure. If we want a man -goods wont do. If we want love money wont -do. If we want faith comfort wont do. If we -want beauty falsehood wont do. You are all -talking about making your way. Making your -way to what? It all depends on that. To what? -A man may make his way. He may cut a tremendous -figure. He may outpace everyone and -invite envy and admiration. He may do all that -and still be dead. And then he may do all that -is the opposite of that. He may be the most lamented -man in his crowd. He may do and be -all that and still be alive. It’s always harder to -know what to do with too much than with too -little. I readily get used to reverses. But I can -never quite accommodate myself to a triumph. -When things go against me I always have myself -left in my own favor. But when things go for -<a id="page-91" class="pagenum" title="91"></a> -me I always have myself asking me questions I -cant answer. My body and my soul are imperative. -I cant make light of their demands. -Let me sell them out: then what happens? Dirt -begets dirt. Reach outside yourself for something -that is only to be found inside yourself: -then what happens? Every grain of sand that -gets where it dont belong interrupts the revolution -of the planets. Down the sunbeam dances -the anarchic atom. Have you sold your soul for -dirt? Sold your soul for something not itself? -Sold your soul to the alien? I do not accuse you. -I ask you a question. I do not say you do wrong. -I ask you why you do not do right. I do not say -you are outside the fold. I invite you inside the -fold. I have no wish to make you a good man or -a bad man. I want you to come into what -you were born for. I want you to step out of the -way of the universe and to step into the way of -yourself. Do not confuse my values. I am no -despiser of the body. I am no enemy of markets. -You may sell your soul for dirt. Sell sermons as -easily as sell goods. I see the best in the house of -Man and the worst in the house of God. I do not -charge. I persuade. I build no fires to burn anybody -up. I only build fires to light the way. -Have you betrayed yourself with thirty pieces of -silver? Have you sold yourself? Have you permitted -yourself to be sold? Are you exposed for -sale on the bargain counters? You are consigned -to yourself in trust. Have you betrayed -your trust? The world is consigned to itself in -trust. Has it betrayed its trust? Have you sold -your soul for dirt? You may have bought souls. -<a id="page-92" class="pagenum" title="92"></a> -That means that you have sold your soul for dirt. -You have no right to buy or sell. As long as -buying and selling lasts you cant help selling -your soul for dirt. Nothing can purify the way -as long as one man exacts toll of another man. -Everything should be everywhere. Everybody -should help himself. We live in the age of bought -and sold. We are about to pass into the age of -help yourself. I ask you who walk the streets: -Have you sold your soul for dirt? I ask the -world of all which includes the world of one: -Have you sold your soul for dirt? Have you sold -your soul for manners, forms, titles, incomes, -prestige, position? for anything you put into -your belly or on your back? for anything which -makes you superior to anybody else? for anything -which puts the way you do a thing above what -you are doing? for anything in laws or economics -or books or arts which serves as a weapon with -which to club the innocent? for anything over -ground or under, any sneaking device of profit, -which subjects others to your advancement? -Have you sold your soul for dirt? -</p> - -<p> -You have sold your soul for dirt. You have -conformed. You have said one and two make -four after all the rest. You suspected that one -and two make three. But you did not like to -say so. You have obeyed the thing around you -rather than the thing in you. Votes, interests, -profits, privileges, stand for you in place of the -soul. You surrender to a job. You are enslaved -to something that was made yesterday. You -have sold your soul for dirt. You can only buy it -back with soul. The time will come when we will -<a id="page-93" class="pagenum" title="93"></a> -sell our dirt for soul. I know what it means to -try that now. It means poverty and banishment. -The devil take the hindmost, they say. The devil -will. Or the god will. When you see all the poor. -When you see all those who rob and are robbed. -When you see the devastation the profit system -leaves in its wake. When you see all the confusions -of sex. When you see prostitution. Then -you know that something has been sold for dirt. -What has been sold. Our civilization. You and -I. The man you sell has not been sold. The -man who sells has been sold. The victim of per -cents has not been sold. The victor has been -sold. The hand that draws the knife is the murdered -as well as the murderer. Your genius may -be your dirt. The thing you do best. The possession -you are most proud of. The public applause. -Your friends. Your family. Your heredity. -They may be your dirt. Even if you sell yourself -for your best loved you sell yourself for -dirt. Love can do no harm. But lovers may sell -love for dirt. Anything that’s in the way of -the spirit is dirt. You make goods. But if your -goods are slave goods they are dirt. You have -no right to make your talent a club with which to -batter down the inefficient. You say every man -should be paid according to his talent. I say -that’s exactly what they should not be paid according -to. A man’s talent may be his best weapon -of injustice. Talent is the coward’s weapon. -You may be born a king. You may be born a -genius. It’s as bad to use a crown of brains as -to use a crown of gold to exploit the humble. -Using what you were born with to such an end -<a id="page-94" class="pagenum" title="94"></a> -is the final cowardice. We use laws. We use -forms. We use social position. Anything within -reach. It’s the blow in the dark. It’s the lie -on the lip. It’s the giant taking advantage of -the pigmy. You see a little farther. That is -your dirt. Your arm is a little longer. You hear -a little more. You move a little quicker. That -is your dirt. All the inequities come by such a -route. All the gloating palaces and the snarling -huts. All the laughing luxuries and the weeping -wants. They come by that route. My best -suit of clothes. It comes that way. Less and -more comes by that process. Do you pride yourself -on your faculty? Rather do anything else. -Even your faculty may be a tyrant toll-gatherer. -Down every mountain steep tumble your horrified -inferiors. Time and space recognize no -large and small, no above and below, no served -and servant. A man has a little better or a -little worse thinking machine. But better or -worse are not to time and space what they are -to words. Evil begins when man begins. Tyranny -begins when one man has more heartbeats -than another man. When dirt gets on top. -Brains are a whip. You use that whip over -others. You make that whip into statutes, mandates, -wage-scales. You make everything else -second to it. You may have got so far that you -are horrified when a man makes a dollar an -agent of oppression. You have still to go on till -you are horrified when a man makes his talent an -agent of oppression. The king sits on a throne. -The picture hangs in the gallery. The book is -on the shelf of the library. The music is sung -<a id="page-95" class="pagenum" title="95"></a> -in the great hall. The play goes on in the theater. -The game is won or lost in the vast stadium. -Do they circumscribe us? Or do they -free us? Are they burdens to carry? Or are -they wings to fly with? Are they for the pleasure -of a few? Or are they for the joy of all? -Money may free. Brains may enslave. Money -may be the gentle savior. Brains may be the -brutal damner of bodies and souls. You have -sold your soul for dirt if you have used it for -the production of anything but soul. Whether in -the market or in the academy. Whether in play -or work. Whether in the midst of your family -or abroad in the crowd. You have sold your soul -for dirt. Whether in making money or staying -poor. Whether in the most exquisite beauty of -an art or the most hideous ugliness of a brothel. -You have sold your soul for dirt. Babies at the -breasts of mothers are sold for dirt. Fathers -who have cared for children are sold for dirt. -Poems, laces, anything, may be sold for dirt. -Anything that gets in the way of life. That is -sold for dirt. Religion, churches, policies of -states and industries, are sold for dirt. Sex. -Idealism. The marriage bed. Dreams. They -are sold for dirt. Souls are the dearest things -in a cheap world. The house you live in. The -cup of water you hand to the famished. Benefaction. -Hospitals for disease. The very kindnesses -of social rectitude. The excuse-mes and -thank-yous of the polite and the amiable. The -bowings and scrapings of parlors. They are sold -for dirt. Nothing can pay for souls but souls. -But you take dirt in pay for souls. Every time -<a id="page-96" class="pagenum" title="96"></a> -you get in the way of life you accept dirt as a -settlement for souls. The nights of dalliance. -The hours of love. The perfumed bower. The -groves of arcadian ecstasy. They are sold for -dirt. All. All. You have sold your soul for -dirt. -</p> - -<p> -Have you sold your soul for dirt? Have you -given up that which is priceless for a price? -Have you ripped off your wings and asked: -What’s the use of flying? Have you postponed -next year? Have you said: I’d like to be myself -but cant? Or have you said: It’s all very well to -talk? Have you always been putting yourself off? -Saying: To-morrow will do for me? That to-morrow -after all the to-morrows that never -comes? Have you planned to sell your body for -fifty years and then live beyond bargain and sale? -Or your soul? The cry comes to you out of your -own deeps. It wears no disguise. It’s you yourself -asking questions of yourself. Have you sold -your soul for dirt? In every act of injustice you -sell yourself. When you turn your back on some -body. When you steal a man’s wages and call it -profit. When you make it harder for some one -to live in order to make it easier for yourself to -live. When you call white black and up down. -When you become respectable at some one else’s -expense. When you put the show of good manners -above the fact of bad heart. Then you have -sold yourself for dirt. When you corner anything. -Even virtue. When you corner pictures -or books or curios. When you corner ideas. -When you jealously corner your dreams. When -you eat too much while others eat too little. -<a id="page-97" class="pagenum" title="97"></a> -When you dedicate any of the sources of life -to anything but the common privilege. Then -you have sold your soul for dirt. If your love -stops with your family. If you can love your -own children and not love the children of others. -If you hog anything in flesh or spirit. You have -sold your soul for dirt. You have called upon all -men to listen. You are for sale. Come here. -Listen. Here’s a man for sale. What will you -give for him? He is for sale cheap. For he can -be paid for in the basest coin. He can be bought -for the dirt under your bootsole. You can buy -him for a house or bonds or goods in a store or -things made in a factory. You can buy him for a -crop off a farm. You can buy him for the clothes -he wears and the food he puts into his belly. He -ought to be dear beyond anyone’s ability to buy -him. But almost anybody can buy him. He puts -such a mean price on himself. He will bargain -himself off for almost anything that will furnish -his keep. Have you met that man? Do you -know his name? Can you give me his initials? -Does he live round the corner? Or maybe in -your own house? Or do you wake up nights -and say to yourself: He’s in this bed? Maybe -you tell me he’s as good as he can be under the -circumstances. I dont see why any man should -expect to be a man under the circumstances. -Light is not darkness under the circumstances. -Death is not life under the circumstances. Right -is not wrong under the circumstances. Every -man has to adjust the circumstances to himself. -Dont tell me a man always has to adjust himself -to the circumstances. A man’s circumstance -<a id="page-98" class="pagenum" title="98"></a> -is his dirt. I am too familiar with your underlying -assets to assent to this overlying result. Do -I expect you to fight? Am I asking too much? -Yes, fight. No: I am only asking enough. I see -nothing preposterous in asking a man to be what -he is. In asking beauty to be beautiful. In asking -a song to sing. In asking gentleness to be -gentle. In asking generosity to give. In asking -the cloud to rain. In asking water to run down -hill. In asking the fulfilment of life. What do -I ask you for? For the fulfilment of life—that’s -all. I decline to call your wars and your exploitations -and your greeds the fulfilment of life. -They are rather the fulfilment of death. I decline -to call the barbarism we call civilization the fulfilment -of life. I decline to call the love we call -marriage the fulfilment of life. I decline to call -the pride we call art. Or the austerity we call -science. Or the hypocrisy we call religion. I -decline to call them the fulfilment of life. They -are the fulfilment of death. I decline to call the -hells the fulfilment of life. The hells of theology. -The hells of profit and loss. The hells of owners -and owned. The hells of poor and rich. The -hells of those who have everything and those who -have nothing. The hells of those who make everything -the writ of the tax gatherer. I decline to -call them the fulfilment of life. They are the -fulfilment of death. I acknowledge your institutions. -I do not dismiss property. I put dreams -and people above all the lauded majesty of learning -and possessions. No man is so little but his -head is higher than your Oxfords and Harvards. -No man is so degraded but he outshines the luster -<a id="page-99" class="pagenum" title="99"></a> -of bonds and trade. You say a man must make -a living. I say no. That is already made for -him here or somewhere. What a man must make -is life. To make a living leaves us dirt still. To -make life gives us wings. We want everybody -to get out of the way of life. The world. The -crowd. You. I. We must get out of the way -of life. If the superman gets in the way of the -underman he is in the way of life. He has sold -his soul for dirt. Would I destroy civilization? -Yes—if I could help civilization by doing so. -Have you sold your soul for dirt? Have you -traded down instead of up? I am pulling down -the monuments. The great men. The masters. -The leaders and superiors. The geniuses and the -marvels. I shake them down in a common ruin. -In order to rebuild greatness. In order to bring -out of all what so far has been all brought out -of some. I turn all values upside down. I turn -all ideals and instrumentalities upside down. -In order that man may come up. Now man is -below all the rest. Then all the rest will be -below man. Now the soul is the means and what -it produces the end. Then what is produced will -be the means. The soul will be the end. I would -demolish everything if necessary to save everything. -Have you sold your soul for dirt? -</p> - -<div class="epi chapter"> -<p> -<a id="page-100" class="pagenum" title="100"></a> -And then I hear your voice raised above all the uncertainties -of itself: your voice: it sings: -</p> - -<p> -Comrades: we must hold together: if we let go of each -other for an instant the stars will drop out of the sky, -</p> - -<p> -The power of the heart is resistless if it lifts with an infinite -hope, -</p> - -<p> -The power of the eye is unmeasured if it looks with endless -expectation: -</p> - -<p> -And then I hear your voice offer everything, withdraw nothing: -for cause or not for cause: -</p> - -<p> -You do not question us: you love us: you do not doubt us: -you love us: -</p> - -<p> -You do not bring scales to see what we weigh: you bring -love to see what we live. -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="chapter" id="chapter-0-11"> -<a id="page-101" class="pagenum" title="101"></a> -WHEN I LOOK INTO THE FACES -</h2> - -</div> - -<p class="first"> -<span class="firstchar">W</span><span class="postfirstchar">hen</span> I look into the faces of men and women. -When I go to men and women without distrust. -When I put men and women before goods. When -I even put them before their passions. Even put -them before their parts. The whole before its -parts. When I do this I find myself somehow at -once in touch with men and women. I no longer -make too much or too little of their good and bad. -I no longer pause with ephemeral details. I no -longer miss seeing man in observing men. I -no longer go grieved to my work. My feet are -lighter. My heart is gay. My brain is cleared -from all eclipses. My dreams become possible. -My insanest rhapsodies are understood. To go -among men and women as one of them instead of -above or below them. To know people for comrades. -To see no one so mean he could not be a -brother. To see no one so great he could withdraw -from communion. To fraternize on an -equality without question with the crowd. To -ask no questions. To go without question. To -pass among men and women for one who loves. -Throwing off all veils. Going without disguises. -Without disguises of virtue as well as disguises -of clothes. To meet their suspicion with faith. -Not to be turned against men by the injustice of -men. Here I stand. No man triumphs in being -loved. We only triumph in loving. Nor in being -believed in. We only triumph in believing. -And if I acquiesce in men and women I will acquiesce -in them even in the face of truth. I will -<a id="page-102" class="pagenum" title="102"></a> -say yes when you accuse them but I will continue -to love them. I will not deny the facts. But I -will live above the facts. I will not say there is -no dirt. But I will say there is more than dirt. -I do not need figures for my affirmation. I only -need men and women. Clean and corrupt men -and women. Strong and frail men and women. -I know all that is said about the evasions of human -nature. And I acknowledge the defaults of -human nature. It makes its fathomless descents. -But I see no fall from which it cant lift itself victoriously. -I am not afraid of the impenetrable -nights. For there was daylight before and there -will be daylight again and the darkness itself is -created by a sunbeam. When I look at a man -and a woman I see what is back of them and I -see what is ahead. I am not thrown off the scent -of glory by the trail of a serpent. I am not worried -by the treacheries of the flesh. I do not -spend time trying to disprove the shadows. I -only insist upon the light. I am always aware of -the crowd. I am aware of one only because I -am aware of all. I always come back to myself -enriched. If I feel out of touch with myself I -get in touch with the crowd. That keys me right -again. The harmonies are restored. The men -and women on the streets. They do not even -look at me. Yet I am full of them and they are -full of me. They are not aunts and uncles and -cousins and fathers and mothers. They are the -godstuff out of which the death and resurrection -of the stars is effected. They are unmakers and -makers. They are the divined and they are diviners. -If I know men and women I do not -<a id="page-103" class="pagenum" title="103"></a> -need gods. If I know gods I do need men and -women. I say to every man or woman I pass: -You are my other self. For I know that nothing -could tear us apart. I know that you can no -more separate men from each other, or women, or -women from men, than you can take an atom off -the crust of the earth and toss it into nothingness. -And so I love to go among men and women. -Love to throw myself upon the convincing -mercies of my anonymous pilgrimage. Choosing -not to figure up my totals in so many enemies and -so many friends but in so many brothers. In the -last calculations refusing to calculate. Casting -myself into the sea and taking my chances. Into -the seething whirling surging reluctant hospitable -mass. Preferring sin with all than virtue -alone. Not always being pleased but always being -loyal. Sure in the end that I could go nowhere -ruling others out of heaven. Sure in the -end that I am entitled to nothing which the -crowd does not confer. So that when I meet you -whoever you are I take off my hat to you. Loving -you is a way I have of thanking myself that you -exist. Trusting you is a way I have of congratulating -myself upon your inheritance. For we -are joint heirs, all of us, or there is no heir. And -we are joint villains or there is no villain. And -joint saviors and gods or there are no saviors and -gods. All of us. Men and women. All of us. -Though we dont see each other, joint for saved -or damned anyway. I am closer to everybody -than anybody thinks. And everybody is closer to -me. And though we may appear to be nonchalant -and unconcerned about each other the bond is -<a id="page-104" class="pagenum" title="104"></a> -still unseverable. There is nothing anyone can -do to cut him off from me. And nothing I can -do to rid the crowd of its responsibility. I look -curiously at you as you pass. You are not beautiful -or ugly to me. You are not rich or poor or -well-dressed or in rags. You are my brothers. -When I look into the faces of saints and scoundrels -I see only men and women. Always. Always. -And when I look into the faces of men -and women I see only gods and their companion -gods. Always. Always. -</p> - -<p> -When I look into the faces of men and women. -When I see what they might do and dont do. -When I see their hypocrisies and degeneracies. -When I see how far down they go after what is -not worth going for at all. When I see that they -walk in darkness when they could as easily walk -in light. When I see their brutal warfares and -their corrupting commerces and their wit-proud -arts. Then I wonder. Then my wonder is multiplied -by wonder and is dismayed. Then things -crowd and choke my spirit. Then I see what -the despairers mean when they say man is not -worth his flesh. Then I am like someone thrown -into a threatening sea. Then I cry for help. The -stars pale and disappear. The compass no longer -points north. Love becomes only another word -for hate. Working seems as useless as loafing. -When I see the crowd robbed and awed by the -few. When I see the few robbed and awed by -the crowd. When I see nothing fitting with -nothing the world over. Trade not fitting with -justice. Art not fitting with life. No one man -fitting with another man. No man fitting with -<a id="page-105" class="pagenum" title="105"></a> -the crowd and the crowd fitting with no man. -Your to-day and my to-day not fitting with our -yesterdays or our to-morrows. This life not fitting -with any life that has been or is to be. Children -not fitting with parents and parents not fitting -with children. Bodies not fitting with souls -and souls not fitting with bodies. What we do -not fitting with what we wish to do. Ambition -not fitting with performance. Lovers not fitting -with loving. Wives not fitting with husbands. -Everywhere, everywhere, the inglorious travesty. -Our religions not fitting with the gods. Our -states not fitting with the people. The mortal -moment not fitting with immortal time. Things, -souls, tendencies, distraught. When I see that -I too withdraw and make less of life. I too retire -from my proud boast. I too humble myself -before the shaming fact. I too confess my sins. -I too charge a big bill up against my ardent -faith. I too feel myself enclosed by falsifying -conclusions. I too measure myself and weigh -myself by what is trivial and puny. I too walk -around less sure of myself. Yes, less sure of you. -Less sure of all. Less sure of my dreams. Less -sure of the very feet I walk on and the very wings -by which I soar. Less sure of the picture you -paint. Less sure of the song you sing. Less sure -of my own passionate words of encouragement -and revelation. Less sure. Less sure. Not giving -up the great hope. But less sure. Not giving -up the food I eat but less sure that it feeds -me. Not giving up my certainties but less sure -that they are certain. Not breaking finally with -you O love but less sure that even you O love -<a id="page-106" class="pagenum" title="106"></a> -are quite so potent as I have thought. Not turning -my back on my darling comrades the crowd -but not as sure as I have been that my smiling -face conveys any message to them. When I see -that men cant live with each other without hate. -That they cant trade with each other without -robbery. That they cant grow big with power -without growing little with pride. That they are -not satisfied with self rule. That they must rule -each other. When I see that men would rather -be prosperous and have all poor than be poor and -have all prosperous. Then I am lost. Then I am -lost. I do not know my way. The sun goes out. -My heart goes out. All the beautiful results I -was so confident of go out. Love goes out. O, -love goes out. Holy final love: it, too, goes out. -Goes out like an unreturning tide. I am left alone. -Left trying to touch something I can hold on to. -Something left of all the wreckage which I can -hold on to. Some remnant of joy. Some glint -of vision. Some splinter. Some saving strand. -Reaching for some hand to lift me above the -whirling maddened departing stream. When I -see man going back on man. When I see goods -and incomes and rulership going back on man it -means nothing to me. But when I see man going -back on man it means all to me. Then I am -prostrate. Then my voice is stopped. I can say -nothing. I drift. God knows where to. I drift. -It dont seem as if anything was left to do. As -if the fight was worth keeping up. As if being -loyal was more important than being traitorous. -When man goes back on man. I who was so -<a id="page-107" class="pagenum" title="107"></a> -unshakably sure. I who now am shaken. When -man goes back on man. -</p> - -<p> -When I look into the faces of men and women. -After the eclipses and the disfigurements. After -the enmities and the degradations. After going -into all the hells. After making all the admissions. -After being swept away in the rages of -the tyrant passions. Then suddenly the shining -sun breaks through. Then suddenly the earth is -flooded with light. Then I am restored. I who -was cast down am lifted up. I who wondered so -much over the weakness of men and women wonder -now over the irresistible strength of men and -women. Then things are explained. Then evil -is explained in the good. Hate is explained in -love. That which men and women did not do -is explained in what they are capable of doing. -Grief is explained in rapture. The greeds are -explained in generosity. For I see at last that -a man and a woman are not explained in what -they do but in what they lead to. What a man -and woman do is too often ghastly. But somehow -what they lead to is always beautiful. I had -looked into the faces of men and women and it -was night there. Now the sun is up. Now the -faces are radiant. I know that when a man and a -woman rob or hate night is there. And I know -that when they serve and love the day has come. -And I know that a man and a woman containing -love and justice will someway through whatever -contagions of animosity and crime become loving -and just. I go about in this midday of the spirit. -In the streets. Everywhere. Where men and -women are. And I see men and women as they -<a id="page-108" class="pagenum" title="108"></a> -do not see themselves. I tell them things they -do not tell themselves. I lift them up to planes to -which they do not lift themselves. For the sun -is up in my world. And when the sun is up in -the world the world is flushed with insight. When -the sun is up in your world you too will know. -But until then you will doubt or deny. When -the sun is up in the world there is light enough -to go round. Light enough to account for all the -darkness. Good enough to account for all the -evil. Sweet enough to account for all the sour. -Life enough to account for all the death. Now -the sun is up in my world. And as you pass before -me, as I loaf about among you, unrecognized, -you men and women, you are as plain to me as -my own thumb. I dont need to argue with myself -about you. For there’s infinite light in my -world. Light to penetrate you through and -through. Light to challenge all hideousness and -to disperse all contaminations. If I did not think -better of you, men and women, than you do of -yourselves, I would give you up, O men and women. -But my world accounts for you. Accounts -for the beast in you by the man in you. Accounts -for your moral surrenders by your spiritual victories. -If my world did not light you enough to -light you to justice and joy then my light might -as well be darkness. If it did not light the crowd -enough to light it to the man or light the man -enough to light him to the crowd it might as well -be darkness. If it did not light the effaced scholars -enough to light them to life again it might as -well be darkness. If it did not throw itself full -into your faces, O men and women, and disclose -<a id="page-109" class="pagenum" title="109"></a> -you to yourselves, and disclose love to itself, and -disclose the vast peoples to themselves, and disclose -all the mistakes to themselves, and disclose -all the dividing creeds and industries to themselves: -oh! if my light did not disclose everything -to itself so that it might light everything -farther to its ineffable consequence, then it might -as well be darkness. O, it might as well be darkness. -But my light is competent. It is enough -for everywhere and enough for all. It lights -everything to itself. It lights the man to the -woman and the woman to the man and the few -to many and many to all and all to the one again. -My light might as well be darkness if it fails to -light everything to itself and all to everything in -the storm and calm of its masterful plenty. When -I look into the faces of men and women. -</p> - -<div class="epi chapter"> -<p> -<a id="page-110" class="pagenum" title="110"></a> -Do you know what it means to say love? to be always and -only saying love every day every where? -</p> - -<p> -You think it’s easy to say love but hard to say hate: I say -no: love is hardest of all to say: -</p> - -<p> -For sometimes you must say love with a knife: sometimes -with the cruelest word you know: -</p> - -<p> -Saying love is not saying soft things sweetly to make your -lover comfortable: far from that: -</p> - -<p> -Saying love is often to say things that cut and rend: things -that may even destroy: do you hear? -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="chapter" id="chapter-0-12"> -<a id="page-111" class="pagenum" title="111"></a> -LOVING IS THE ONLY LIFE -</h2> - -</div> - -<p class="first"> -<span class="firstchar">L</span><span class="postfirstchar">oving</span> is the only life. Living must give us -time for life. It is not enough to fill your lungs -with air. You must fill your lungs with life. -The heart must not only beat. It must beat the -dance of life. It is not important to live so many -years. It is important to live so much life. You -have dollars. But have you life? You write -something. People admire you. You are famous -for some reason or other. That is all very -great. But there is something beyond. Life is -beyond. Eating and sleeping is not life. Love -alone is life. You are brilliant. You perform -in the center of the stage. But that is not life. -Lending money at percents. Making profits. -Getting a house full of decorations. That is not -life. A man may have all that and more and be -stone dead. I pass you on the street. You look -empty. You are hungry. You ache and strain -for something. What is it you yet need? You -who have so much. You who seem to have all -the world. You to whose door all ships seem to -sail and into whose treasury all cargoes seem to -be unloaded. You cast upon me such a vacant -look. You have not found out that your wealth -is not life. You have not consciously said that -to yourself. But your body has found it out. -Your soul has found it out. You have power. -You can draw a big check. You are admitted -anywhere. You are welcome to interrupt the -world at its devotions. Nobody would think of -closing you out. The state, the church, open -<a id="page-112" class="pagenum" title="112"></a> -when you appear, before you say a word. Yet -you cast that empty look upon me when we pass. -That telltale look. That look that means more -than your riches. That look of infinite self pity. -You have the key to all locks. But you are helpless -before that which having no lock needs no -key. You are alive. But you do not possess life. -You are your own master. But that is not -enough. There is something beyond. After being -your own master you must know how to become -your own slave. You can live in the senses. -In the gratification of the passions. In the accumulation -of temporal properties. But living is -not life. So many in so many generations have -been fooled. They have got what they reached -for. But they have found that what they reached -for was not what they desired. When a man is -greedy. When he seems willing to do anything -to get goods. Then life seems to say to him: -Here’s what you want: now what are you going -to do with it? You are filled to the brim. What -are you going to do with it? You run over with -success. What are you going to do with it? You -are known everywhere you go. The instant your -name is mentioned everybody knows who you are. -What are you going to do with it? This is living. -But this is not life. You are a conqueror. You -are a maker of laws. You rule people. What you -say goes. Those who hate fear you. Those who -love despise you. You are an arrogant force upon -whose will for fair or foul the formal living of the -world depends. You have reached deepest into -the dirt. You have reached highest into the blue -ether. Yet you look at me as if you who seem -<a id="page-113" class="pagenum" title="113"></a> -to have all after all have nothing. You have not -discovered that living is not life. You have not -seen that far. But you have discovered that something -is the matter with you. That something is -the matter with the crown you wear. That a diadem -does not make a king. That living does not -make life. That sometimes the more a man contains -the less he contains. That somehow one -dream is worth a thousand facts. That one cipher -is worth more than a thousand figures one. A man -may find that out too late. He often leaves it -to his children to find it out for him. And a -race often finds it out too late. A dazzling generation -of strutters and pirates finds it out too -late. It often leaves it to posterity to find it out. -That’s where you are and I am to-day. We have -done wonders. But we have not done enough. -We have still to find ourselves out. We have done -wonders. You and I. Our countries. Your -country. Germany, England, Canada, America. -Our countries. Any countries. They have still -to find themselves out. To find out that living is -not life. To find out that the church and the -state are not life. That priesthoods and plutocracies -are not life. That love alone is life. -That love which means brotherhood all around -and justice going with it all around. That that -love alone is life. That is why our civilization -bulging at the belt is still so empty. That is why -our governments bragging so vastly about their -omnipotence are still so helpless that they can -only maintain themselves with armies and navies. -Like our systems. Which can only maintain -themselves by robbery. They have found -<a id="page-114" class="pagenum" title="114"></a> -much. But they have not found out themselves. -They know how to live. But they have not found -life. For life is only found with love. The way -of life is the way of love. Not the way of living -but the way of life. Not the way of living, which -is bound to come to an end, but the way of life, -which is necessarily interminable. That way of -life which is the way of love. -</p> - -<p> -Loving is the only life. But we are warned. -Too much love may mean too little life. Putting -love in place of power may be like putting disease -in place of health. Love. But dont love too -much. Put a little love into trade. But keep -lots of cruelty there to balance it. Be decent. -But dont be too decent. Always keep some villainy -in reserve. Dont rob too much. But still -rob enough to keep the world indignant. If we -had no victims we would have nobody to get mad -at the victors. If we had no bad the good would -be too easy. If a man was not obliged to fight -for his life his death would be painless. There -must be some poison in every dish. There must -be some alloy in every deed. If we all loved -hate would possess us. We need hate to keep -love straight. We need treason to balance loyalty. -You must be very careful so as not to be -too considerate. You must spice your generosity. -Put some greed into it. Make the smooth rough. -Add some bitter to the sweet. A world of love -would lack contrast. Would be without color. -We need the persecutor. Men would go soft -without the tyrant. The bully will qualify the -man. So you need not be so conscience stricken -when you have done some mean thing. But for -<a id="page-115" class="pagenum" title="115"></a> -that mean thing the stars might fall out of their -places. Think of it. Your arm is omnipotence. -Your crime is salvation. You starve the widow -and the orphan. Too much love would make -love itself monotonous. Therefore, corner wheat. -Therefore, collect your rents. Therefore, live on -money someone else has to work for. Therefore, -rejoice in the purchased judgments of courts. -Therefore, shine. No matter whom you obscure, -shine. Get what you can in any way you can get -it. We could not live in a heaven. Mix some -hell with every heaven. Heaven is saved by the -hell in it. Does the idea of love make you shudder? -I am accused of an iniquity. My love notion -is a fallacy. It will take all the flush out of -the cheeks of the world. It will leave us without -a cause. When a man achieves love that is the -end of him. There is no beyond. So with the -social body. When it has achieved love it is dead. -There is nothing to continue with. Motive is -killed. Impetus is gone. After we have accomplished -love we have no reason for being. All -having been done there is nothing to do. The -perfect state will have to react towards imperfection. -Love must pray to be saved from love. -They say to me: You are dragging your earth -the way of death. I am charged with preaching -love at the expense of life. Life could not stand -love. It would break down under the strain. It -would cease, vanish, lapse away. Love requires -its foil. My world, my love’s paradise, my fool -eden, without its adams and eves and apples -and temptations, would blast all harvests and reduce -the fertilities of contrast to desert sand. -<a id="page-116" class="pagenum" title="116"></a> -They say to me: Keep your hands off. Let the -wrongs alone. Let the people suffer. Let the -shadows thicken. I say: Loving is the only life. -But you object. Institutions object. The church -objects. The state. The piracies. They all object. -They say: Loving is the only death. Love -and you will live. That is what I have said. Love -and you will die. That is what you have said. -What you say. Love will produce a race of -weaklings. Lovers cant fight. Lovers cant resist. -Lovers cant say no. Lovers can only surrender. -Therefore, your percents are the guarantee -of life. Therefore, your injustices are what -save society from disintegration. Hating is the -spice of life. I have said: Rather go without life -than go without love. You say: Love is only -the fringe of the garment: we must have life. -That is, we must have life no matter what becomes -of love. I say: We must have love whatever -becomes of life. You dissent. Love only -leads life into a pit. Love will not do for every -day. It must have its seasons. It must be reserved -for special occasions. A little love will -keep. Much love will destroy. That is why our -systems are built on cruelties. Their barbarisms -are preservative. Rein your love in. Love will -take all the virility out of the social order. If -you are a lover, go slow. If you wish the race -well, take a second guess. It may be wiser to -wish it ill. You say: Every thing must be done to -preserve the race. I say: Only one kind of a race -is worth preserving. I hear it said that a race of -lovers is as dangerous as a race of haters. I say: -There is a love beyond both love and hate. -</p> - -<p> -<a id="page-117" class="pagenum" title="117"></a> -Loving is the only life. Love closes no doors. -It throws everything wide open. Houses and -hearts. We go from love to more love. To say -love is to say no more than that things get along -together. To look at the stars and say love is only -to say that the stars obey the law of life. To look -at the body of a woman as a man and say love is -only to say that the flesh obeys the law of life. -To look at a dream. To write a poem. To make a -shoe. To build a bridge. To walk out in the fresh -air. To defy tyrants. To do such things and to -say love is only to say that whatever we do we -obey the law of life. This does not mean always -giving up. It means never giving up. It does -not mean making concessions. It means demanding -concessions. Love is not less rigorous. Love -is more rigorous. Love does not stop half way up. -It goes to the top. And it finds that every top -has another top. And so love never is satisfied -with what it has done. It always finds something -else to do. To look at the bud and say love is -only to prophecy the flower. To look at the wave -and say love is only to call attention to the sea. -To laugh in cloudy weather and say love is only -another verification of the sun. To face the people -who think they are your enemies and say love -is only to make it plainer that you can’t be stirred -from the truth. To look at life and say love is to -establish immortality. To look at what is hidden -or doubtful and say love is only to open the eyes -of the blind. To look at profits and say love is -only to lead the way to the commune. How can -we escape love? Love is the only life. To bask -in the daylight and say love is only to lead to the -<a id="page-118" class="pagenum" title="118"></a> -sun. You look at men. You say men are your -brothers. Is that as if we said: Now let us all -melt away in each other? To say brother is only -to say law. To say brother is only to say that we -have discovered a consequence as well as a cause. -To say that love will leave nothing to be done is -as if one said the loyalty of a planet to its orbit -leaves nothing to be done. Love is not an end. -It is only a beginning. We begin to live when -we begin to love. And as long as we continue -to love we will continue to begin. Love is not -the violation of law. It is the observance of -law. Life derives its joint and sinew from love. -Love is getting along together. Whether between -earths or people, getting along together. -Why should getting along together be worse than -getting along apart? Why should we suspect -that worlds that are loyal to their foundations -are less likely to resist the northwind than worlds -that are built upon quicksands? To say no love -is to say no life. For being alive is not life. Simply -going about your business, simply making -money, simply eating and drinking, even if you -are a whole animal, is not life. To hold back -love supposing it may go too far is like holding -back life supposing there may be too much life. -We will achieve all that love may see. Then -love will see more. We will go with love to complete -love. Then we will go farther. Eternally -farther. As with life. Living life into the remotest -distances only to recognize unceasing farther -obligations. There will always be more to -do than ever has been done. There will always -be more life coming than ever has arrived. There -<a id="page-119" class="pagenum" title="119"></a> -will always be more love needed than ever can be -expressed. To fear that love may love too much -is to fear that life may live too much. Love is -the law of life. To fear love is to fear life. Loving -is the only life because living together is the -only life. Because being together is inevitable. -Oceans and hills and people: being together. -Rain and the seed and the soil: being together. -Black and white and red: being together. A -man, a woman, child: being together. Love is -being together. The lake, the house on the shore, -the hermit: being together. Yesterday, to-day, -to-morrow: being together. Love gets the obstructions -out of the way of life. Gives living -time for life. Gets the wars out of the way. Gets -the poverties and the properties out of the way. -Gives the harvest a chance to mature. Makes -the ascent possible. Clears the way for the pauseless -procession. For all forever. Loving is the -only life. -</p> - -<div class="epi chapter"> -<p> -<a id="page-120" class="pagenum" title="120"></a> -I am just a feeler sent out ahead maybe to try the earth -for new days: -</p> - -<p> -I am just a leaf of grass sent up early through the soil -to see if the others could live if they followed: -</p> - -<p> -I am just a man who sticks his head out at the front door -to see for the folks how cold the night is: -</p> - -<p> -I am just a migrate due from the south when the spring -breaks: -</p> - -<p> -I am just a light thrown on a puzzling pathway to give the -rest a chance to travel without stumbling too often: -</p> - -<p> -I am just that: given a little room, a narrow margin, in -which to play this simple part: -</p> - -<p> -Willing, when called, when my term is spent, to have my -credit cancelled: -</p> - -<p> -I, who, borrowing myself, signing for myself, cheerfully pay -my note: -</p> - -<p> -Why shouldn’t I give all back, and more? -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="chapter" id="chapter-0-13"> -<a id="page-121" class="pagenum" title="121"></a> -KEEP YOUR FACE TO THE SUN -</h2> - -</div> - -<p class="first"> -<span class="firstchar">K</span><span class="postfirstchar">eep</span> your face to the sun. As the day goes -down let your cheer go up. The reminiscence -of the light will last through the darkness. Do -not lean upon what you absorb. Depend upon -what you bestow. Meet the sufficient noonglare -with a haughtier illumination. Do not reject -sorrow. Do not shut your door in its face. Invite -it in. Make it feel at home. The heart in -which sorrow is an alien misses its most sacred -tenant. You will not make sorrow the master -of the house. But you will include sorrow among -your guests. The purport of the house is joy. -The purport of the house is health. The earth -may pass into a cloud. But the purport of the -earth is not the cloud. Things go wrong. But -the purport of things is right. You see injustices. -You see victims. You see shipwrecks. But the -purport of experience is righteousness, deliverance, -salvation. No matter which way I look I -keep the sun in my face. Just as though looking -into hell I keep heaven in my face. Just as though -looking at cruelty I keep kindness in my face. -Just as though looking at the struggle I keep the -victory in my face. I am haunted with presences -which arm me with peace. There is evil. -We cant explain it. But there is good, too. And -we cant explain good. I do not wait for the -universe to explain itself. For love to argue its -case. Maybe the universe cant be explained. -Maybe love cant be argued about. Why should -I put question marks into the sky in place of -<a id="page-122" class="pagenum" title="122"></a> -stars? It is my main business to live. To live -nearest the best life I can discover. To live nearest -the natural laws. To live nearest people. Not -to ask for preferences. Not to expect odds. To -live. To spread power. To confer exhilaration. -To let the sun shine out of my face. For enough -reasons or for no reason at all to let the sun -shine. Taking the sun for granted. Taking the -best for granted even in the face of the worst. -Not being afraid that when the clock runs down -it can never be started again. Expecting surpluses -but being satisfied with shortages. Taking -fame if it comes and humbling myself with it. -Not reaching out for honors which do not belong -to me. Letting the honors go or stay. Keeping -sacred counsel with my own soul. Letting the -returns take care of themselves. Shedding the -light. Not sneaking about the earth as if life -had to be hid away or enjoyed in the dark. Not -snarling at men as if they had to be barked into -kennels. Not going among men with discounts. -Going among men with premiums. Adding a -little to everything I come near to or look at. A -little more love. A little more justice. A little -more loyalty. A little more resolution. I have -no logic for my joy. But I have joy for it. Or -for my affection for you. But I have you for it. -Or for my devotion to the great cause. But I -have the great cause for it. I can cite no justifications. -But I can cite my comrades. I cite -myself. I cite you. I cite the books I read. I -cite the struggle against money. They are -enough. They are sun enough for me. They explain -enough. Love explains enough though it -<a id="page-123" class="pagenum" title="123"></a> -dont explain at all. The cause explains enough -though it dont explain at all. And the abounding -light: it too explains enough. The vast interstreaming -dazzle of noontime: it explains -nothing but it explains enough. I who question -so much am silent. I who doubt so much accept. -I who love so much do not ask for pay. Keep -your face to the sun. A greater sun may shine -in your face. -</p> - -<p> -Keep your face to the sun. No matter what -comes between keep your face to the sun. When -your salary comes between. When the contempt -of your enemies and the fear of your friends -come between. When ruin comes between. No -matter what may come between. Keep your face -to the sun. You will be driven and warned. You -will be despised and tempted. You will be misunderstood. -You will be summoned into courts -of public prejudice. You will be asked the questions -of reaction and disease. But you will keep -your face to the sun. Though the sun goes in -behind a cloud will keep your face to the sun. -Though the sun fails to get into your picture will -keep your picture to the sun. When you take an -office and the office is between. When you have -ambitions that come between. When cowardice -comes between. When praise comes between. -When even the love of your dearest comrade -comes between. You will keep your face to the -sun. I do not promise you fruit without the seed -of the fruit. You will plant. And much that you -plant may come to nothing in the ground. Though -it may come to much in your heart. You will -pour out property. Give the last cent. Go -<a id="page-124" class="pagenum" title="124"></a> -stripped, utterly shorn, into the contest. But -you will keep your face to the sun. Yes: you -will despair. You will say you dont see why -you should keep up the fight. You will want to -sell your birthright. You will grudge men success. -You will travel where no eye can chart -the way. You will taste the bitterest defeat. -You will be jealous and cruel. Your brute self -will stand between you and the sun. Yet you -will always stand with your face to the sun. I do -not suppose anything malign comes to any man -which may not just as well come to you. That -no disappointment can come. That no tragedy -can come. That you too may lose fortunes. May -lose more than fortunes. May lose hope. May -lose relation with the cosmos. That you too may -be cut adrift from the crowd. May be crushed -by the law. May have your trust violated. May -be deceived. May read the promises of faith -backward. May challenge justice. May go in -for the abolition of brotherhood. May fool the -prophets. Things do go wrong in life though life -itself never goes wrong. Events do conspire -against the plans of men. But they do not conspire -against men. We have to take all into account. -All the momentary repulses. We often -ride a very roundabout course to victory. A course -through disappointment. A course through direct -losses. A course over bad roads. Encountering -the devious motives of our companions. -Do you keep your face to the sun? No matter -which way you go you may keep your face to -the sun. East or west or north or south or up or -down or across it is all the same. You may keep -<a id="page-125" class="pagenum" title="125"></a> -your face to the sun. Your face shining with a -light all its own. Your face baffling all rivalries -of solar glory. You who ride to death may ride -to life. You may turn your back to the sun. -But the sun never turns its back to you. You -may turn your back to the soul. The soul never -turns its back to you. You may scorn the sentiment -of man. You may make light of the romance -of lovers. You may look with disdain -upon the ignorant and the stupid. You may take -care of yourself at the expense of others. You -may postpone or destroy the impulse to give. -Your life may be a life of seizure and appropriation. -May ride shod rough over the crowd. May -accept every advantage of position. Every advantage -of culture. Not acquiescing in the general -liberties. Flourishing your gifts like clubs. -Demanding awe and worship. Quoting your -money or your genius as evidence of your superiority. -Standing aside when the people invite -you to serve. Pulling back when the people -try to go on. Being satisfied with your surplus -when the people have too little to eat and -too little to wear. This may be your burden. -This may be your bloodred sin. This may be -your rack. You may shrink from the sun. Your -face may turn the other way. May prefer the -darkness of possession to the light of atonement. -Your eyes may be weak. May not be able to -stand the sunbeams. May take no sun in and -have no sun to give out. Your eyes may endure -tyranny but not endure freedom. May endure -seeing labor suffer but not endure seeing labor -enfranchised. May endure their inheritance but -<a id="page-126" class="pagenum" title="126"></a> -not endure their vista. This is the tragedy of the -pilgrim. He passes across the earth. The path -is often dark and uncertain. Often he has to feel, -because he cannot see, his way through. Then he -is driven back upon his conclusions. What are -his conclusions? Conclusions of triumph or conclusions -of disaster? Conclusions for one or conclusions -for all? Conclusions of property or conclusions -of the soul? In the eclipse of reason all -depends upon the conclusions. In the disappearance -of all you have seen all depends upon the -appearance of what you have not seen. What -are your conclusions? When all resource gives -out. When the road seems to end. When faculty -and vision have lost the impulse of appeal. -Then all depends upon the conclusion. The conclusion -to abandon all gobetweens and trust yourself -to the soul. The conclusion to refuse all -preferments and trust yourself to the people. -The conclusion to face the sun even if it blind you. -The conclusion to meet sun with sun. The splendid -sun sufficing for the love of the body with the -sun more splendid sufficing for the love of the -spirit. -</p> - -<p> -Keep your face to the sun. I love you, O sun. -But I too am a sun. Sometimes I think I light -you: that you dont light me. That I each day -rekindle your expiring fires. That if I did not -come up in the morning you would not come up. -That you do not appear at the horizon greeting -the world. That I appear. That you do not -cross the heavens glorifying your unrivalled passage -and sanctifying your retrospect with the -matchless twilight. That I cross the heavens. -<a id="page-127" class="pagenum" title="127"></a> -That all the majesty and the wonder inheres to -me. That I do not depend upon you. That you -depend upon me. That Persia did not worship -you. That Persia worshipped me. That after all -you are only the form while I am the substance. -That you might be blotted out. That no harm -would come to man. But that if I was blotted -out the fate of man would be sealed in annihilation. -That I have ejected you from the heavens -and assumed your place. That you no longer -rule, godstrong on a celestial throne. That I -rule, man-potent in the hum of the common -street. That the farms and the orchards do not -look to you for fructification. That they look to -me. That all harvests are my harvests. -Harvests of fields as well as harvests of hearts. -Harvests of justice as well as harvests of things. -Harvests of ideals as well as harvests of deeds. -That the supreme life is not there with you in -the orbits of the heavens. That they are here -with me in the twists and turns of alleys and -pikes. I see now O sun that it is important to -be a sun but that it is more important to be a -man. That it is right to shine like a sun but that -it is more than right to shine like a lover. That -everything whatever seen or unseen is great and -awes me. But that there is something neither -seen nor unseen that stirs me to mightier results. -That it is no mistake to make much of your -genial flame: that you give life without question -and cannot be denied your pay. That it is still -less a mistake to make more of my precedent -endowments: that they give ampler life without -question and cannot be denied their pay. The -<a id="page-128" class="pagenum" title="128"></a> -pay of the sun is the pay of the crops. Is the -pay of houses. Is the pay of dividends. Is the -pay of profit and loss. The pay of my dreams is the -pay of love. Is the pay of men and women and -children. Is the pay of immortality. I too O sun -get down on my knees to you. I too O sun stand -erect honoring you. I too O sun gather with the -crowds acknowledging your first causes. I too -O sun let no rival shame my tribute. I too O -sun call you God. And you, O sun, do you realizing -yourself admit me? You too O sun: do you -get down on your knees honoring me? Do you -O sun gathering with the stars and the wheat and -the factories acknowledge my first causes? Do -you O sun bringing tribute do as much for me -as any other and more? Do you O sun call me -God? I have said of you O sun: you feed my -body. Do you say of me O sun: you feed my -soul? I have said to my darling comrades the -lands and seas over gasping for life: Keep your -face to the sun. I have said to them: No matter -what happens, no matter for barbarism and murder, -no matter for robbery and starvation, no -matter for yawning perditions, keep your face -to the sun. And I say to you O sun subtracting -no atom from the sum of your illimitability: -Keep your face to me. Comrades: Come: assemble -yourselves about me. The first word shall be -the last word and the last word the first word -again: Keep your face to the sun. -</p> - -<div class="ads chapter"> -<p class="adh"> -POETRY -</p> - -<p class="ads"> -A MAGAZINE OF VERSE -</p> - -<p class="c"> -Edited by Harriet Monroe, 543 Cass St., Chicago, Ill. -</p> - -<p class="hang"> -POETRY, at the end of its first year, is no longer an experiment -but an assured artistic success, a publication whose -importance is authoritatively recognized, not only in this -country, but in Great Britain and France as well. The -field it has opened up is full of brilliant possibilities, encouraging -the editors to hope for the enthusiastic support -of a discriminating public. -</p> - -<p class="hang"> -POETRY endeavors to present the best verse now being -written in English, quality alone being the test of acceptance. -</p> - -<p class="hang"> -POETRY is an effort to create an organ for the art. While -the ordinary magazines must minister to a large public -little interested in poetry, this magazine appeals to and -will develop a public primarily interested in poetry as -an art, potentially the highest, most complete human expression -of truth and beauty. Thus it offers to poets a -chance to be heard by their own audience, in their own -place, without the limitations imposed by the popular -magazines. And to lovers of poetry it offers each month -a sheaf of new verse in delicate form uninterrupted by -prose articles demanding a different mood. -</p> - -<p class="hang"> -If You Love Good Poetry, Subscribe— -</p> - -<p class="u hang"> -POETRY<br /> -543 Cass Street, Chicago. -</p> - - <div class="form"> -<p> -Send POETRY for one year ($1.50 enclosed) beginning -</p> - -<p> -............................. to -</p> - -<p> -Name ........................... -</p> - -<p> -Address ........................ -</p> - - </div> -</div> - -<div class="ads chapter"> -<p class="adh"> -CHANTS COMMUNAL -</p> - -<p class="ada"> -By HORACE TRAUBEL -</p> - -<p class="adp"> -Boards, $1.00 net. Paper, 30 cents postpaid. -</p> - -<p> -Inspirational prose pieces fired by revolutionary idealism and prophetically -subtle in their vision. The high esteem in which Traubel’s -work is held is attested by the following unusual commendations: -</p> - -<p> -<b>Mildred Bain</b>: “In ‘Chants Communal’ we have some of the most -magnificent poetry which has ever accompanied a historic movement of -thought. These songs may well be termed scriptural. They are the very -heart beat of humanity. Such powerful exhortations, such fiercely tender -pleadings are in them. They are religious in the deepest, broadest sense. -Every one of them is a call to the higher self in man; is instinct with -the consciousness of the sacredness of life in its human every-day aspects.” -</p> - -<p> -<b>Jack London</b>: “His is the vision of the poet and the voice of -the poet.” -</p> - -<p> -<b>Eugene V. Debs</b>: “Traubel is a philosopher, a poet, and a prophet; -he has produced a volume of literature—the literature of life and love, -of freedom and joy, and of universal social redemption.” -</p> - -<p> -<b>Clarence Darrow</b>: “Horace Traubel is both a poet and a philosopher. -No one can say anything too good about him or his work.” -</p> - -<p> -<b>George D. Herron</b>: “It is a book of the highest value and beauty -that Horace Traubel proposes to give us, and I can only hope that it -will be read as widely and appreciatively as it more than deserves to be; -for it is with a joy that would seem extravagant, if I expressed it, that -I welcome ‘Chants Communal.’” -</p> - -<p class="ade"> -ALBERT AND CHARLES BONI<br /> -96 FIFTH AVENUE - - - - NEW YORK -</p> - -<p class="adh"> -THE INTERNATIONAL -</p> - -<p> -A magazine for matured minds. -</p> - -<p> -A magazine for those who dare to think. -</p> - -<p> -A magazine for all true cosmopolites. -</p> - -<p> -A magazine with a courage so fearless that it publishes -the best. -</p> - -<p> -Brieux, Schnitzler, Strindberg are only a few of the advanced -thinkers who have appeared in the pages of THE -INTERNATIONAL. -</p> - -<p> -We have been in the vanguard of intellectual freedom. -</p> - -<p> -We shall always be far ahead of our times. -</p> - -<p> -You may glimpse the future by reading THE INTERNATIONAL. -</p> - -<p class="u c"> -George Sylvester Viereck, Editor.<br /> -Leonard D. Abbott, Richard Le Gallienne, Associate Editors. -</p> - -<p class="adp"> -15 CENTS A COPY. $1.50 A YEAR. -</p> - -<p class="u ade"> -MOODS PUBLISHING COMPANY<br /> -29 WEST 42ND STREET - - NEW YORK CITY -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="ads chapter"> -<p class="h1 adh"> -JOHN REED -</p> - -<p class="ads"> -Back from Mexico -</p> - -<p class="h1 adh"> -MAX EASTMAN -</p> - -<p class="ads"> -in Colorado -</p> - -<p class="narrow"> -will give in detail the true -story of the Colorado and -Mexican Wars. DON’T -forget to order your copy, -of the June number of -</p> - -<p class="adb"> -“The Masses” -</p> - -<p class="adp"> -<i>10 Cents a Copy—One Dollar a Year</i> -</p> - -<p class="ade"> -THE MASSES PUB. CO.<br /> -91 GREENWICH AVENUE<br /> -NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="ads chapter"> -<p class="h1 adh"> -The Little Review -</p> - -<p class="h3 adh"> -MARGARET C. ANDERSON, Editor -</p> - -<p class="s c"> -Fine Arts Building, Chicago -</p> - -<p class="h2 adh"> -<span class="underline"><i>A New Monthly Journal devoted to Literature, -Drama, Music and Art</i></span> -</p> - -<p> -It is unacademic, enthusiastic, appreciative and youthful, -seeking and emphasizing the truth which is beauty, and insisting -upon a larger naturalness and a nobler seriousness -in art and life. -</p> - -<p> -It is not connected in any way with any organization or -company, is free from propaganda and outworn traditions, -and has ideals and convictions which have already secured -it a large, critical list of readers. -</p> - -<p> -The third (May) number contains the following: -</p> - - <div class="table tabletlr"> -<table summary="Table-1"> -<tbody> - <tr> - <td class="col1">On Behalf of Literature</td> - <td class="col2">DeWitt C. Wing</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">The Challenge of Emma Goldman</td> - <td class="col2">Margaret C. Anderson</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">Chloroform</td> - <td class="col2">Mary Aldis and Arthur Davisson Ficke</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">“True to Life”</td> - <td class="col2">Edith Wyatt</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">Impression</td> - <td class="col2">George Soule</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">Art and Life</td> - <td class="col2">George Burman Foster</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">Patriots</td> - <td class="col2">Parke Farley</td> - </tr> - <tr class="m"> - <td class="col1" colspan="2">“Change” at the Fine Arts Theatre.</td> - </tr> - <tr class="m"> - <td class="col1" colspan="2">Correspondence:</td> - </tr> - <tr class="i"> - <td class="col1" colspan="2">The Vision of Wells.</td> - </tr> - <tr class="i"> - <td class="col1" colspan="2">Another View of “The Dark Flower.”</td> - </tr> - <tr class="i"> - <td class="col1" colspan="2">Dr. Foster’s Articles on Nietzsche.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">Lawton Parker</td> - <td class="col2">Eunice Tietjens</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">New York Letter</td> - <td class="col2">George Soule</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1">Union vs. Union Privileges</td> - <td class="col2">Henry Blackman Sell</td> - </tr> - <tr class="m"> - <td class="col1" colspan="2">Book Discussion:</td> - </tr> - <tr class="i"> - <td class="col1" colspan="2">Mr. Chesterton’s Prejudices.</td> - </tr> - <tr class="i"> - <td class="col1" colspan="2">Dr. Flexner on Prostitution.</td> - </tr> - <tr class="m"> - <td class="col1" colspan="2">The Critics’ Critic.</td> - </tr> - <tr class="m"> - <td class="col1" colspan="2">Sentence Reviews.</td> - </tr> - <tr class="m"> - <td class="col1" colspan="2">Letters to The Little Review.</td> - </tr> -</tbody> -</table> - </div> -<p class="adp"> -The subscription price is $2.50 per annum; 25 cents -a copy. -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="backmatter chapter"> -<p class="next"> -The May issue of THE GLEBE -will present Poems by George Cronyn. -</p> - -<p class="hdr"> -Contents of Volume I: -</p> - - <div class="table"> -<table class="glebe" summary="Table-2"> -<tbody> - <tr> - <td class="col1"><b>Songs, Sighs and Curses.</b> By Adolf Wolff</td> - <td class="col2">60c.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1"><b>The Diary of a Suicide.</b> By Wallace E. Baker</td> - <td class="col2">50c.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1"><b>The Azure Adder.</b> By Charles Demuth</td> - <td class="col2">35c.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1"><b>Love of One’s Neighbor.</b> By Leonid Andreyev</td> - <td class="col2">35c.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1"><b>Des Imagistes.</b> An Anthology</td> - <td class="col2">50c.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="col1"><b>Erna Vitek.</b> By Alfred Kreymborg</td> - <td class="col2">All sold.</td> - </tr> -</tbody> -</table> - </div> -<p class="s price"> -Hereafter all single copies will be -50 cents. -</p> - -<p class="s price"> -The subscription price per year is -$3.00. -</p> - -</div> - -<div class="trnote chapter"> -<p class="transnote"> -Transcriber’s Notes -</p> - -<p> -The original spelling was mostly preserved. A few obvious typographical errors -were silently corrected. All other changes are listed here (before/after): -</p> - - - -<ul> - -<li> -... Let’s condole with the widows and <span class="underline">childrens</span> of ...<br /> -... Let’s condole with the widows and <a href="#corr-4"><span class="underline">children</span></a> of ...<br /> -</li> - -<li> -... only a <span class="underline">border</span> on the earth or whether the earth ...<br /> -... only a <a href="#corr-5"><span class="underline">boarder</span></a> on the earth or whether the earth ...<br /> -</li> - -<li> -... You cant <span class="underline">ride</span> yourself of one without the other. ...<br /> -... You cant <a href="#corr-8"><span class="underline">rid</span></a> yourself of one without the other. ...<br /> -</li> - -<li> -... the moon as between people and <span class="underline">pople</span>. I make ...<br /> -... the moon as between people and <a href="#corr-9"><span class="underline">people</span></a>. I make ...<br /> -</li> -</ul> -</div> - - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Glebe 1914/04 (Vol. 2, No. 1): -Collects, by Horace L. Traubel - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GLEBE 1914/04, VOL 2, NO 1: COLLECTS *** - -***** This file should be named 63281-h.htm or 63281-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/2/8/63281/ - -Produced by Jens Sadowski and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. 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