"The land and sea, the animals fishes and birds, the sky of heaven and the orbs, the forests..."

“The land and sea, the animals fishes and birds, the sky of heaven and the orbs, the forests mountains and rivers, are not small themes … but folks expect of the poet to indicate more than the beauty and dignity which always attach to dumb real objects … . they expect him to indicate the path between reality and their souls.”

- WALT WHITMAN: Leaves of Grass (1855)