Nothing New

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Walt Whitman · Leaves of Grass

Poem 375 of 382 · Sands at Seventy

The Commonplace

— ✻ —

The commonplace I sing;
How cheap is health! how cheap nobility!
Abstinence, no falsehood, no gluttony, lust;
The open air I sing, freedom, toleration,
(Take here the mainest lesson--less from books--less from the schools,)
The common day and night--the common earth and waters,
Your farm--your work, trade, occupation,
The democratic wisdom underneath, like solid ground for all.

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