Miracles
Walt Whiteman
Why, who makes much of a miracle?
As to me I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love, or sleep in the bed at night with any one I love,
Or sit at table at dinner with the rest,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so quiet and bright,
Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring;
These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.
To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,
Every foot of the interior swarms with the same.
To me the sea is a continual miracle,
The fishes that swim -the rocks – the motion of the waves – the ships with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?
About this poem
“Miracles” was first published in Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” (Fowler & Wells, 1856) as “Poem of Perfect Miracles.” It appeared in this revised form during his lifetime in the 1881 edition published by James R. Osgood and Company.
About Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819, and is widely considered one of America’s most important poets. He worked as a printer, teacher and journalist in the New York City area. Whitman composed and updated his seminal work, “Leaves of Grass,” throughout his entire adult life. He died on March 26, 1892.
The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day@poets.org.
This poem is in the public domain. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
