Darest Thou Now, O Soul

by Walt Whitman

1 Darest thou now, O Soul, Walk out with me toward the Unknown Region, Where neither ground is for the feet, nor any path to follow? 2 No map, there, nor guide, Nor voice sounding, nor touch of human hand, Nor face with blooming flesh, nor lips, nor eyes, are in that land. 3 I know it not, O Soul; Nor dost thou--all is a blank before us; All waits, undream'd of, in that region--that inaccessible land. 4 Till, when the ties loosen, All but the ties eternal, Time and Space, Nor darkness, gravitation, sense, nor any bounds, bound us. 5 Then we burst forth--we float, In Time and Space, O Soul--prepared for them; Equal, equipt at last--(O joy! O fruit of all!) them to fulfil, O Soul.