Magnifying and applying come I,
Outbidding at the start the old cautious hucksters,
Taking myself the exact dimensions of Jehovah,
Lithographing Kronos, Zeus his son, and Hercules his grandson;
Buying drafts of Osiris, Isis, Belus, Brahma, Buddha,
In my portfolio placing Manito loose, Allah on a leaf, the crucifix engraved,
With Odin, and the hideous-faced Mexitli, and every idol and image;
Taking them all for what they are worth, and not a cent more;
Admitting they were alive and did the work of their days;
(They bore mites, as for unfledg’d birds,
who have now to rise and fly and sing for themselves.)
Walt Whitman
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