{"id":7625,"date":"2009-11-21T23:55:50","date_gmt":"2009-11-22T05:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artofmanliness.com\/?p=7625"},"modified":"2021-06-03T10:07:29","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T15:07:29","slug":"manvotional-pioneers-o-pioneers-by-walt-whitman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/manhood\/manvotional-pioneers-o-pioneers-by-walt-whitman\/","title":{"rendered":"Manvotional: Pioneers! O Pioneers! by Walt Whitman"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Illustration<\/p>\n

Walt Whitman wrote the poem “Pioneers! O Pioneers!” as an ode to the pioneers who had struck out in search of  adventure and a better life and settled the wild of the American West. He praises the rugged resiliency, the daring courage, and the fearless resolution of those who left the past behind to hew out of the land new lives. While Whitman may have had America’s Western pioneers in mind, the poem is a paean to all pioneers, past and present, from any part of the globe. It will gladden the heart of any man who has said no to a life of ease and complacency and left the path of least resistance to blaze his own trail and forge his own course in life.<\/p>\n

The poem is a good read, but listening to this reading of it by Will Greer is positively mesmerizing (it can be heard in those new Levis commercials \u2014 not sure how Walt would feel about his poetry being used to sell dungarees). Let the words sink into you, and rise in the morning ready to take on the world with undaunted courage unshakeable hardihood. You don’t have to cross the plains to be a pioneer \u2014 you can simply choose to live your life to the fullest, with honor, and with integrity.<\/p>\n

Pioneers! O Pioneers! by Walt Whitman<\/h3>\n

Come my tan-faced children,
\nFollow well in order, get your weapons ready,
\nHave you your pistols? have you your sharp-edged axes?
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

For we cannot tarry here,
\nWe must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger,
\nWe the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

O you youths, Western youths,
\nSo impatient, full of action, full of manly pride and friendship,
\nPlain I see you Western youths, see you tramping with the foremost,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

Have the elder races halted?
\nDo they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond the seas?
\nWe take up the task eternal, and the burden and the lesson,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

All the past we leave behind,
\nWe debouch upon a newer mightier world, varied world,
\nFresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

We detachments steady throwing,
\nDown the edges, through the passes, up the mountains steep,
\nConquering, holding, daring, venturing as we go the unknown ways,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

We primeval forests felling,
\nWe the rivers stemming, vexing we and piercing deep the mines within,
\nWe the surface broad surveying, we the virgin soil upheaving,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

Colorado men are we,
\nFrom the peaks gigantic, from the great sierras and the high plateaus,
\nFrom the mine and from the gully, from the hunting trail we come,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

From Nebraska, from Arkansas,
\nCentral inland race are we, from Missouri, with the continental
\nblood intervein’d,
\nAll the hands of comrades clasping, all the Southern, all the Northern,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

O resistless restless race!
\nO beloved race in all! O my breast aches with tender love for all!
\nO I mourn and yet exult, I am rapt with love for all,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

Raise the mighty mother mistress,
\nWaving high the delicate mistress, over all the starry mistress,
\n(bend your heads all,)
\nRaise the fang’d and warlike mistress, stern, impassive, weapon’d mistress,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

See my children, resolute children,
\nBy those swarms upon our rear we must never yield or falter,
\nAges back in ghostly millions frowning there behind us urging,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

On and on the compact ranks,
\nWith accessions ever waiting, with the places of the dead quickly fill’d,
\nThrough the battle, through defeat, moving yet and never stopping,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

O to die advancing on!
\nAre there some of us to droop and die? has the hour come?
\nThen upon the march we fittest die, soon and sure the gap is fill’d.
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

All the pulses of the world,
\nFalling in they beat for us, with the Western movement beat,
\nHolding single or together, steady moving to the front, all for us,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

Life’s involv’d and varied pageants,
\nAll the forms and shows, all the workmen at their work,
\nAll the seamen and the landsmen, all the masters with their slaves,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

All the hapless silent lovers,
\nAll the prisoners in the prisons, all the righteous and the wicked,
\nAll the joyous, all the sorrowing, all the living, all the dying,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

I too with my soul and body,
\nWe, a curious trio, picking, wandering on our way,
\nThrough these shores amid the shadows, with the apparitions pressing,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

Lo, the darting bowling orb!
\nLo, the brother orbs around, all the clustering suns and planets,
\nAll the dazzling days, all the mystic nights with dreams,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

These are of us, they are with us,
\nAll for primal needed work, while the followers there in embryo wait behind,
\nWe to-day’s procession heading, we the route for travel clearing,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

O you daughters of the West!
\nO you young and elder daughters! O you mothers and you wives!
\nNever must you be divided, in our ranks you move united,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

Minstrels latent on the prairies!
\n(Shrouded bards of other lands, you may rest, you have done your work,)
\nSoon I hear you coming warbling, soon you rise and tramp amid us,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

Not for delectations sweet,
\nNot the cushion and the slipper, not the peaceful and the studious,
\nNot the riches safe and palling, not for us the tame enjoyment,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

Do the feasters gluttonous feast?
\nDo the corpulent sleepers sleep? have they lock’d and bolted doors?
\nStill be ours the diet hard, and the blanket on the ground,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

Has the night descended?
\nWas the road of late so toilsome? did we stop discouraged nodding
\non our way?
\nYet a passing hour I yield you in your tracks to pause oblivious,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

Till with sound of trumpet,
\nFar, far off the daybreak call–hark! how loud and clear I hear it wind,
\nSwift! to the head of the army!–swift! spring to your places,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/p>\n

(Hat tip to Allan for this manvotional idea)<\/em><\/p>\n

Come my tan-faced children,
\nFollow well in order, get your weapons ready,
\nHave you your pistols? have you your sharp-edged axes?
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

For we cannot tarry here,
\nWe must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger,
\nWe the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

O you youths, Western youths,
\nSo impatient, full of action, full of manly pride and friendship,
\nPlain I see you Western youths, see you tramping with the foremost,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

Have the elder races halted?
\nDo they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond the seas?
\nWe take up the task eternal, and the burden and the lesson,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

All the past we leave behind,
\nWe debouch upon a newer mightier world, varied world,
\nFresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

We detachments steady throwing,
\nDown the edges, through the passes, up the mountains steep,
\nConquering, holding, daring, venturing as we go the unknown ways,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

We primeval forests felling,
\nWe the rivers stemming, vexing we and piercing deep the mines within,
\nWe the surface broad surveying, we the virgin soil upheaving,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

Colorado men are we,
\nFrom the peaks gigantic, from the great sierras and the high plateaus,
\nFrom the mine and from the gully, from the hunting trail we come,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

From Nebraska, from Arkansas,
\nCentral inland race are we, from Missouri, with the continental
\nblood intervein’d,
\nAll the hands of comrades clasping, all the Southern, all the Northern,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

O resistless restless race!
\nO beloved race in all! O my breast aches with tender love for all!
\nO I mourn and yet exult, I am rapt with love for all,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

Raise the mighty mother mistress,
\nWaving high the delicate mistress, over all the starry mistress,
\n(bend your heads all,)
\nRaise the fang’d and warlike mistress, stern, impassive, weapon’d mistress,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

See my children, resolute children,
\nBy those swarms upon our rear we must never yield or falter,
\nAges back in ghostly millions frowning there behind us urging,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

On and on the compact ranks,
\nWith accessions ever waiting, with the places of the dead quickly fill’d,
\nThrough the battle, through defeat, moving yet and never stopping,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

O to die advancing on!
\nAre there some of us to droop and die? has the hour come?
\nThen upon the march we fittest die, soon and sure the gap is fill’d.
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

All the pulses of the world,
\nFalling in they beat for us, with the Western movement beat,
\nHolding single or together, steady moving to the front, all for us,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

Life’s involv’d and varied pageants,
\nAll the forms and shows, all the workmen at their work,
\nAll the seamen and the landsmen, all the masters with their slaves,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

All the hapless silent lovers,
\nAll the prisoners in the prisons, all the righteous and the wicked,
\nAll the joyous, all the sorrowing, all the living, all the dying,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

I too with my soul and body,
\nWe, a curious trio, picking, wandering on our way,
\nThrough these shores amid the shadows, with the apparitions pressing,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

Lo, the darting bowling orb!
\nLo, the brother orbs around, all the clustering suns and planets,
\nAll the dazzling days, all the mystic nights with dreams,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

These are of us, they are with us,
\nAll for primal needed work, while the followers there in embryo wait behind,
\nWe to-day’s procession heading, we the route for travel clearing,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

O you daughters of the West!
\nO you young and elder daughters! O you mothers and you wives!
\nNever must you be divided, in our ranks you move united,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

Minstrels latent on the prairies!
\n(Shrouded bards of other lands, you may rest, you have done your work,)
\nSoon I hear you coming warbling, soon you rise and tramp amid us,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

Not for delectations sweet,
\nNot the cushion and the slipper, not the peaceful and the studious,
\nNot the riches safe and palling, not for us the tame enjoyment,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

Do the feasters gluttonous feast?
\nDo the corpulent sleepers sleep? have they lock’d and bolted doors?
\nStill be ours the diet hard, and the blanket on the ground,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

Has the night descended?
\nWas the road of late so toilsome? did we stop discouraged nodding
\non our way?
\nYet a passing hour I yield you in your tracks to pause oblivious,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n

Till with sound of trumpet,
\nFar, far off the daybreak call–hark! how loud and clear I hear it wind,
\nSwift! to the head of the army!–swift! spring to your places,
\nPioneers! O pioneers!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walt Whitman wrote the poem “Pioneers! O Pioneers!” as an ode to the pioneers who had struck out in search of  adventure and a better life and settled the wild of the American West. He praises the rugged resiliency, the daring courage, and the fearless resolution of those who left the past behind to hew […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7628,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[502,42272],"tags":[42295],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-7625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-character","category-manhood","tag-manvotionals"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2009\/11\/pioneers4-538x280.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2009\/11\/pioneers4-768x471.jpg","aom":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2009\/11\/pioneers4-372x230.jpg","reactor-320":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2009\/11\/pioneers4-320x196.jpg","reactor-640":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2009\/11\/pioneers4-640x393.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7625"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128798,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7625\/revisions\/128798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7625"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=7625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}