The cotton-bale, the stevedore’s hook, the saw and buck of the sawyer, the mould of the moulder, the working-knife of the butcher, the ice-saw, and all the work with ice, The work and tools of the rigger, grappler, sail-maker, block-maker, Goods of gutta-percha, papier-maché, colors, brushes, brush-making, glazier’s implements, The veneer and glue-pot, the confectioner’s ornaments, the decanter and glasses, the shears and flat-iron, The awl and knee-strap, the pint measure and quart measure, the counter and stool, the writing-pen of quill or metal, the making of all sorts of edged tools, The brewery, brewing, the malt, the vats, everything that is done by brewers, wine-makers, vinegar-makers, Leather-dressing, coach-making, boiler-making, rope-twisting, distilling, sign-painting, lime-burning, cotton-picking, electroplating, electrotyping, stereotyping, Stave-machines, planing-machines, reaping-machines, ploughing-machines, thrashing-machines, steam wagons, The cart of the carman, the omnibus, the ponderous dray, Pyrotechny, letting off color’d fireworks at night, fancy figures and jets;

Beef on the butcher’s stall, the slaughter-house of the butcher, the butcher in his killing-clothes, The pens of live pork, the killing-hammer, the hog-hook, the scalder’s tub, gutting, the cutter’s cleaver, the packer’s maul, and the plenteous winterwork of pork-packing, Flour-works, grinding of wheat, rye, maize, rice, the barrels and the half and quarter barrels, the loaded barges, the high piles on wharves and levees, The men and the work of the men on ferries, railroads, coasters, fish-boats, canals; The hourly routine of your own or any man’s life, the shop, yard, store, or factory, These shows all near you by day and night⁠—workman! whoever you are, your daily life! In that and them the heft of the heaviest⁠—in that and them far more than you estimated, (and far less also,) In them realities for you and me, in them poems for you and me, In them, not yourself⁠—you and your soul enclose all things, regardless of estimation, In them the development good⁠—in them all themes, hints, possibilities.

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