Sail. sail they best, ship of Democracy,
Of value is thy freight, 'tis not the Present only
The Past is also stored in thee,
thou holdest not the venture of thyslef alone, not of
the Western continent alone.
Earth's rŽsumŽ entire floats on thy keel, O ship, is
steadied by thy spars,
With thee Time voyages in trust, the antecedent
nations sink or swim thee,
With all their ancient struggles, martyrs, heroes, epics,
wars, thou bear'st the other continents,
Theirs, theirs as much as thine, the destination-port
triumphant...
Walt Whitman
Thou Mother with Thy Equal Brood, 1872.