306. Bodily Extension

THE BODY is not bounded by its skin;

Its effluence, like a gentle cloud of scent,

Is wide into the air diffused, and, blent

With elements unseen, its way doth win

To ether frontiers, where take origin

Far subtler systems, nobler regions meant

To be the area and the instrument

Of operations ever to begin

Anew and never end. Thus every man

Wears as his robe the garment of the sky—

So close his union with the cosmic plan,

So perfectly he pierces low and high—

Reaching as far in space as creature can,

And co-extending with immensity.