No one ever gets tired of the moon. Goddess that she is by dower of her eternal beauty, she is a true woman by her tact ā knows the charm of being seldom seen, of coming by surprise and of staying but a little while; never wears the same dress two nights running, nor all night the same way, commends herself to the matter of fact people by her usefulness, and makes her usefulness adored by poets, artists and all lovers in all lands; lends herself to every symbolism and to every emblem: is Diana's bow and Venus's mirror and Mary's throne; is a sickle, a scarf, an eyebrow, his or her face, as looked at by her or by him; is the madman's hell, the poet's heaven, the baby's toy, the philosopher's study; and, while her admirers follow her footsteps and hang on her lovely looks, she knows how to keep her woman's secret ā her other side unguessed and guessable.
Walt Whitman, Complete Prose Works
