Street Yarn

by Walt Whitman

Soldiers and militiamen are not the only people who wear uniforms. A uniform serves two purposes; first, to distinguish the wearers from others, and secondly, to assimilate them to each other. The universal uniform is more for the former of these than the latter; and is not only the style and substance of garments, but appearance and carriage. Come and walk in New York streets, or sit in a restaurant; we will detect some people for you by their uniforms.

Mild, foolish, dough-colored, simpering face; black cloth suit-shad-bellied, single-breasted coat, with low standing collar all round, vest buttoned close to throat, knees a little bent, toes turned out, and chin down. Episcopalian deacon.

Wild cataract of hair; absurd, bunged-up felt hat, with peaked crown; velvet coat, all friggled over with a gimp, but worn; eyes rather staring, looking upward. Third-rate artist.

Dress strictly respectable; hat well down on forehead; face thin, dry, close-shaven; mouth with a gripe like a vice; eyes sharp and quick; brows bent; forehead scowling; step jerky and bustling. Wall Street banker.

Hands crossed behind him; step slow; dress well enough, but careless all over; face bent downward, and full of thought. Leading lawyer.

Rusty black costume; white choker; look oddly compounded of severity, superiority, curiosity, apprehension, and suspicion; shoulders stooping, chest flat. Country clergyman.

Half-dozen ill-dressed fellows together (this is in the evening); dirty, unshorn faces; debauched expression; the half-shut eyes, and loose, hanging lips of the tribe; hoarse voices, incredibly tuneless; oaths and curses; laughs made up of a yell and a cackle; a peculiar quick, eager step, as they flock along close together. Short boys; damnable dangerous villains.

Dirty finery, excessively plentiful; paint, both red and white; draggle-tailed dress, ill-fitting; coarse features, unintelligent; bold glance; questioning, shameless, perceptibly anxious; hideous croak or dry brazen ring in voice; affected, but awkward, mincing, waggling gait. Harlot.

Heavy moustache; obtrusively expensive dress; big breast pin; heavy gold chain; rings; hat down over brows; loafing attitude on corner; eye furtive, glassy, expressionless; oaths; tobacco-spit. Gambler.

There, somewhat in that manner, you may learn even to distinguish the trades from each other. But now let us sketch individuals. We are sitting, we will suppose, in the St. Nicholas front windows, or standing in front of Delmonico's, or anywhere in a thoroughfare. The crowd flows; among it goes, now and then, one of the following:

A tall, slender man, round-shouldered, chin stuck out, deep-set eyes, sack-coat. His step is quick, and his arms swing awkwardly, as if he were trying to knock his elbows together behind him. Albert Brisbane the Socialist; the capitalist, too--an odd circumstance for a radical in New York! Somehow or other, he always looks as if he were attempting to think out some problem a little too hard for him.

Old gentleman in carriage. A well-built, portly old man, full, ruddy face, abundant wavy--almost frizzly--white hair, good forehead, kindly, intelligent look. Dr. Francis, the encyclopaedia of historical information, especially in local history and genealogy.

Tall, large, rough-looking man, in a journeyman carpenter's uniform. Coarse, sanguine complexion; strong, bristly, grizzled beard; singular eyes, of a semi-transparent, indistinct light blue, and with that sleepy look that comes when the lid rests half way down over the pupil; careless, lounging gait. Walt Whitman, the sturdy, self-conscious microcosmic prose-poetical author of that incongruous hash of mud and gold--"Leaves of Grass."

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provate a fare un elenco dei personaggi withmaninani e a descriverli in altre parole, con la terminologia che avete a disposizione. potete imitare la tecnica (compound words, ad esempio) ma non ricopiare
provate a fare una descrizione di caratteri (nel senso di personaggi) che conoscete imitando withman
i più audaci possono anche disegnare!