Germs

   FORMS, qualities, lives, humanity, language, thoughts,
   The ones known, and the ones unknown--the ones on the stars,
   The stars themselves, some shaped, others unshaped,
   Wonders as of those countries--the soil, trees, cities, inhabitants, 
         whatever they may be,
   Splendid suns, the moons and rings, the countless combinations and 
         effects;
   Such-like, and as good as such-like, visible here or anywhere, stand 
         provided for in a handful of space, which I extend my arm and 
         half enclose with my hand;
   That contains the start of each and all--the virtue, the germs of 
         all.

Whitman, Walt. 1900. Leaves of Grass.