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The title of this painting is taken from Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass." Two lines from the poem are written out on the painting, "Power enjoying, elbows stretching, fingers clutching, / Arm'd and fearless, eating, drinking, sleeping, loving." On the lips of the left figure is written, "never," taken from the line, 'One the other never leaving' as a commitment message. The '4.2' written in the lower left corner of the painting is a reference to musician Cliff Richard. Yet another reference for the painting is a local newspaper headline that read, 'TWO BOYS CLING TO CLIFF ALL NIGHT LONG.' Although the story involved a climbing accident, the sexual humor was not lost on Hockney.full view