A Carol of Harvest, for 1867 by Walt Whitman
1 A SONG of the good green grass! A song no more of the city streets; A song of farms—a song of the soil of fields. A song with the smell of sun-dried hay, where the nimble pitchers handle the pitch-fork; A song tasting of new wheat, and of fresh-husk’d maize. 2 For the lands, […]
A Promise to California. by Walt Whitman
A PROMISE to California, Also to the great Pastoral Plains, and for Oregon: Sojourning east a while longer, soon I travel toward you, to remain, to teach robust American love; For I know very well that I and robust love belong among you, inland, and along the Western Sea; For These States tend inland, and […]
A Boston Ballad, 1854. by Walt Whitman
TO get betimes in Boston town, I rose this morning early; Here’s a good place at the corner—I must stand and see the show. Clear the way there, Jonathan! Way for the President’s marshal! Way for the government cannon! Way for the Federal foot and dragoons—and the apparitions copiously tumbling. I love to look on […]
A Song. by Walt Whitman
1 COME, I will make the continent indissoluble; I will make the most splendid race the sun ever yet shone upon; I will make divine magnetic lands, With the love of comrades, With the life-long love of comrades. 2 I will plant companionship thick as trees along all the rivers of America, and along the […]
An Old Man’s Thought of School. by Walt Whitman
AN old man’s thought of School; An old man, gathering youthful memories and blooms, that youth itself cannot. Now only do I know you! O fair auroral skies! O morning dew upon the grass! And these I see—these sparkling eyes, These stores of mystic meaning—these young lives, Building, equipping, like a fleet of ships—immortal ships! […]
Passage to India. by Walt Whitman
1 SINGING my days, Singing the great achievements of the present, Singing the strong, light works of engineers, Our modern wonders, (the antique ponderous Seven outvied,) In the Old World, the east, the Suez canal, The New by its mighty railroad spann’d, The seas inlaid with eloquent, gentle wires, I sound, to commence, the cry, […]
Or from that Sea of Time. by Walt Whitman
1 OR, from that Sea of Time, Spray, blown by the wind—a double winrow-drift of weeds and shells; (O little shells, so curious-convolute! so limpid-cold and voiceless! Yet will you not, to the tympans of temples held, Murmurs and echoes still bring up—Eternity’s music, faint and far, Wafted inland, sent from Atlantica’s rim—strains for the […]
One Song, America, Before I Go. by Walt Whitman
ONE song, America, before I go, I’d sing, o’er all the rest, with trumpet sound, For thee—the Future. I’d sow a seed for thee of endless Nationality; I’d fashion thy Ensemble, including Body and Soul; I’d show, away ahead, thy real Union, and how it may be accomplish’d. (The paths to the House I seek […]
Of Him I Love Day and Night. by Walt Whitman
OF him I love day and night, I dream’d I heard he was dead; And I dream’d I went where they had buried him I love—but he was not in that place; And I dream’d I wander’d, searching among burial-places, to find him; And I found that every place was a burial-place; The houses full […]
No Labor-Saving Machine. by Walt Whitman
NO labor-saving machine, Nor discovery have I made; Nor will I be able to leave behind me any wealthy bequest to found a hospital or library, Nor reminiscence of any deed of courage, for America, Nor literary success, nor intellect—nor book for the book-shelf; Only a few carols, vibrating through the air, I leave, For […]
Longings for Home. by Walt Whitman
O MAGNET-SOUTH! O glistening, perfumed South! My South! O quick mettle, rich blood, impulse, and love! Good and evil! O all dear to me! O dear to me my birth-things—All moving things, and the trees where I was born—the grains, plants, rivers; Dear to me my own slow sluggish rivers where they flow, distant, over […]
Laws for Creations. by Walt Whitman
LAWS for Creations, For strong artists and leaders—for fresh broods of teachers, and perfect literats for America, For noble savans, and coming musicians. All must have reference to the ensemble of the world, and the compact truth of the world; There shall be no subject too pronounced—All works shall illustrate the divine law of indirections. […]
I Hear America Singing. by Walt Whitman
I HEAR America singing, the varied carols I hear; Those of mechanics—each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong; The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam, The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work; The boatman singing what belongs to him in […]
Eidólons. by Walt Whitman
I MET a Seer, Passing the hues and objects of the world, The fields of art and learning, pleasure, sense, To glean Eidólons. Put in thy chants, said he, No more the puzzling hour, nor day—nor segments, parts, put in, Put first before the rest, as light for all, and entrance-song of all, That of […]
Centenarian’s Story, The. by Walt Whitman
GIVE me your hand, old Revolutionary; The hill-top is nigh—but a few steps, (make room, gentlemen;) Up the path you have follow’d me well, spite of your hundred and extra years; You can walk, old man, though your eyes are almost done; Your faculties serve you, and presently I must have them serve me. Rest, […]
Carol of Occupations. by Walt Whitman
1 COME closer to me; Push close, my lovers, and take the best I possess; Yield closer and closer, and give me the best you possess. This is unfinish’d business with me—How is it with you? (I was chill’d with the cold types, cylinder, wet paper between us.) Male and Female! I pass so poorly […]
Brother of All, with Generous Hand. by Walt Whitman
1 BROTHER of all, with generous hand, Of thee, pondering on thee, as o’er thy tomb, I and my Soul, A thought to launch in memory of thee, A burial verse for thee. What may we chant, O thou within this tomb? What tablets, pictures, hang for thee, O millionaire? —The life thou lived’st we […]
Behold this Swarthy Face. by Walt Whitman
BEHOLD this swarthy face—these gray eyes, This beard—the white wool, unclipt upon my neck, My brown hands, and the silent manner of me, without charm; Yet comes one, a Manhattanese, and ever at parting, kisses me lightly on the lips with robust love, And I, on the crossing of the street, or on the ship’s […]
Behavior. by Walt Whitman
BEHAVIOR—fresh, native, copious, each one for himself or herself, Nature and the Soul expressed—America and freedom expressed—In it the finest art, In it pride, cleanliness, sympathy, to have their chance, In it physique, intellect, faith—in it just as much as to manage an army or a city, or to write a book—perhaps more, The youth, […]
As I Sat Alone by Blue Ontario’s Shores. by Walt Whitman
1 AS I sat alone, by blue Ontario’s shore, As I mused of these mighty days, and of peace return’d, and the dead that return no more, A Phantom, gigantic, superb, with stern visage, accosted me; Chant me the poem, it said, that comes from the soul of America—chant me the carol of victory; And […]
As Consequent, Etc. by Walt Whitman
AS consequent from store of summer rains, Or wayward rivulets in autumn flowing, Or many a herb-lined brook’s reticulations, Or subterranean sea-rills making for the sea, Songs of continued years I sing. Life’s ever-modern rapids first, (soon, soon to blend, With the old streams of death.) Some threading Ohio’s farm-fields or the woods, Some down […]
As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free. by Walt Whitman
1 AS a strong bird on pinions free, Joyous, the amplest spaces heavenward cleaving, Such be the thought I’d think to-day of thee, America, Such be the recitative I’d bring to-day for thee. The conceits of the poets of other lands I bring thee not, Nor the compliments that have served their turn so long, […]
Apostroph. by Walt Whitman
O MATER! O fils! O brood continental! O flowers of the prairies! O space boundless! O hum of mighty products! O you teeming cities! O so invincible, turbulent, proud! O race of the future! O women! O fathers! O you men of passion and the storm! O native power only! O beauty! O yourself! O […]
A Woman Waits for Me. by Walt Whitman
A WOMAN waits for me—she contains all, nothing is lacking, Yet all were lacking, if sex were lacking, or if the moisture of the right man were lacking. Sex contains all, Bodies, Souls, meanings, proofs, purities, delicacies, results, promulgations, Songs, commands, health, pride, the maternal mystery, the seminal milk; All hopes, benefactions, bestowals, All the […]
American Soil by Walter William Safar
American Soil by Walter William Safar American soil, lit by the endlessly distant light of freedom’s torch. Once againe I felt that behind each bush of your blessed coast-tails there is always a new fate awaiting, to melt the dreams into the liveliest colors of life; American soil, you beautiful,green,virginal wreath, with how much bliss […]
America by Walter William Safar
America by Walter William Safar Oh, America, I am praising you with poems at the altar of freedom, I am voicing my verses in crimson forests and golden deserts, Like the echo of an ancient prophecy; You shall be a spiritual home to many faithful! A home to many languages and prayers! A home to […]
CIA Dope Calypso by Allen Ginsberg
In nineteen hundred forty-nine China was won by Mao Tse-tung Chiang Kai-shek’s army ran away They were waiting there in Thailand yesterday Supported by the CIA Pushing junk down Thailand way First they stole from the Meo Tribes Up in the hills they started taking bribes Then they sent their soldiers up to Shan Collecting […]
The Paint-Kings by Washington Allston
Fair Ellen was long the delight of the young, No damsel could with her compare; Her charms were the theme of the heart and the tongue. And bards without number in extacies sung, The beauties of Ellen the fair. Yet cold was the maid; and tho’ legions advanced, All drill’d by Ovidean art, And languish’d, […]
Rosalie by Washington Allston
‘O POUR upon my soul again That sad, unearthly strain, That seems from other worlds to plain; Thus falling, falling from afar, As if some melancholy star Had mingled with her light her sighs, And dropped them from the skies! ‘No,—never came from aught below This melody of woe, That makes my heart to overflow, […]
On The Luxembourg Gallery by Washington Allston
There is a Charm no vulgar mind can reach. No critick thwart, no mighty master teach; A Charm how mingled of the good and ill! Yet still so mingled that the mystick whole Shall captive hold the struggling Gazer’s will, ‘Till vanquish’d reason own its full control. And such, oh Rubens, thy mysterious art, The […]
Eccentricity by Washington Allston
Alas, my friend! what hope have I of fame, Who am, as Nature made me, still the same? And thou, poor suitor to a bankrupt muse, How mad thy toil, how arrogant thy views! What though endued with Genius’ power to move The magick chords of sympathy and love, The painter’s eye, the poet’s fervid […]
Art by Washington Allston
O Art, high gift of Heaven! how oft defamed When seeming praised! To most a craft that fits, By dead, prescriptive Rule, the scattered bits Of gathered knowledge; even so misnamed By some who would invoke thee; but not so By him,-the noble Tuscan,-who gave birth To forms unseen of man, unknown to Earth, Now […]
America To Great Britain by Washington Allston
ALL hail! thou noble land, Our Fathers’ native soil! Oh, stretch thy mighty hand, Gigantic grown by toil, O’er the vast Atlantic wave to our shore! For thou with magic might Canst reach to where the light Of Phœbus travels bright The world o’er! The Genius of our clime, From his pine-embattled steep, Shall hail […]
The Seven Sages by William Butler Yeats
The First. My great-grandfather spoke to Edmund Burke In Grattan’s house. The Second. My great-grandfather shared A pot-house bench with Oliver Goldsmith once. The Third. My great-grandfather’s father talked of music, Drank tar-water with the Bishop of Cloyne. The Fourth. But mine saw Stella once. The Fifth. Whence came our thought? The Sixth. From four […]
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake
THE MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELL THE MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELL BY WILLIAM BLAKE [lwptoc] THE ARGUMENT RINTRAH roars and shakes his fires in the burden’d air, Hungry clouds swag on the deep. Once meek, and in a perilous path The just man kept his course along The Vale of Death. Roses are planted […]
A Tribute to Mr J. Graham Henderson, The World’s Fair Judge by William Topaz McGonagall
A Tribute to Mr J. Graham Henderson, The World’s Fair Judge by William Topaz McGonagall Thrice welcome home to Hawick, Mr J. Graham Henderson, For by your Scotch tweeds a great honour you have won; By exhibiting your beautiful tweeds at the World’s Fair You have been elected judge of Australian and American wools while […]
A Tale of the Sea by William Topaz McGonagall
A Tale of the Sea by William Topaz McGonagall A pathetic tale of the sea I will unfold, Enough to make one’s blood run cold; Concerning four fishermen cast adrift in a dory. As I’ve been told I’ll relate the story. T’was on the 8th April on the afternoon of that day That the village […]
An Ode in Time of Hesitation by William Vaughn Moody
An Ode in Time of Hesitation by William Vaughn Moody After seeing at Boston the statue of Robert Gould Shaw, killed while storming Fort Wagner, July 18, 1863, at the head of the first enlisted negro regiment, the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts. I Before the solemn bronze Saint Gaudens made To thrill the heedless passer’s heart with […]
A Soldier’s Reprieve by William Topaz McGonagall
A Soldier’s Reprieve by William Topaz McGonagall ‘Twas in the United States of America some years ago An aged father sat at his fireside with his heart full of woe, And talking to his neighbour, Mr Allan, about his boy Bennie That was to be shot because found asleep doing sentinel duty. “Inside of twenty-four […]
Doomes-Day: The Second Houre by William Alexander
The Argument That threatned time which must the world appall, Is (that all may amend) by signes fore-showne, Warres rumor’d are, the Gospell preach’d o’re all, Some Iewes convert, the Antichrist growes knowne: Divels rage, vice raignes, zeale cooles, faith failes, stars fall, All sorts of plagues have the last Trumpet blowne: And by prodigious […]