Chanting the Square Deific. by Walt Whitman
1 CHANTING the square deific, out of the One advancing, out of the sides; Out of the old and new—out of the square entirely divine, Solid, four-sided, (all the sides needed)… from this side JEHOVAH am I, Old Brahm I, and I Saturnius am; Not Time affects me—I am Time, old, modern as any; Unpersuadable, […]
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, […]
Cavalry Crossing a Ford. by Walt Whitman
A LINE in long array, where they wind betwixt green islands; They take a serpentine course—their arms flash in the sun—Hark to the musical clank; Behold the silvery river—in it the splashing horses, loitering, stop to drink; Behold the brown-faced men—each group, each person, a picture—the negligent rest on the saddles; Some emerge on the […]
Carol of Words. by Walt Whitman
1 EARTH, round, rolling, compact—suns, moons, animals—all these are words to be said; Watery, vegetable, sauroid advances—beings, premonitions, lispings of the future, Behold! these are vast words to be said. Were you thinking that those were the words—those upright lines? those curves, angles, dots? No, those are not the words—the substantial words are in the […]
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 […]
Camps of Green. by Walt Whitman
NOT alone those camps of white, O soldiers, When, as order’d forward, after a long march, Footsore and weary, soon as the light lessen’d, we halted for the night; Some of us so fatigued, carrying the gun and knapsack, dropping asleep in our tracks; Others pitching the little tents, and the fires lit up began […]
By the Bivouac’s Fitful Flame. by Walt Whitman
BY the bivouac’s fitful flame, A procession winding around me, solemn and sweet and slow;—but first I note, The tents of the sleeping army, the fields’ and woods’ dim outline, The darkness, lit by spots of kindled fire—the silence; Like a phantom far or near an occasional figure moving; The shrubs and trees, (as I […]
By Broad Potomac’s Shore. by Walt Whitman
1 BY broad Potomac’s shore—again, old tongue! (Still uttering—still ejaculating—canst never cease this babble?) Again, old heart so gay—again to you, your sense, the full flush spring returning; Again the freshness and the odors—again Virginia’s summer sky, pellucid blue and silver, Again the forenoon purple of the hills, Again the deathless grass, so noiseless, soft […]
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 […]
Bivouac on a Mountain Side. by Walt Whitman
I SEE before me now, a traveling army halting; Below, a fertile valley spread, with barns, and the orchards of summer; Behind, the terraced sides of a mountain, abrupt in places, rising high; Broken, with rocks, with clinging cedars, with tall shapes, dingily seen; The numerous camp-fires scatter’d near and far, some away up on […]
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, […]
Beginning my Studies. by Walt Whitman
BEGINNING my studies, the first step pleas’d me so much, The mere fact, consciousness—these forms—the power of motion, The least insect or animal—the senses—eyesight—love; The first step, I say, aw’d me and pleas’d me so much, I have hardly gone, and hardly wish’d to go, any farther, But stop and loiter all the time, to […]
Beginners. by Walt Whitman
HOW they are provided for upon the earth, (appearing at intervals;) How dear and dreadful they are to the earth; How they inure to themselves as much as to any—What a paradox appears their age; How people respond to them, yet know them not; How there is something relentless in their fate, all times; How […]
Beautiful Women. by Walt Whitman
WOMEN sit, or move to and fro—some old, some young; The young are beautiful—but the old are more beautiful than the young. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. Poems by topic and subject. Poetry Monster — the ultimate repository of world poetry. Poetry Monster — the multilingual library […]
Beat! Beat! Drums! by Walt Whitman
1 BEAT! beat! drums!—Blow! bugles! blow! Through the windows—through doors—burst like a ruthless force, Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation; Into the school where the scholar is studying; Leave not the bridegroom quiet—no happiness must he have now with his bride; Nor the peaceful farmer any peace, plowing his field or gathering his […]
Bathed in War’s Perfume. by Walt Whitman
BATHED in war’s perfume—delicate flag! (Should the days needing armies, needing fleets, come again,) O to hear you call the sailors and the soldiers! flag like a beautiful woman! O to hear the tramp, tramp, of a million answering men! O the ships they arm with joy! O to see you leap and beckon from […]
Base of all Metaphysics, The. by Walt Whitman
AND now, gentlemen, A word I give to remain in your memories and minds, As base, and finale too, for all metaphysics. (So, to the students, the old professor, At the close of his crowded course.) Having studied the new and antique, the Greek and Germanic systems, Kant having studied and stated—Fichte and Schelling and […]
at Weeping Face. by Walt Whitman
WHAT weeping face is that looking from the window? Why does it stream those sorrowful tears? Is it for some burial place, vast and dry? Is it to wet the soil of graves? ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. Poems by topic and subject. Poetry Monster — the […]
Assurances. by Walt Whitman
I NEED no assurances—I am a man who is preoccupied, of his own Soul; I do not doubt that from under the feet, and beside the hands and face I am cognizant of, are now looking faces I am not cognizant of—calm and actual faces; I do not doubt but the majesty and beauty of […]
Ashes of Soldiers. by Walt Whitman
ASHES of soldiers! As I muse, retrospective, murmuring a chant in thought, Lo! the war resumes—again to my sense your shapes, And again the advance of armies. Noiseless as mists and vapors, From their graves in the trenches ascending, From the cemeteries all through Virginia and Tennessee, From every point of the compass, out of […]
As Toilsome I Wander’d. by Walt Whitman
AS toilsome I wander’d Virginia’s woods, To the music of rustling leaves, kick’d by my feet, (for ’twas autumn,) I mark’d at the foot of a tree the grave of a soldier, Mortally wounded he, and buried on the retreat, (easily all could I understand;) The halt of a mid-day hour, when up! no time […]
As the Time Draws Nigh. by Walt Whitman
1 AS the time draws nigh, glooming, a cloud, A dread beyond, of I know not what, darkens me. I shall go forth, I shall traverse The States awhile—but I cannot tell whither or how long; Perhaps soon, some day or night while I am singing, my voice will suddenly cease. 2 O book, O […]
As if a Phantom Caress’d Me. by Walt Whitman
AS if a phantom caress’d me, I thought I was not alone, walking here by the shore; But the one I thought was with me, as now I walk by the shore—the one I loved, that caress’d me, As I lean and look through the glimmering light—that one has utterly disappear’d, And those appear that […]
As I Watch’d the Ploughman Ploughing. by Walt Whitman
AS I watch’d the ploughman ploughing, Or the sower sowing in the fields—or the harvester harvesting, I saw there too, O life and death, your analogies: (Life, life is the tillage, and Death is the harvest according.) ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. Poems by topic and subject. […]
As I Walk These Broad, Majestic Days. by Walt Whitman
AS I walk these broad, majestic days of peace, (For the war, the struggle of blood finish’d, wherein, O terrific Ideal! Against vast odds, having gloriously won, Now thou stridest on—yet perhaps in time toward denser wars, Perhaps to engage in time in still more dreadful contests, dangers, Longer campaigns and crises, labors beyond all […]
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 I Ponder’d in Silence. by Walt Whitman
1 AS I ponder’d in silence, Returning upon my poems, considering, lingering long, A Phantom arose before me, with distrustful aspect, Terrible in beauty, age, and power, The genius of poets of old lands, As to me directing like flame its eyes, With finger pointing to many immortal songs, And menacing voice, What singest thou? […]
As I lay with Head in your Lap, Camerado. by Walt Whitman
AS I lay with my head in your lap, Camerado, The confession I made I resume—what I said to you in the open air I resume: I know I am restless, and make others so; I know my words are weapons, full of danger, full of death; (Indeed I am myself the real soldier; It […]
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 At Thy Portals Also Death. by Walt Whitman
AS at thy portals also death, Entering thy sovereign, dim, illimitable grounds, To memories of my mother, to the divine blending, maternity, To her, buried and gone, yet buried not, gone not from me, (I see again the calm benignant face fresh and beautiful still, I sit by the form in the coffin, I kiss […]
As Adam, Early in the Morning. by Walt Whitman
AS Adam, early in the morning, Walking forth from the bower, refresh’d with sleep; Behold me where I pass—hear my voice—approach, Touch me—touch the palm of your hand to my Body as I pass; Be not afraid of my Body. 5 ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. Poems […]
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, […]
Artilleryman’s Vision, The. by Walt Whitman
WHILE my wife at my side lies slumbering, and the wars are over long, And my head on the pillow rests at home, and the vacant midnight passes, And through the stillness, through the dark, I hear, just hear, the breath of my infant, There in the room, as I wake from sleep, this vision […]
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 […]
Ages and Ages, Returning at Intervals. by Walt Whitman
AGES and ages, returning at intervals, Undestroy’d, wandering immortal, Lusty, phallic, with the potent original loins, perfectly sweet, I, chanter of Adamic songs, Through the new garden, the West, the great cities calling, Deliriate, thus prelude what is generated, offering these, offering myself, Bathing myself, bathing my songs in Sex, Offspring of my loins. ————— […]
Adieu to a Soldier by Walt Whitman
ADIEU, O soldier! You of the rude campaigning, (which we shared,) The rapid march, the life of the camp, The hot contention of opposing fronts—the long manoeuver, Red battles with their slaughter,—the stimulus—the strong, terrific game, Spell of all brave and manly hearts—the trains of Time through you, and like of you, all fill’d, With […]
Aboard at a Ship’s Helm. by Walt Whitman
, at a ship’s helm, A young steersman, steering with care. A bell through fog on a sea-coast dolefully ringing, An ocean-bell—O a warning bell, rock’d by the waves. O you give good notice indeed, you bell by the sea-reefs ringing, Ringing, ringing, to warn the ship from its wreck-place. For, as on the alert, […]
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 […]
A Sight in Camp. by Walt Whitman
A SIGHT in camp in the day-break grey and dim, As from my tent I emerge so early, sleepless, As slow I walk in the cool fresh air, the path near by the hospital tent, Three forms I see on stretchers lying, brought out there, untended lying, Over each the blanket spread, ample brownish woollen […]