Poems List
Explore poems from our collection
To A President
To A President
ALL you are doing and saying is to America dangled mirages,
You have not learn'd of Nature--of the politics of Nature, you have
To A Historian
To A Historian
YOU who celebrate bygones!
Who have explored the outward, the surfaces of the races--the life
that has exhibited itself;
W…
To A Common Prostitute
To A Common Prostitute
To a Common Prostitute
BE composed--be at ease with me--I am Walt Whitman, liberal and lusty
as Nature;
To A Certain Cantatrice
To A Certain Cantatrice
HERE, take this gift!
I was reserving it for some hero, speaker, or General,
One who should serve the goo…
Thought
Thought
OF obedience, faith, adhesiveness;
As I stand aloof and look, there is to me something profoundly
affecting in large masses of me…
Thou Orb Aloft Full-Dazzling
Thou Orb Aloft Full-Dazzling
THOU orb aloft full-dazzling! thou hot October noon!
Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand,
The sibilant ne…
This Dust Was Once The Man
This Dust Was Once The Man
THIS dust was once the Man,
Gentle, plain, just and resolute--under whose cautious hand,
Against the foulest crime in …
This Compost
This Compost
SOMETHING startles me where I thought I was safest;
I withdraw from the still woods I loved;
I will not go now on the pastures to wa…
Thick-Sprinkled Bunting
Thick-Sprinkled Bunting
THICK-SPRINKLED bunting! Flag of stars!
Long yet your road, fateful flag!--long yet your road, and lined with
These Carols
These Carols
THESE Carols, sung to cheer my passage through the world I see,
For completion, I dedicate to the Invisible World.
The Untold Want
The Untold Want
THE untold want, by life and land ne'er granted,
Now, Voyager, sail thou forth, to seek and find.
The Wound Dresser
The Wound Dresser
1
AN old man bending, I come, among new faces,
Years looking backward, resuming, in answer to children,
Come te…
The Sleepers
The Sleepers
I WANDER all night in my vision,
Stepping with light feet, swiftly and noiselessly stepping and
stopping,
Be…
The Torch
The Torch
ON my northwest coast in the midst of the night, a fishermen's group
stands watching;
Out on the lake, that expands before them, others…
The Prairie-Grass Dividing
The Prairie-Grass Dividing
THE prairie-grass dividing--its special odor breathing,
I demand of it the spiritual corresponding,
Demand the most co…
The Ship Starting
The Ship Starting
LO! THE unbounded sea!
On its breast a Ship starting, spreading all her sails--an ample
Ship, carrying even her moonsails;
The Last Invocation
The Last Invocation
At the last, tenderly,
From the walls of the powerful fortress'd house,
From the clasp of the knitted locks, from the…
The Ox tamer
The Ox tamer
IN a faraway northern county, in the placid, pastoral region,
Lives my farmer friend, the theme of my recitative, a famous Tamer of
…
The Dalliance Of The Eagles
The Dalliance Of The Eagles
SKIRTING the river road, (my forenoon walk, my rest,)
Skyward in air a sudden muffled sound, the dalliance of the eagles,
The Imprisoned Soul
The Imprisoned Soul
AT the last, tenderly,
From the walls of the powerful, fortress'd house,
From the clasp of the knitted locks--from the keep o…
The Centerarian's Story
The Centerarian's Story
GIVE me your hand, old Revolutionary;
The hill-top is nigh--but a few steps, (make room, gentlemen;)
Up the path you have…
The Artilleryman's Vision
The Artilleryman's Vision
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 m…
Tests
Tests
ALL submit to them, where they sit, inner, secure, unapproachable to
analysis, in the Soul;
Not traditions--not the outer authorities are t…
That Music Always Round Me
That Music Always Round Me
THAT music always round me, unceasing, unbeginning--yet long untaught
I did not hear;
But now the chorus I hea…