Section: «Poems»

Verse (ancient Greek ὁ στίχος — row, structure), a term in versification used in several meanings: artistic speech organized by division into rhythmically commensurate segments; poetry in the narrow sense; in particular, it implies the properties of versification of a particular tradition ("antique verse", "Akhmatova's verse", etc.); a line of poetic text organized according to a certain rhythmic pattern ("My uncle of the most honest rules").

God

THOUGHT of the Infinite--the All!Be thou my God.Lover Divine, and Perfect Comrade!Waiting, content, invisible yet, but certain,Be thou my..

© Walt Whitman

Song Of Myself, XI

Twenty-eight young men bathe by the shore,Twenty-eight young men and all so friendly;Twenty-eight years of womanly life and all so lonesome.She owns..

© Walt Whitman

That Shadow, My Likeness

THAT shadow, my likeness, that goes to and fro, seeking a livelihood,chattering, chaffering;How often I find myself standing and looking at it where..

© Walt Whitman

Germs

FORMS, qualities, lives, humanity, language, thoughts,The ones known, and the ones unknown--the ones on the stars,The stars themselves, some shaped..

© Walt Whitman

As I Ebb'D With The Ocean Of Life

1As I ebb'd with the ocean of life,As I wended the shores I know,As I walk'd where the ripples continually wash you Paumanok,Where they rustle up..

© Walt Whitman

Crossing Brooklyn Ferry

FLOOD-TIDE below me! I watch you face to face;Clouds of the west! sun there half an hour high! I see you also faceto face.Crowds of men and women..

© Walt Whitman

As I Ponder'D In Silence

AS I ponder'd in silence,Returning upon my poems, considering, lingering long,A Phantom arose before me, with distrustful aspect,Terrible in beauty..

© Walt Whitman

So Far And So Far, And On Toward The End

SO far, and so far, and on toward the end,Singing what is sung in this book, from the irresistible impulses ofme;But whether I continue beyond this..

© Walt Whitman

I Was Looking A Long While

I WAS looking a long while for a clue to the history of the past formyself, and for these chants--and now I have found it;It is not in those paged..

© Walt Whitman

Lessons

THERE are who teach only the sweet lessons of peace and safety;But I teach lessons of war and death to those I love,That they readily meet invasions..

© Walt Whitman

O Hymen! O Hymenee!

O HYMEN! O hymenee!Why do you tantalize me thus?O why sting me for a swift moment only?Why can you not continue? O why do you now cease?Is it..

© Walt Whitman

Debris

HE is wisest who has the most caution,He only wins who goes far enough.Any thing is as good as established, when that is established thatwill produce..

© Walt Whitman

Song Of Myself, X

Alone far in the wilds and mountains I hunt,Wandering amazed at my own lightness and glee,In the late afternoon choosing a safe spot to pass the..

© Walt Whitman

I Dream'D In A Dream

I DREAM'D in a dream, I saw a city invincible to the attacks of thewhole of the rest of the earth;I dream'd that was the new City of Friends;Nothing..

© Walt Whitman

I Will Take An Egg Out Of The Robin's Nest

I WILL take an egg out of the robin's nest in the orchard,I will take a branch of gooseberries from the old bush in the garden,and go and preach to..

© Walt Whitman

O Living Always--Always Dying

O LIVING always--always dying!O the burials of me, past and present!O me, while I stride ahead, material, visible, imperious as ever!O me, what I was..

© Walt Whitman

Give Me The Splendid, Silent Sun

GIVE me the splendid silent sun, with all his beams full-dazzling;Give me juicy autumnal fruit, ripe and red from the orchard;Give me a field where..

© Walt Whitman

Mannahatta

I WAS asking for something specific and perfect for my city,Whereupon, lo! upsprang the aboriginal name!Now I see what there is in a name, a word..

© Walt Whitman

Pioneers! O Pioneers!

COME, my tan-faced children,Follow well in order, get your weapons ready;Have you your pistols? have you your sharp edged axes?Pioneers! O..

© Walt Whitman

Among The Multitude

AMONG the men and women, the multitude,I perceive one picking me out by secret and divine signs,Acknowledging none else--not parent, wife, husband..

© Walt Whitman

On Old Man's Thought Of School

AN old man's thought of School;An old man, gathering youthful memories and blooms, that youth itselfcannot.Now only do I know you!O fair auroral..

© Walt Whitman

On The Beach At Night

ON the beach, at night,Stands a child, with her father,Watching the east, the autumn sky.Up through the darkness,While ravening clouds, the burial..

© Walt Whitman

Sometimes With One I Love

SOMETIMES with one I love, I fill myself with rage, for fear I effuseunreturn'd love;But now I think there is no unreturn'd love--the pay is certain..

© Walt Whitman

Song Of The Open Road

AFOOT and light-hearted, I take to the open road,Healthy, free, the world before me,The long brown path before me, leading wherever I..

© Walt Whitman

Bathed In War's Perfume

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!..

© Walt Whitman