# Leaves of Grass (1882)

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First Philadelphia edition of Whitman's 1881 recension
Leaves
of
Grass
PHILADELPHIA,
REES WELSH & CO.,
No. 23 South Ninth Street.
1882.
Copyright 1881
By WALT WHITMAN
All rights reserved
SHERMAN & CO., PRINTERS, PHILADELPHIA.
CONTENTS.
| INSCRIPTIONS. | INSCRIPTIONS. | PAGE |
| | One's-Self I Sing | 9 |
| | As I Ponder'd in Silence | 9 |
| | In Cabin'd Ships at Sea | 10 |
| | To Foreign Lands | 11 |
| | To A Historian | 11 |
| | To Thee Old Cause | 11 |
| | Eidólons | 12 |
| | For Him I Sing | 14 |
| | When I Read the Book | 14 |
| | Beginning My Studies | 14 |
| | Beginners | 15 |
| | To The States | 15 |
| | On Journeys through The States | 15 |
| | To a Certain Cantatrice | 16 |
| | Me Imperturbe | 16 |
| | Savantism | 16 |
| | The Ship Starting | 16 |
| | I Hear America Singing | 17 |
| | What Place is Besieged? | 17 |
| | Still though the One I Sing | 17 |
| | Shut not Your Doors | 17 |
| | Poets to Come | 18 |
| | To You | 18 |
| | Thou Reader | 18 |
| Starting from Paumanok | Starting from Paumanok | 18 |
| Song of Myself | Song of Myself | 29 |
| CHILDREN OF ADAM. ||
| | To The Garden the World | 79 |
| | From Pent-up Aching Rivers | 79 |
| | I Sing the Body Electric | 81 |
| | A Woman Waits for Me | 88 |
| | Spontaneous Me | 89 |
| | One Hour to Madness and Joy | 91 |
| | Out of the Rolling Ocean the Crowd | 92 |
| | Ages and Ages Returning at Intervals | 92 |
| | We Two, How Long We were Fool'd | 93 |
| | Hymen! O Hymenee! | 93 |
| | I am He that Aches with Love | 93 |
| | Native Moments | 94 |
| | Once I Pass'd through a Populous City | 94 |
| | I Heard You Solemn-Sweet Pipes of the Organ | 94 |
| | Facing West from California's Shores | 95 |
| | As Adam Early in the Morning | 95 ​ |
| CALAMUS ||
| | In Paths Untrodden | 95 |
| | Scented Herbage of My Breast | 96 |
| | Whoever You are Holding Me Now in Hand | 97 |
| | For You O Democracy | 99 |
| | These I Singing in Spring | 99 |
| | Not Heaving from my Ribb'd Breast Only | 100 |
| | Of the Terrible Doubt of Appearances | 101 |
| | The Base of All Metaphysics | 101 |
| | Recorders Ages Hence | 102 |
| | When I Heard at the Close of the Day | 102 |
| | Are You the New Person Drawn toward Me? | 103 |
| | Roots and Leaves Themselves Alone | 103 |
| | Not Heat Flames up and Consumes | 104 |
| | Trickle Drops | 104 |
| | City of Orgies | 105 |
| | Behold This Swarthy Face | 105 |
| | I Saw in Louisiana a Live-Oak Growing | 105 |
| | To A Stranger | 106 |
| | This Moment Yearning and Thoughtful | 106 |
| | I Hear It was Charged against Me | 107 |
| | The Prairie-Grass (1882) Dividing | 107 |
| | When I Peruse the Conquer'd Fame | 107 |
| | We Two Boys together Clinging | 108 |
| | A Promise to California | 108 |
| | Here the Frailest Leaves of Me | 108 |
| | No Labor-Saving Machine | 108 |
| | A Glimpse | 109 |
| | A Leaf for Hand in Hand | 109 |
| | Earth My Likeness | 109 |
| | I Dream'd in a Dream | 109 |
| | What Think You I Take My Pen in Hand? | 110 |
| | To the East and to the West | 110 |
| | Sometimes with One I Love | 110 |
| | To A Western Boy | 110 |
| | Fast-Anchor'd Eternal O Love | 111 |
| | Among the Multitude | 111 |
| | O You whom I Often and Silently Come | 111 |
| | That Shadow My Likeness | 111 |
| | Full of Life now | 111 |
| Salut au Monde! | Salut au Monde! | 112 |
| Song of the Open Road | Song of the Open Road | 120 |
| Crossing Brooklyn Ferry | Crossing Brooklyn Ferry | 129 |
| Song of the Answerer | Song of the Answerer | 134 |
| Our Old Feuillage | Our Old Feuillage | 138 |
| A Song of Joys | A Song of Joys | 142 |
| Song of the Broad-Axe | Song of the Broad-Axe | 148 |
| Song of the Exposition | Song of the Exposition | 157 |
| Song of the Redwood-Tree | Song of the Redwood-Tree | 165 |
| A Song for Occupations | A Song for Occupations | 169 |
| A Song of the Rolling Earth | A Song of the Rolling Earth | 176 |
| Youth, Day, Old Age, and Night | Youth, Day, Old Age, and Night | 180 |
| BIRDS OF PASSAGE. ||
| | Song of the Universal | 181 |
| | Pioneers! O Pioneers! | 183 |
| | To You | 186 ​ |
| | France the 18th Year of These States | 188 |
| | Myself and Mine | 189 |
| | Year of Meteors (1859-60) | 190 |
| | With Antecedents | 191 |
| A Broadway Pageant | A Broadway Pageant | 193 |
| SEA-DRIFT. ||
| | Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking | 196 |
| | As I Ebb'd with the Ocean of Life | 202 |
| | Tears | 204 |
| | To the Man-of-War-Bird | 204 |
| | Aboard at a Ship's Helm | 205 |
| | On the Beach at Night | 205 |
| | The World Below the Brine | 206 |
| | On the Beach at Night Alone | 207 |
| | Song for All Seas, All Ships | 207 |
| | Patroling Barnegat | 208 |
| | After the Sea-Ship | 209 |
| BY THE ROADSIDE. ||
| | A Boston Ballad—1854 | 209 |
| | Europe the 72d and 73d Years of These States | 211 |
| | A Hand-Mirror | 213 |
| | Gods | 213 |
| | Germs | 214 |
| | Thoughts | 214 |
| | When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer | 214 |
| | Perfections | 214 |
| | O Me! O Life! | 215 |
| | To a President | 215 |
| | I Sit and Look Out | 215 |
| | To Rich Givers | 216 |
| | The Dalliance of the Eagles | 216 |
| | Roaming in Thought | 216 |
| | A Farm Picture | 216 |
| | A Child's Amaze | 217 |
| | The Runner | 217 |
| | Beautiful Women | 217 |
| | Mother and Babe | 217 |
| | Thought | 217 |
| | Visor'd | 217 |
| | Thought | 217 |
| | Gliding o'er All | 218 |
| | Hast Never Come to Thee an Hour | 218 |
| | Thought | 218 |
| | To Old Age | 218 |
| | Locations and Times | 218 |
| | Offerings | 218 |
| | To Identify the 16th, 17th or 18th Presidentiad | 218 |
| DRUM-TAPS. ||
| | First O Songs for a Prelude | 219 |
| | Eighteen Sixty-One | 221 |
| | Beat! Beat! Drums! | 222 |
| | From Paumanok Starting I Fly like a Bird | 222 |
| | Song of the Banner at Daybreak | 223 |
| | Rise O Days from Your Fathomless Deeps | 228 ​ |
| | Virginia—the West | 230 |
| | City of Ships | 230 |
| | The Centenarian's Story | 231 |
| | Cavalry Crossing a Ford | 235 |
| | Bivouac on a Mountain Side | 235 |
| | An Army Corps on the March | 236 |
| | By the Bivouac's Fitful Flame | 236 |
| | Come Up from the Fields Father | 236 |
| | Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night | 238 |
| | A March in the Ranks Hard-Prest | 239 |
| | A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Dim | 240 |
| | As Toilsome I Wander'd Virginia's Woods | 240 |
| | Not the Pilot | 241 |
| | Year that Trembled and Reel'd Beneath Me | 241 |
| | The Wound-Dresser | 241 |
| | Long, too Long America | 244 |
| | Give Me the Splendid Silent Sun | 244 |
| | Dirge for Two Veterans | 246 |
| | Over the Carnage Rose Prophetic a Voice | 247 |
| | I Saw Old General at Bay | 247 |
| | The Artilleryman's Vision | 248 |
| | Ethiopia Saluting the Colors | 249 |
| | Not Youth Pertains to Me | 249 |
| | Race of Veterans | 250 |
| | World Take Good Notice | 250 |
| | O Tan-Faced Prairie-Boy | 250 |
| | Look Down Fair Moon | 250 |
| | Reconciliation | 250 |
| | How Solemn as One by One | 251 |
| | As I Lay with My Head in Your Lap Camerado | 251 |
| | Delicate Cluster | 252 |
| | To A Certain Civilian | 252 |
| | Lo, Victress on the Peaks | 252 |
| | Spirit whose Work is Done | 253 |
| | Adieu to a Soldier | 253 |
| | Turn O Libertad | 254 |
| | To the Leaven'd Soil They Trod | 254 |
| MEMORIES OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. ||
| | When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd | 255 |
| | O Captain, My Captain | 262 |
| | Hush'd be the Camps To-day | 263 |
| | This Dust was Once the Man | 263 |
| By Blue Ontario's Shore | By Blue Ontario's Shore | 264 |
| Reversals | Reversals | 276 |
| AUTUMN RIVULETS. ||
| | As Consequent | 277 |
| | The Return of the Heroes | 278 |
| | There was a Child Went Forth | 282 |
| | Old Ireland | 284 |
| | The City Dead-House | 284 |
| | This Compost | 285 |
| | To A Foil'd European Revolutionaire | 287 |
| | Unnamed Lands | 288 |
| | Song of Prudence | 289 ​ |
| | The Singer in the Prison | 292 |
| | Warble for Lilac-Time | 293 |
| | Outlines for a Tomb | 294 |
| | Out from Behind This Mask | 296 |
| | Vocalism | 297 |
| | To Him That was Crucified | 298 |
| | You Felons on Trial in Courts | 298 |
| | Laws for Creations | 299 |
| | To A Common Prostitute | 299 |
| | I was Looking a Long While | 300 |
| | Thought | 300 |
| | Miracles | 301 |
| | Sparkles From the Wheel | 301 |
| | To A Pupil | 302 |
| | Unfolded Out of the Folds | 302 |
| | What am I After All | 303 |
| | Kosmos | 303 |
| | Others may Praise What They Like | 304 |
| | Who Learns My Lesson Complete | 304 |
| | Tests | 305 |
| | The Torch | 305 |
| | O Star of France (1870–71) | 306 |
| | The Ox-Tamer | 307 |
| | An Old Man's Thought of School | 308 |
| | Wandering at Morn | 308 |
| | Italian Music in Dakota | 309 |
| | With All Thy Gifts | 309 |
| | My Picture-Gallery | 310 |
| | The Prairie States | 310 |
| Proud Music of the Storm | Proud Music of the Storm | 310 |
| Passage to India | Passage to India | 315 |
| Prayer of Columbus | Prayer of Columbus | 323 |
| The Sleepers | The Sleepers | 325 |
| Transpositions | Transpositions | 332 |
| To Think of Time | To Think of Time | 333 |
| WHISPERS OF HEAVENLY DEATH. ||
| | Darest Thou Now O Soul | 338 |
| | Whispers of Heavenly Death | 338 |
| | Chanting the Square Deific | 339 |
| | Of Him I Love Day and Night | 340 |
| | Yet, Yet, Ye Downcast Hours | 341 |
| | As if a Phantom Caress'd Me | 341 |
| | Assurances | 342 |
| | Quicksand Years | 342 |
| | That Music Always Round Me | 343 |
| | What Ship Puzzled at Sea | 343 |
| | A Noiseless Patient Spider | 343 |
| | O Living Always, Always Dying | 344 |
| | To One Shortly to Die | 344 |
| | Night on the Prairies | 344 |
| | Thought | 345 |
| | The Last Invocation | 346 |
| | As I Watch'd the Ploughman Ploughing | 346 |
| | Pensive and Faltering | 346 ​ |
| Thou Mother with Thy Equal Brood | Thou Mother with Thy Equal Brood | 346 |
| A Paumanok Picture | A Paumanok Picture | 351 |
| FROM NOON TO STARRY NIGHT. ||
| | Thou Orb Aloft Full-Dazzling | 352 |
| | Faces | 353 |
| | The Mystic Trumpeter | 356 |
| | To A Locomotive in Winter | 358 |
| | O Magnet-South | 359 |
| | Mannahatta | 360 |
| | All is Truth | 361 |
| | A Riddle Song | 362 |
| | Excelsior | 363 |
| | Ah Poverties, Wincings, and Sulky Retreats | 364 |
| | Thoughts | 364 |
| | Mediums | 364 |
| | Weave in, My Hardy Life | 365 |
| | Spain, 1873–74 | 365 |
| | By Broad Potomac's Shore | 366 |
| | From Far Dakota's Cañons (June 25, 1876) | 366 |
| | Old War-Dreams | 367 |
| | Thick-Sprinkled Bunting | 367 |
| | What Best I See in Thee | 368 |
| | Spirit That Form'd This Scene | 368 |
| | As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days | 369 |
| | A Clear Midnight | 369 |
| SONGS OF PARTING. ||
| | As the Time Draws Nigh | 370 |
| | Years of the Modern | 370 |
| | Ashes of Soldiers | 371 |
| | Thoughts | 373 |
| | Song at Sunset | 374 |
| | As at Thy Portals Also Death | 376 |
| | My Legacy | 376 |
| | Pensive on Her Dead Gazing | 377 |
| | Camps of Green | 377 |
| | The Sobbing of the Bells | 378 |
| | As They Draw to a Close | 379 |
| | Joy, Shipmate, Joy | 379 |
| | The Untold Want | 379 |
| | Portals | 379 |
| | These Carols | 379 |
| | Now Finalè to the Shore | 380 |
| | So Long! | 380 |
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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