Poems by Walt Whitman

All Poems Original Poems Translations

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Me Imperturbe

ME imperturbe, standing at ease in Nature,

Master of all, or mistress of all—aplomb in the midst of irrational

things,

Imbued as they—passive, receptive, silent as they,

Finding my occupation, poverty, notoriety, foibles, crimes, less

important than I thought;

Me private, or public, or menial, or solitary—all these subordinate,

(I am eternally equal with the best—I am not subordinate

by Walt Whitman

The Death And Burial Of McDonald Clarke: A Parody

Not a sigh was heard, not a tear was shed,

As a way to the 'tombs' he was hurried,

No mother or friend held his dying head,

Or wept when the poet was buried.

They buried him lonely; no friend stood near,

(The scoffs of the multitude spurning,)

To weep o'er the poet's sacred bier;

No bosom with anguish was burning.

by Walt Whitman

Native Moments

NATIVE moments! when you come upon me—Ah you are here now! Give me now

libidinous joys only! Give me the drench of my passions! Give me life

coarse and rank! To-day, I go consort with nature's darlings—to-night too;

I am for those who believe in loose delights—I share the midnight orgies

of young men; I dance with the dancers, and drink with the drinkers; The

echoes ring with our indecent calls; I take for my love some prostitute—I

pick out some low person for my dearest friend, He shall be lawless, rude,

illiterate—he shall be one condemn'd by others for deeds done; I will play

by 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 face

to face.

Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes! how curious

you are to me!

On the ferry-boats, the hundreds and hundreds that cross, returning

home, are more curious to me than you suppose;

And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence, are more to

Walt Whitman

To A Common Prostitute

BE composed—be at ease with me—I am Walt Whitman, liberal and lusty

as Nature;

Not till the sun excludes you, do I exclude you;

Not till the waters refuse to glisten for you, and the leaves to

rustle for you, do my words refuse to glisten and rustle for

you.

My girl, I appoint with you an appointment—and I charge you that you

make preparation to be worthy to meet me,

by Walt Whitman

As If A Phantom Caress'd Me

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 are hateful to me, and mock me.

by Walt Whitman

Song At Sunset

SPLENDOR of ended day, floating and filling me!

Hour prophetic—hour resuming the past!

Inflating my throat—you, divine average!

You, Earth and Life, till the last ray gleams, I sing.

Open mouth of my Soul, uttering gladness,

Eyes of my Soul, seeing perfection,

Natural life of me, faithfully praising things;

Corroborating forever the triumph of things.

by Walt Whitman

As I Lay With My Head in Your Lap, Camerado

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;

For I confront peace, security, and all the settled laws, to unsettle them;

I am more resolute because all have denied me, than I could ever have been had all accepted me;

I heed not, and have never heeded either experience, cautions, majorities, or ridicule;

And the threat of what is called hell is little or nothing to me;

by Walt Whitman

A Glimpse

A GLIMPSE, through an interstice caught,

Of a crowd of workmen and drivers in a bar-room, around the stove,

late of a winter night—And I unremark'd seated in a corner;

Of a youth who loves me, and whom I love, silently approaching, and

seating himself near, that he may hold me by the hand;

A long while, amid the noises of coming and going—of drinking and

oath and smutty jest,

There we two, content, happy in being together, speaking little,

by Walt Whitman

A Farm-Picture

THROUGH the ample open door of the peaceful country barn,

A sun-lit pasture field, with cattle and horses feeding;

And haze, and vista, and the far horizon, fading away.

by Walt Whitman

Out of the Rolling Ocean, The Crowd

Out of the rolling ocean, the crowd, came a drop gently to me,

Whispering, I love you, before long I die,

I have travel'd a long way, merely to look on you, to touch you,

For I could not die till I once look'd on you,

For I fear'd I might afterward lose you.

(Now we have met, we have look'd, we are safe;

Return in peace to the ocean, my love;

I too am part of that ocean, my love—we are not so much separated;

by 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 choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune—I myself am good fortune;

Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,

Strong and content, I travel the open road.

The earth—that is sufficient;

I do not want the constellations any nearer;

by Walt Whitman