Every few years I post my favorite love poem from Walt Whitman...hope you enjoy....

[Rowdyboy]

Walt Whitman

When I heard at the Close of the Day
(No. 11, from ‘Calamus’)

When I heard at the close of the day how I had
been praised in the Capitol, still it was not
a happy night for me that followed,
And else when I caroused – nor when my favorite plans were
accomplished – was I really happy,
But the day when I arose at dawn from the perfect
health, electric, inhaling sweet breath
When I saw the full moon in the west grow pale and
disappear in the morning light,
When I wandered alone over the beach, and undressing, bathed,
laughing with the waters, and saw the sun rise,
And when I thought how my friend, my lover, was on
his way coming, then O I was happy,
Each breath tasted sweeter – and all that day my food
nourished me more – and the beautiful day passed well,
And the next came with equal joy – and with the next,
at evening, came my friend,
And that night while all was still I heard the waters roll
slowly continually up the shores,
I heard the hissing rustle of the liquid and sands, as directed
to me, whispering to congratulate me,
For the friend I love lay sleeping by my side,
In the stillness his face was inclined toward me, while the
moon's clear beams shone
And his arm lay lightly over my breast – and that night I was happy.


Poetry

[babylonsister]

1. That's lovely. Thanks for sharing. nt

[Rowdyboy]

2. 120 years later and I still get chills reading it....

Love and yearning remain the same through the years.

[truedelphi]

12. How old are you Kiddo?

I thought i had been reading that poem a long time - but 120 years!

Anyway, K & R and than you for posting.

[Rowdyboy]

17. Some days I think I'm old enough to remember its first edition.....

But 120 is a stretch even for me. Thanks for appreciating my favorite poem-and some others nearly as good

[Recursion]

3. If I can add another Walt poem...

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 is not he, there, with his bayonet, and not the red-striped artilleryman;)
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, nor ridicule;
And the threat of what is call’d hell is little or nothing to me;
And the lure of what is call’d heaven is little or nothing to me;
...Dear camerado! I confess I have urged you onward with me, and still urge you, without the least idea what is our destination,
Or whether we shall be victorious, or utterly quell’d and defeated.

[Rowdyboy]

4. Your addition is the reason I come to DU.....I'd never seen that poem....

Thanks for the introduction

[Recursion]

5. The title is the first line

It's from Leaves of Grass.

I'm an anti-transcendentalist myself; I love Hawthorne, Melville, Poe. But every time I want to write off transcendentalism, I re-read that poem and remember why I can't write it off.

[teenagebambam]

6. Another suggestion....

I'm on my iPhone and can't cut and paste, but google "To What You Said", a Whitman poem that wasn't published during his life.

[Rowdyboy]

7. Well let me be your hands....another Whitman work that takes my breath....

"To What You Said"

To what you said, passionately clasping my hand, this is my answer:
Though you have strayed hither, for my sake, you can never belong to me,
Nor I to you,
Behold the customary loves and friendships the cold guards
l am that rough and simple person
l am he who kisses his comrade lightly on the lips at parting,
And l am one who is kissed in return,
I introduce that new American salute
Behold love choked, correct, polite, always suspicious
Behold the received models of the parlors -
What are they to me?
What to these young men that travel with me?

[babylonsister]

8. Such longing and sadness

"Behold love choked, correct, polite, always suspicious"

Thanks to you both for adding some poetry to my life.

[blossomstar]

9. And thanks for adding some poetry to mine

absolutely divine.

[Control-Z]

10. Thank you for posting.

I'm oddly particular when it comes to poetry.

This poem, I find beautiful.

[Rowdyboy]

14. Poetry is intensely personal....Whitman, Dickenson and Browning grab my attention

All three have fascinating personalities, all three are brilliant poets.

Glad you liked the original piece. Its my favorite.

[elshiva]

11. I love Whitman. Glad he could be so out so many years ago.

:hug: :toast:

[Rowdyboy]

15. Whitman seems to have been pretty open-though God only knows

I wonder just how different life was in 1870.

[pinto]

13. "For the friend I love lay sleeping by my side..."

I love that line.

Thanks for the post Rowdyboy.

[Rowdyboy]

16. Thank you my friend...and I'll finish....

"In the stillness his face was inclined toward me, while the
moon's clear beams shone
And his arm lay lightly over my breast – and that night I was happy."