Published Works In Whitman's Hand Life & Letters Commentary Resources Pictures & Sound About the Archive

contents   |   previous   |   next

View Page 308

Voices.

1   Now I make a leaf of Voices—for I have found nothing          mightier than they are,

And I have found that no word spoken, but is beautiful,          in its place.

2   O what is it in me that makes me tremble so at voices?

Surely, whoever speaks to me in the right voice, him or          her I shall follow,

As the water follows the moon, silently, with fluid steps,          anywhere around the globe.

3   All waits for the right voices;

Where is the practis'd and perfect organ? Where is          the develop'd Soul?

For I see every word utter'd thence, has deeper, sweeter,          new sounds, impossible on less terms.

4   I see brains and lips closed—tympans and temples          unstruck,

Until that comes which has the quality to strike and to          unclose,

Until that comes which has the quality to bring forth          what lies slumbering, forever ready, in all words.

contents   |   previous   |   next

Comments?

Published Works | In Whitman's Hand | Life & Letters | Commentary | Resources | Pictures & Sound

Support the Archive | About the Archive

Distributed under a Creative Commons License. Ed Folsom & Kenneth M. Price, editors.