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Leaves of Grass (1881-82)
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POETS TO COME.
| POETS to come! orators, singers, musicians to come! |
| Not to-day is to justify me and answer what I am for, |
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But you, a new brood, native, athletic, continental, greater than
before known, |
| Arouse! for you must justify me. |
| I myself but write one or two indicative words for the future, |
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I but advance a moment only to wheel and hurry back in the
darkness. |
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I am a man who, sauntering along without fully stopping, turns a
casual look upon you and then averts his face, |
| Leaving it to you to prove and define it, |
| Expecting the main things from you. |