Leaves of Grass (1891-92)

contents | previous | next

WHEN I heard at the close of the day how my name had been
receiv'd with plaudits in the capitol, still it was not a happy
night for me that follow'd,

And else when I carous'd, or when my plans were accomplish'd,
still I was not happy,

But the day when I rose at dawn from the bed of perfect health,
refresh'd, singing, inhaling the ripe breath of autumn,

When I saw the full moon in the west grow pale and disappear in
the morning light,

When I wander'd alone over the beach, and undressing bathed,
laughing with the cool waters, and saw the sun rise,

And when I thought how my dear friend my lover was on his way
coming, O then I was happy,

O then each breath tasted sweeter, and all that day my food
nourish'd me more, and the beautiful day pass'd 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 one I love most lay sleeping by me under the same cover
in the cool night,

In the stillness in the autumn moonbeams his face was inclined
toward me,

And his arm lay lightly around my breast—and that night I was
happy.

contents | previous | next

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

The Walt Whitman Archive