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Beat! Beat! Drums!
BY WALT WHITMAN.Beat! beat! drums! Blow! bugles! blow!
Through the windows—through the doors—burst like a
force of armed men,
Into the solemn church, and scatter the congrega-
tion;
Into the school where the scholar is studying;
Leave not the bridegroom quiet—no happiness must
he have now with his his bride;
Nor the peaceful farmer any peace plowing his field
or gathering his grain;
So fierce you whirr and pound, you drums—so shrill
you bugles blow.
Beat! beat! drums! Blow! bugles! blow!
Over the traffic of cites—over the rumble of wheels
in the streets;
Are beds prepared for sleepers at night in the houses?
No sleepers must sleep in those beds;
No bargainers' bargains by day—no brokers or spec-
ulators. Would they continue?
Would the talkers be talking? would the singer at-
tempt to sing?
Would the lawyer rise in the court to state his case
before the judge?
Then rattle quicker, heavier, drums—and bugles wilder
blow.
Beat! beat! drums! Blow! bugles! blow!
Make no parley—stop for no expostulation;
Mind not the timid—mind not the weeper or prayer;
Mind not the old man beseeching the young man;
Let not the child's voice be heard, nor the mother's
entreaties. Recruit! recruit?
Make the very trestles shake under the dead, where
they lie in their shrouds awaiting the hearses.
So strong you thump, O terrible drums—so loud you
bugles blow.
Copy-text
Our transcription is based on a digital image of a microfilm copy of an original issue.
Publication Information
"Beat! Beat! Drums!."
Boston Daily Evening Transcript
24 September 1861:
[4].
This poem was reprinted in the New York Leader, 28 September 1861; Harper's Weekly Magazine, 28 September 1861; and Drum-Taps (1865).
Whitman Archive ID
per.00065