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AMERICA.
Centre of equal daughters, equal sons,
All, all alike endear'd, grown, ungrown, young
or old,
Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich,
Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law
and Love,
A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother,
Chair'd in the adamant of Time.
WALT WHITMAN.
Notes
1. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888). [back]