[Leaf 1 recto]

By thine own lips, O Sea,

By ^{As where} day and night I wander on ^here ^on the beach

To get ^[Counting?] the tally of the surf‑suggestions ^{wordless utterance of these liquid wordless tongues}

And ^To pass within my soul, which loves the

grim, mysterious, wordless story,

That ^This haughty‑husky utterance of the sea—

—that ^this unsubduedness,

That ^Thisy cosmic, ever‑latent voice of power, refusal

With ^The lengthened swell, and ^The irrepressible rage, and ^the _^^{these emblems}

many tears;—these emblems,

Some vast heart, like a planet's, chained

and chafing there here,

Some primitive right withheld—some freedom‑lover

pent—some tyranny;

Within, within and deep, _^^{by [thee?]} by day and night, _^^{by thine own tongue ^lips O Sea} O Sea!

Surely some ^This chanted tale of elemental passion,

With undertone of muffled lion roar,

And skreel of whistling wind, and hiss of spray,

Thisy ^Thy ^A ^The chanted ^chanted tale of elemental passion,

—thisy haughty husky utterance

Thisy tale of subterranean toil and wrongs

Unf ^{For once}_{Seems here} C^confided to me

*To pass within my soul the

wordless lesson

Of all that power means

Of freedom, action, in husky-haughty

[Leaf 1 verso]

Date: Whitman visited Ocean Grove, New Jersey, with John Burroughs for a week in late September and early October 1883. This draft appears to be one of the later versions of several manuscript drafts and was probably composed at the time of the visit or shortly thereafter.

Editorial note

The verso of the manuscript leaf is letterhead containing an illustration of the Sheldon House, Ocean Grove, New Jersey.

The verso of leaf #1 is blank.

Location: By Thine Own Lips, O Sea | Yale Collection of American Literature,Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.