Leaves of Grass (1867)


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BIVOUAC ON A MOUNTAIN SIDE.

I SEE before me now, a traveling army halting;
Below, a fertile valley spread, with barns, and the orch-
         ards of summer;
Behind, the terraced sides of a mountain, abrupt in
         places, rising high;
Broken, with rocks, with clinging cedars, with tall
         shapes; dingily seen;
The numerous camp-fires scatter'd near and far, some
         away up on the mountain;
The shadowy forms of men and horses, looming, large-
         sized, flickering;
And over all, the sky—the sky! far, far out of reach,
         studded with the eternal stars.
 
 
 
 
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