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Leaves of Grass (1871-72)
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TEARS.
| In the night, in solitude, tears; |
On the white shore dripping, dripping, suck'd in by the
sand;
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| Tears—not a star shining—all dark and desolate; |
| Moist tears from the eyes of a muffled head: |
—O who is that ghost?—that form in the dark, with
tears?
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What shapeless lump is that, bent, crouch'd there on
the sand?
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Streaming tears—sobbing tears—throes, choked with
wild cries;
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O storm, embodied, rising, careering, with swift steps
along the beach;
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O wild and dismal night storm, with wind! O belching
and desperate!
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O shade, so sedate and decorous by day, with calm
countenance and regulated pace;
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But away, at night, as you fly, none looking—O then
the unloosen'd ocean,
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