Published Works

Books by Whitman

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [begin page 317] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

1 POETS to come!

Not to-day is to justify me, and Democracy, and what
we are for;

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [begin page 318] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

But you, a new brood, native, athletic, continental,
greater than before known,

You must justify me.

2I but write one or two indicative words for the
future,

I but advance a moment, only to wheel and hurry back
in the darkness.

3I am a man who, sauntering along, without fully
stopping, turns a casual look upon you, and
then averts his face,

Leaving it to you to prove and define it,

Expecting the main things from you.

Distributed under a Creative Commons License. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price, editors.