Published Works

Books by Whitman

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AS NEARING DEPARTURE.

1 AS nearing departure,

As the time draws nigh, glooming, a cloud,

A dread beyond, of I know not what, darkens me.

2I shall go forth,

I shall traverse The States—but I cannot tell whither
or how long;

Perhaps soon, some day or night while I am singing,
my voice will suddenly cease.

3O book and chant! must all then amount to but
this?

Must we barely arrive at this beginning of me?…
And yet it is enough, O soul!

O soul! we have positively appear'd—that is enough.

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