Poem: “How Solemn as One by One” by Walt Whitman

Poems Of After-War

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American Literature – Children Books – American Poetry – Walt Whitman – Poems by Walt Whitman – Poems Of After-War
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How Solemn as One by One

(Washington City, 1865)

How solemn as one by one,
As the ranks returning worn and sweaty, as the men file by where I stand,
As the faces the masks appear, as I glance at the faces studying the masks
(As I glance upward out of this page studying you, dear friend, whoever you are),
How solemn the thought of my whispering soul to each in the ranks, and to you!
I see behind each mask that wonder a kindred soul,
O the bullet could never kill what you really are, dear friend,
Nor the bayonet stab what you really are;
The soul! yourself I see, great as any, good as the best,
Waiting secure and content, which the bullet could never kill,
Nor the bayonet stab O friend.

< < < Weave In, My Hardy Life
Spirit Whose Work Is Done > > >

American Literature – Children Books – American Poetry – Walt Whitman – Poems by Walt Whitman – Poems Of After-War

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Poems Of After-War

How Solemn as One by One

(Washington City, 1865)

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