Poem: “To One Shortly To Die” by Walt Whitman

Leaves Of Grass

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American Literature – Children Books – American Poetry – Walt Whitman – Poems by Walt Whitman – Leaves Of Grass
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To One Shortly To Die

From all the rest I single out you, having a message for you:
You are to die—Let others tell you what they please, I cannot prevaricate,
I am exact and merciless, but I love you—There is no escape for you.

Softly I lay my right hand upon you—you just feel it;
I do not argue—I bend my head close, and half envelop it,
I sit quietly by—I remain faithful,
I am more than nurse, more than parent or neighbour,
I absolve you from all except yourself, spiritual, bodily—that is
eternal,—
The corpse you will leave will be but excrementitious.

The sun bursts through in unlooked-for directions!
Strong thoughts fill you, and confidence—you smile!
You forget you are sick, as I forget you are sick,
You do not see the medicines—you do not mind the weeping friends—I am
with you,
I exclude others from you—there is nothing to be commiserated,
I do not commiserate—I congratulate you.

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Unnamed Lands > > >

American Literature – Children Books – American Poetry – Walt Whitman – Poems by Walt Whitman – Leaves Of Grass

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Leaves Of Grass

To One Shortly To Die

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