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Literature · Poetry

Leaves of Grass 104Book 7 · Chapter 11

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Literature · Poetry

Leaves of Grass 104

Book 7 · Chapter 11

WhitmanEnglish
Listen! I will be honest with you, I do not offer the old smooth prizes, but offer rough new prizes, These are the days that must happen to you: You shall not heap up what is call’d riches, You shall scatter with lavish hand all that you earn or achieve, You but arrive at the city to which you were destin’d, you hardly settle yourself to satisfaction before you are call’d by an irresistible call to depart, You shall be treated to the ironical smiles and mockings of those who remain behind you, What beckonings of love you receive you shall only answer with passionate kisses of parting, You shall not allow the hold of those who spread their reach’d hands toward you.

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Leaves of Grass 103Leaves of Grass 105
Sources & credits: Whitman

Whitman — Leaves of Grass (Walt Whitman) (1855). Public Domain. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass; public domain in the US; text from Project Gutenberg #1322. Source

Literature · Poetry

Leaves of Grass 105

WhitmanEnglish