WALT WHITMAN
Poets to come! orators, singers, musicians to come!
Not to-day is to justify me, and answer what I am for;
But you, a new brood, native, athletic, continental, greater than
before known,
Arouse! Arouse–for you must justify me–you must answer.
I myself but write one or two indicative words for the future,
I but advance a moment, only to wheel and hurry back in the darkness.
I 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.
from Leaves of Grass
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Walt Whitman was born on May 31st, 1869 at West Hills (Long Island, USA). Considered one of America’s most influential poets, Whitman’s verse collection “Leaves of Grass” is a landmark in the history of American literature.
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