Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


POETS TO COME by WALT WHITMAN

Poet Analysis

First Line: POETS TO COME! ORATORS, SINGERS, MUSICIANS TO COME!
Last Line: EXPECTING THE MAIN THINGS FROM YOU.
Subject(s): POETRY & POETS;

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! for you must justify me.

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.



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