Published Works

Books by Whitman

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16.

THEY shall arise in the States—mediums shall,

They shall report Nature, laws, physiology, and
happiness,

They shall illustrate Democracy and the kosmos,

They shall be alimentive, amative, perceptive,

They shall be complete women and men—their pose
brawny and supple, their drink water, their blood
clean and clear,

They shall enjoy materialism and the sight of prod-
ucts—they shall enjoy the sight of the beef,
lumber, bread-stuffs, of Chicago, the great city,

They shall train themselves to go in public to become
oratists, (orators and oratresses,)

Strong and sweet shall their tongues be—poems and
materials of poems shall come from their lives—
they shall be makers and finders,

Of them, and of their works, shall emerge divine
conveyers, to convey gospels,

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Characters, events, retrospections, shall be conveyed
in gospels—Trees, animals, waters, shall be
conveyed,

Death, the future, the invisible faith, shall all be
conveyed.

Distributed under a Creative Commons License. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price, editors.