The Walt Whitman Archive
Published Works
Books by Whitman
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [begin page 242] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
24.
LIFT me close to your face till I whisper,
What you are holding is in reality no book, nor part
of a book,
of a book,
It is a man, flushed and full-blooded—it is I—So
long!
long!
We must separate—Here! take from my lips this
kiss,
kiss,
Whoever you are, I give it especially to you;
So long—and I hope we shall meet again.