The Walt Whitman Archive
Published Works
Books by Whitman
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22.
PASSING stranger! you do not know how longingly I
look upon you,
look upon you,
You must be he I was seeking, or she I was seeking,
(It comes to me, as of a dream,)
(It comes to me, as of a dream,)
I have somewhere surely lived a life of joy with
you,
you,
All is recalled as we flit by each other, fluid, affec-
tionate, chaste, matured,
tionate, chaste, matured,
You grew up with me, were a boy with me, or a girl
with me,
with me,
I ate with you, and slept with you—your body has
become not yours only, nor left my body mine
only,
become not yours only, nor left my body mine
only,
You give me the pleasure of your eyes, face, flesh, as
we pass—you take of my beard, breast, hands,
in return,
we pass—you take of my beard, breast, hands,
in return,
I am not to speak to you—I am to think of you
when I sit alone, or wake at night alone,
when I sit alone, or wake at night alone,
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I am to wait—I do not doubt I am to meet you
again,
again,
I am to see to it that I do not lose you.