The Walt Whitman Archive
Published Works
Books by Whitman
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MEDIUMS.
THEY shall arise in the States,
They shall report Nature, laws, physiology, and happiness,
They shall illustrate Democracy and the kosmos,
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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,
supple, their drink water, their blood clean and clear,
They shall fully enjoy materialism and the sight of products, they
shall enjoy the sight of the beef, lumber, bread-stuffs, of
Chicago the great city,
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 orators and
oratresses,
oratresses,
Strong and sweet shall their tongues be, poems and materials of
poems shall come from their lives, they shall be makers
and finders,
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,
convey gospels,
Characters, events, retrospections, shall be convey'd in gospels,
trees, animals, waters, shall be convey'd,
trees, animals, waters, shall be convey'd,
Death, the future, the invisible faith, shall all be convey'd.