object:1.whitman - Long I Thought That Knowledge
author class:Walt Whitman
subject class:Poetry
book class:Whitman - Poems
class:chapter
LONG I thought that knowledge alone would suffice meO if I could
but obtain knowledge!
Then my lands engrossed meLands of the prairies, Ohio's land, the
southern savannas, engrossed meFor them I would liveI would
be their orator;
Then I met the examples of old and new heroesI heard of warriors,
sailors, and all dauntless personsAnd it seemed to me that I
too had it in me to be as dauntless as anyand would be so;
And then, to enclose all, it came to me to strike up the songs of the
New WorldAnd then I believed my life must be spent in
singing;
But now take notice, land of the prairies, land of the south
savannas, Ohio's land,
Take notice, you Kanuck woodsand you Lake Huronand all that with
you roll toward Niagaraand you Niagara also,
And you, Californian mountainsThat you each and all find somebody
else to be your singer of songs,
For I can be your singer of songs no longerOne who loves me is
jealous of me, and withdraws me from all but love,
With the rest I dispenseI sever from what I thought would suffice
me, for it does notit is now empty and tasteless to me,
I heed knowledge, and the grandeur of The States, and the example of
heroes, no more,
I am indifferent to my own songsI will go with him I love,
It is to be enough for us that we are togetherWe never separate
again.
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