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by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

Sunday,–– – ––.–Went this forenoon to...
Language: English 
[Sunday,–– – ––.–Went this forenoon to church. 
A college professor, Rev. Dr.——, gave us a fine sermon,
during which I caught the above words; 
but the minister included in his "rounded catalogue" letter and spirit, 
only the esthetic things, and entirely ignored what I name in the following:]

The devilish and the dark, the dying and diseas'd,
The countless (nineteen-twentieths) low and evil, crude and savage,
The crazed, prisoners in jail, the horrible, rank, malignant,
Venom and filth, serpents, the ravenous sharks, liars, the dissolute;
(What is the part the wicked and the loathesome bear within earth's orbic scheme?)
Newts, crawling things in slime and mud, poisons,
The barren soil, the evil men, the slag and hideous rot.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "The Rounded Catalogue Divine Complete", appears in Leaves of Grass, first published 1891 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Georgia Spiropoulos (b. 1965), no title, 1994 [ female voice, clarinets, trombone, viola, percussion and tape ], from Vocalscapes on Walt Whitman, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2025-11-20
Line count: 12
Word count: 118

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