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by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

The World below the Brine
 (Sung text for setting by J. LoCascio)
 Matches base text
Language: English 
The world below the brine, 
Forests at the bottom of the sea, the branches and leaves,
Sea-lettuce, vast lichens, strange flowers and seeds, 
      the thick tangle, openings, and pink turf, 
Different colors, pale gray and green, purple, white, and gold, 
       the play of light through the water, 
Dumb swimmers there among the rocks, coral, 
      gluten, grass, rushes, and the aliment of the swimmers. 
Sluggish existences grazing there suspended, 
       or slowly crawling close to the bottom, 
The sperm-whale at the surface blowing air and spray, 
       or disporting with his flukes. 
The leaden-eyed shark, the walrus, the turtle, 
     the hairy sea-leopard, and the sting-ray. 
Passions there, wars, pursuits, tribes, sight in those ocean-depths, 
breathing that thick-breathing air, as so many do. 
The change thence to the sight here, 
      and to the subtle air breathed by beings like us who walk this sphere. 
The change onward from ours to that of beings who walk other spheres. 

Composition:

    Set to music by Joe LoCascio (b. 1955), "The World below the Brine", 2017, copyright © 2017, first performed 2017 [ soprano voice and piano ], from Six Songs on Poems of Walt Whitman, no. 4, Gently Criminal Publishing

Text Authorship:

  • by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "The world below the brine", appears in Leaves of Grass

See other settings of this text.


Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2019-05-15
Line count: 19
Word count: 153

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