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by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

That music always round me
Language: English 
That music always round me, unceasing, unbeginning -- 
  yet long untaught I did not hear;
But now the chorus I hear, and am elated;
A tenor, strong, ascending, with power and health, 
  with glad notes of day-break I hear,
A soprano, at intervals, sailing buoyantly over the tops of immense waves,
A transparent bass, shuddering lusciously under and through the universe,
The triumphant tutti -- the funeral wailings, with sweet flutes and violins --
   all these I fill myself with;
I hear not the volumes of sound merely -- I am moved by the exquisite meanings,
I listen to the different voices winding in and out, striving,
   contending with fiery vehemence to excel each other in emotion;
I do not think the performers know themselves --
  but now I think I begin to know them.

Confirmed with Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. Philadelphia: David McKay, [c1900]; Bartleby.com, 1999. http://www.bartleby.com/142/205.html


Text Authorship:

  • by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "That music always round me", appears in Leaves of Grass [author's text checked 1 time 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 Samuel Hans Adler (b. 1928), "That music always round me", published 1977 [ medium voice and string quartet ], from Sixth String Quartet (A Whitman Serenade), no. 3, New York, Carl Fischer [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2014-02-07
Line count: 14
Word count: 130

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