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
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
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