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by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

Not heaving from my ribb’d breast only
Language: English 
Not heaving from my ribb’d breast only;
Not in sighs at night, in rage, dissatisfied with myself;
Not in those long-drawn, ill-supprest sighs;
Not in many an oath and promise broken;
Not in my wilful and savage soul’s volition;
Not in the subtle nourishment of the air;
Not in this beating and pounding at my temples and wrists;
Not in the curious systole and diastole within, which will one day cease;
Not in many a hungry wish, told to the skies only;
Not in cries, laughter, defiances, thrown from me when alone, far in the wilds;
Not in husky pantings through clench’d teeth;
Not in sounded and resounded words — chattering words, echoes, dead words;
Not in the murmurs of my dreams while I sleep,
Nor the other murmurs of these incredible dreams of every day;
Nor in the limbs and senses of my body,
   that take you and dismiss you continually — Not there;
Not in any or all of them, O adhesiveness! O pulse of my life!
Need I that you exist and show yourself, any more than in these songs.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Whitman, Walt, Leaves of Grass. Philadelphia: David McKay, [c1900]; Bartleby.com, 1999, http://www.bartleby.com/142/40.html.


Text Authorship:

  • by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), no title, 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 James Rolfe , "Not heaving from my ribb'd breast only", 1990 [ bass or bass-baritone and piano ], from Four songs on poems by Walt Whitman, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2016-09-15
Line count: 18
Word count: 183

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