by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
The Dying Veteran
Language: English
Amid these days of order, ease, prosperity, Amid the current songs of beauty, peace, decorum, I cast a reminiscence—(likely 'twill offend you, I heard it in my boyhood;)—More than a generation since, A queer old savage man, a fighter under Washington himself, (Large, brave, cleanly, hot-blooded, no talker, rather spiritualistic, Had fought in the ranks—fought well—had been all through the Revolutionary war,) Lay dying—sons, daughters, church-deacons, lovingly tending him, Sharping their sense, their ears, towards his murmuring, half-caught words: "Let me return again to my war-days, To the sights and scenes—to forming the line of battle, To the scouts ahead reconnoitering, To the cannons, the grim artillery, To the galloping aids, carrying orders, To the wounded, the fallen, the heat, the suspense, The perfume strong, the smoke, the deafening noise; Away with your life of peace!—your joys of peace! Give me my old wild battle-life again!"
Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "The Dying Veteran", subtitle: "A Long Island incident—early part of the present century" [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 Russell Platt (b. 1965), "The Dying Veteran", copyright © 2006 [tenor and piano], from the cantata From Noon to Starry Night - A Walt Whitman Cantata, no. 7, Fort Tryon Press [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2018-10-15
Line count: 18
Word count: 146