by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
Afoot and light‑hearted, I take to the...
Language: English
Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road, Healthy, free, the world before me, The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose. Henceforth I ask not good-fortune -- I myself am good fortune; Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing, Strong and content, I travel the open road. The earth -- that is sufficient; I do not want the constellations any nearer; I know they are very well where they are; I know they suffice for those who belong to them. (Still here I carry my old delicious burdens; I carry them, men and women -- I carry them with me wherever I go; I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them; I am fill'd with them, and I will fill them in return.)
N. Rorem sets stanzas 1-2
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesText Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), no title, appears in Song of the Open Road, no. 1 [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 Ned Rorem (1923 - 2022), "The Open Road", 1997, published 1999, stanzas 1-2, from Evidence of Things Not Seen, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Wolfgang Wijdeveld (1910 - 1985), "Song of the open road", 1949, published 1949 [ medium voice, violin, viola, clarinet, and piano ], from Drie liederen, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail
This text was added to the website: 2004-08-04
Line count: 14
Word count: 131