by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
Behold this swarthy face
Language: English
Behold this swarthy face, these gray eyes, This beard, the white wool unclipt upon my neck, My brown hands and the silent manner without charm; Yet comes one a Manhattanese and ever at parting kisses me lightly on the lips with robust love, And I on the crossing of the street or on the ship's deck give a kiss in return, We observe that salute of American comrades land and sea, We are those two natural and nonchalant persons.
Text Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892) [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 Gerald Busby (b. 1935), "Behold this swarthy face" [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2005-09-19
Line count: 8
Word count: 79