by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
There is that in me ‑‑ I do not know...
Language: English
There is that in me -- I do not know what it is --
but I know it is in me.
Wrench'd and sweaty -- calm and cool then my body becomes,
I sleep -- I sleep long.
I do not know it -- it is without name -- it is a word unsaid,
It is not in any dictionary, utterance, symbol.
Something it swings on more than the earth I swing on,
To it the creation is the friend whose embracing awakes me.
Perhaps I might tell more. Outlines! I plead for my brothers and sisters.
Do you see O my brothers and sisters?
It is not chaos or death -- it is form, union, plan --
it is eternal life -- it is Happiness.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), no title, appears in Song of Myself, no. 50 [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 Vincent Persichetti (1915 - 1987), "There is that in me", op. 103 no. 4, published 1967 [ chorus and woodwinds ], from Celebrations: Cantata no. 3, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Thomas Carl Whitmer (1873 - 1959), "There is that in me", published 1928 [ vocal quartet, chorus, and piano or orchestra ], from Choral Rhapsody [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-02-11
Line count: 12
Word count: 117