by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
And thou, America!
Language: English
And thou, America! For the Scheme's culmination -- its Thought, and its Reality, For these, (not for thyself,) Thou hast arrived. Thou too surroundest all; Embracing, carrying, welcoming all, Thou too, by pathways broad and new, To the Ideal tendest. The measur'd faiths of other lands -- the grandeurs of the past, Are not for Thee -- but grandeurs of Thine own; Deific faiths and amplitudes, absorbing, comprehending all, All eligible to all. All, all for Immortality! Love, like the light, silently wrapping all! Nature's amelioration blessing all! The blossoms, fruits of ages -- orchards divine and certain; Forms, objects, growths, humanities, to spiritual Images ripening.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), no title, appears in Song of the Universal, no. 5 [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 Raphael Valerio (b. 1919), "And Thou America", published 1967. [mixed chorus and piano] [ sung text not verified ]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-02-11
Line count: 15
Word count: 102