by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
Is this then a touch?
Language: English
Is this then a touch? quivering me to a new identity, Flames and ether making a rush for my veins, Treacherous tip of me reaching and crowding to help them, My flesh and blood playing out lightning to strike what is hardly different from myself, … …Depriving me of my best as for a purpose, … …I am given up by traitors, I talk wildly, I have lost my wits, I and nobody else am the greatest traitor, I went myself first to the headland, my own hands carried me there. You villain touch! what are you doing? my breath is tight in its throat, Unclench your floodgates, you are too much for me.
Text Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), appears in Song of Myself, no. 28 [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 Dorothy Hindman (b. 1966), "Is this then a touch?", 2006, first performed 2008 [ baritone and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-05-25
Line count: 11
Word count: 114