by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
Dear Camerado
Language: English
As I lay with my head in your lap, camerado, The confession I made I resume -- what I said to you in the open air I resume: I know I am restless, and make others so; I know my words are weapons, full of danger, full of death; For I confront peace, security, and all the settled laws, to unsettle them; I am more resolute because all have denied me, than I could ever have been had all accepted me; I heed not, and have never heeded eiher experience, cautions, majorities, or ridicule; And the threat of what is called hell is little or nothing to me; And the lure of what is called heaven is little or nothing to me; Dear camerado! I confess I have urged you onward with me, and still urge you, without the least idea what is our destination, Or whether we shall be victorious, or utterly quelled and defeated.
Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892) [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 Daron Aric Hagen (b. 1961), "Dear Camerado", first performed 2006 [duet for 2 counter-tenors and piano], from We Two, no. 1. [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-10-24
Line count: 13
Word count: 155