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by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

We two ‑‑ how long we were fool'd!
Language: English 
We two -- how long we were fool'd!
Now transmuted, we swiftly escape, as Nature escapes;
We are Nature -- long have we been absent, but now we return;
We become plants, leaves, foliage, roots, bark;
We are bedded in the ground -- we are rocks;
We are oaks -- we grow in the openings side by side;
We browse -- we are two among the wild herds, spontaneous as any;
We are two fishes swimming in the sea together;
We are what the locust blossoms are --
   we drop scent around the lanes, mornings and evenings;
We are also the coarse smut of beasts, vegetables, minerals;
We are two predatory hawks -- we soar above, and look down;
We are two resplendent suns -- we it is who balance ourselves,
   orbic and stellar -- we are as two comets;
We prowl fang'd and four-footed in the woods -- we spring on prey;
We are two clouds, forenoons and afternoons, driving overhead;
We are seas mingling -- we are two of those cheerful waves,
   rolling over each other, and interwetting each other;
We are what the atmosphere is, transparent, receptive, pervious, impervious:
We are snow, rain, cold, darkness --
   we are each product and influence of the globe;
We have circled and circled till we have arrived home again -- we two have;
We have voided all but freedom, and all but our own joy.

Portions of this text were used in Idyll by Frederick Delius.


Text Authorship:

  • by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "We two -- how long we were fool'd!", appears in Leaves of Grass [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):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-01-31
Line count: 23
Word count: 222

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