Beware Of The Man Who Rises To

The Spiritual Kinship Between Lincoln And Whitman Was Founded Upon Their Americanism, Their Essential Westernism. Whitman Had Grown Up Without Much Formal Education; Lincoln Had Scarcely Any Education. One Had Become The Notable Poet Of The Day; One The Orator Of The Gettsyburg Address. It Was Inevitable That Whitman As A Poet Should Turn With A Feeling Of Kinship To Lincoln, And Even Without Any Association Or Contact Feel That Lincoln Was His.

O Maternal Earth Which Rocks The Fallen Leaf To Sleep!

The Tongue May Be An Unruly Member-- But Silence Poisons The Soul.

The Soul Of The River Had Entered My Soul, And The Gathered Power Of My Soul Was Moving So Swiftly, It Seemed To Be At Rest Under Cities Of Cloud And Under Spheres Of Silver And Changing Worlds Until I Saw A Flash Of Trumpets Above The Battlements Over Time!

Immortality Is Not A Gift, Immortality Is An Achievement; And Only Those Who Strive Mightily Shall Possess It.