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1819–1892

By That Long Scan of Waves

Walt Whitman

By that long scan of waves, myself call'd back, resumed upon myself, In every crest some undulating light or shade — some retrospect, Joys, travels, studies, silent panoramas — scenes ephemeral, The long past war, the battles, hospital sights, the wounded and the dead,

Myself through every by-gone phase — my idle youth — old age at hand, My three-score years of life summ'd up, and more, and past, By any grand ideal tried, intentionless, the whole a nothing, And haply yet some drop within God's scheme's ensemble — some wave, or part of wave,

Like one of yours, ye multitudinous ocean.

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By That Long Scan of Waves · Walt Whitman · Poetry Cove