Roots And Leaves Themselves Alone

Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)




   ROOTS and leaves themselves alone are these;
   Scents brought to men and women from the wild woods, and from the
         pond-side,
   Breast-sorrel and pinks of love--fingers that wind around tighter
         than vines,
   Gushes from the throats of birds, hid in the foliage of trees, as the
         sun is risen;
   Breezes of land and love--breezes set from living shores out to you
         on the living sea--to you, O sailors!
   Frost-mellow'd berries, and Third-month twigs, offer'd fresh to young
         persons wandering out in the fields when the winter breaks up,
   Love-buds, put before you and within you, whoever you are,
   Buds to be unfolded on the old terms;
   If you bring the warmth of the sun to them, they will open, and bring
         form, color, perfume, to you;
   If you become the aliment and the wet, they will become flowers,
         fruits, tall blanches and trees.                             10

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 02, 2023

44 sec read
156

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEBFGHIJKLMGHA
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 933
Words 146
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 17

Walt Whitman

Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. more…

All Walt Whitman poems | Walt Whitman Books

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