I Hear It Was Charged Against Me

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




   I HEAR it was charged against me that I sought to destroy
         institutions;
   But really I am neither for nor against institutions;
   (What indeed have I in common with them?--Or what with the
         destruction of them?)
   Only I will establish in the Mannahatta, and in every city of These
         States, inland and seaboard,
   And in the fields and woods, and above every keel, little or large,
         that dents the water,
   Without edifices, or rules, or trustees, or any argument,
   The institution of the dear love of comrades.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

27 sec read
102

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBCDEFGHIJ
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 552
Words 91
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 11

Walt Whitman

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

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