To Thee, Old Cause!

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




   TO thee, old Cause!
   Thou peerless, passionate, good cause!
   Thou stern, remorseless, sweet Idea!
   Deathless throughout the ages, races, lands!
   After a strange, sad war--great war for thee,
   (I think all war through time was really fought, and ever will be
         really fought, for thee;)
   These chants for thee--the eternal march of thee.

   Thou orb of many orbs!
   Thou seething principle! Thou well-kept, latent germ! Thou centre!
   Around the idea of thee the strange sad war revolving,             10
   With all its angry and vehement play of causes,
   (With yet unknown results to come, for thrice a thousand years,)
   These recitatives for thee--my Book and the War are one,
   Merged in its spirit I and mine--as the contest hinged on thee,
   As a wheel on its axis turns, this Book, unwitting to itself,
   Around the Idea of thee.

Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 22, 2023

42 sec read
168

Quick analysis:

Scheme AAXXBBBB AXXXXXBXB
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 858
Words 141
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 9

Walt Whitman

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

All Walt Whitman poems | Walt Whitman Books

35 fans

Discuss the poem To Thee, Old Cause! with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "To Thee, Old Cause!" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/38222/to-thee,-old-cause!>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    3
    days
    10
    hours
    28
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    I wandered lonely as a _______ that floats on high o'er vales and hills
    A flower
    B cloud
    C bird
    D star