When I Read The Book

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




   WHEN I read the book, the biography famous,
   And is this, then, (said I,) what the author calls a man's life?
   And so will some one, when I am dead and gone, write my life?
   (As if any man really knew aught of my life;
   Why, even I myself, I often think, know little or nothing of my real
         life;
   Only a few hints--a few diffused, faint clues and indirections,
   I seek, for my own use, to trace out here.)

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 07, 2023

25 sec read
442

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBBCBAD
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 429
Words 84
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 8

Walt Whitman

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

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