WHAT best I see in thee,
Is not that where thou mov’st down history’s great highways,
Ever undimm’d by time shoots warlike victory’s dazzle,
Or that thou sat’st where Washington sat, ruling the land in peace,
Or thou the man whom feudal Europe feted, venerable Asia, swarm’d upon,
Who walk’d with kings with even pace the round world’s promenade;
But that in foreign lands, in all thy walks with kings,
Those prairie sovereigns of the West, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois,
Ohio’s, Indiana’s millions, comrades, farmers, soldiers, all to the front,
Invisibly with thee walking with kings with even pace the round world’s promenade,
We all so justified.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Walt Whitman's poem What Best I See In Thee.

1 Comment

  1. Joan says:

    As I go browsing, I read this and realized I really
    hated studying history!
    So, why did I work cleaning a history professor’s place
    during college? guess it was just to listen to my own
    music and buy cigarettes. I don’t really hate it so much
    now, but understand my own kids better!

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