BE composed—be at ease with me—I am Walt Whitman, liberal and lusty as Nature;
Not till the sun excludes you, do I exclude you;
Not till the waters refuse to glisten for you, and the leaves to rustle for you, do my
words
refuse
to glisten and rustle for you.

My girl, I appoint with you an appointment—and I charge you that you make preparation
to
be
worthy to meet me,
And I charge you that you be patient and perfect till I come.

Till then, I salute you with a significant look, that you do not forget me.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Walt Whitman's poem To a Common Prostitute.

3 Comments

  1. Mark says:

    This poem is really cool!

  2. Tonya says:

    yo this poem was ight but i seen betta ones srry homie but its true lol

  3. matt says:

    i love how in this poem whitman echoes the biblical phrasing of the bridegroom returning for the bride. be ready, be worthy, when i come for you. and he takes on that christ-like vision, where the saddest and dirtiest people in society still shine with a core of purity. this is just another in the long series of people, things, places that whitman decides to encompass all within himself, and call all of them good. these days, it grows harder and harder to imagine such positivity. but we have to remember that old walt lived through the darkest hour of his nation, a war that killed more americans than all other wars combined, and called it beautiful. there has to be something inspiring in that. or else he was just crazy. or both.

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