We Two—How Long We were Fool’d.

WE two—how long we were fool’d!
Now transmuted, we swiftly escape, as Nature escapes;
We are Nature—long have we been absent, but now we return;
We become plants, leaves, foliage, roots, bark;
We are bedded in the ground—we are rocks;
We are oaks—we grow in the openings side by side;
We browse—we are two among the wild herds, spontaneous as any;
We are two fishes swimming in the sea together;
We are what the locust blossoms are—we drop scent around the lanes, mornings and
evenings;
We are also the coarse smut of beasts, vegetables, minerals;
We are two predatory hawks—we soar above, and look down;
We are two resplendent suns—we it is who balance ourselves, orbic and stellar—we
are as two comets;
We prowl fang’d and four-footed in the woods—we spring on prey;
We are two clouds, forenoons and afternoons, driving overhead;
We are seas mingling—we are two of those cheerful waves, rolling over each other, and
interwetting each other;
We are what the atmosphere is, transparent, receptive, pervious, impervious:
We are snow, rain, cold, darkness—we are each product and influence of the globe;
We have circled and circled till we have arrived home again—we two have;
We have voided all but freedom, and all but our own joy.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Walt Whitman's poem We Two—How Long We were Fool’d.

4 Comments

  1. De Santis says:

    Geniuse-victim of circumstantial and self victimizationed love-for the mercy of the truly loved…capturing soul and spirit of self sacrificing true love for a truest loved…my soul cries out to thee Walt- with a prayer and kiss sent up to heaven X0

  2. Christopher says:

    My fiance and I are considering having this poem included as a reading for our upcoming wedding. I read it as referring to that way of being in the world I have found that somehow transcends everything that went before—a crystalline, heightened awareness of the richness of the world and our potential connectedness to it, of possibilities that I could not even have dreamed of previously, before I knew John. I also find the imagery amazing— I especially love imagining us as two cheerful waves that roll over each other and “interwet” each other. How terrific is that (not to mention erotic)??

  3. Daniel says:

    This poem was posted…on my birthday. and that was the last day..night..I saw love. Sad…but it was probably the first real day I came to really find myself. that only lasted for so long. One day..I will write it all.

    LO
    VE

    • De Santis says:

      Daniel are you ready to write again- never surrender to the future for you are loved- more than.you can imagine- love will arrive when you love yourself and are ready to embrace the real thing. God bless

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