As the Time Draws Nigh

By Walt Whitman

1819-1892

As the time draws nigh glooming a cloud,
A dread beyond of I know not what darkens me.

I shall go forth,
I shall traverse the States awhile, but I cannot tell whither or how long,
Perhaps soon some day or night while I am singing my voice will
suddenly cease.

O book, O chants! must all then amount to but this?
Must we barely arrive at this beginning of us? --and yet it is
enough, O soul;
O soul, we have positively appear'd--that is enough.

DayPoems Poem No. 2150
<a href="http://www.daypoems.net/poems/2150.html">As the Time Draws Nigh by Walt Whitman</a>

The DayPoems Poetry Collection, www.daypoems.net
Timothy Bovee, editor

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