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Shilpa KarhikWhat Best I See in Thee
July 5th 2006 08:48
WHAT BEST I SEE IN THEE
by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
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,
Were all so justified.
I think poetry is the only way to really flatter someone without seeming obsequious! I'm not sure whom this poem is directed at--it comes with the dedication "To U. S. G. return'd from his World's Tour", but I haven't been able to find out for certain who U. S. G. is. I'm guessing that it was Ulysses S. Grant (he came up when I googled the initials, and they're not terribly common initials) but don't take my word for it.
by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
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,
Were all so justified.
I think poetry is the only way to really flatter someone without seeming obsequious! I'm not sure whom this poem is directed at--it comes with the dedication "To U. S. G. return'd from his World's Tour", but I haven't been able to find out for certain who U. S. G. is. I'm guessing that it was Ulysses S. Grant (he came up when I googled the initials, and they're not terribly common initials) but don't take my word for it.
Walt Whitman
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