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Steve April
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3/26/2026 12:18:59 AM
---- Updated 3/26/2026 12:20:17 AM
A Dose of Walt Whirman
"Logic and sermons never convince, there is more truth in the damp of the night."
"Both in and out of the game and watching and wondering at it."
"How every good has its danger, and every dangerous power may be so restrained and guided as to be a source of good." (Whitman paraphrasing Goethe)
"Sing of the foolish as much as the wise..."
Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman came to his fame slowly, very slowly.
Wrote/published "Songs of Myself" in his 40s, after years in journalism, and a few years teaching school in his 20s.
Shocked/scandalized the powers-that-be, with his vivid descriptions of sensuality, and broad-ranging views.
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Steve April
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3/28/2026 1:59:44 AM
GOOD-BYE MY FANCY!
GOOD-BYE my Fancy!
Farewell dear mate, dear love!
I'm going away, I know not where,
Or to what fortune, or whether I may ever see you again,
So Good-bye my Fancy.
Now for my last—let me look back a moment;
The slower fainter ticking of the clock is in me,
Exit, nightfall, and soon the heart-thud stopping.
Long have we lived, joy'd, caress'd together;
Delightful!—now separation—Good-bye my Fancy.
Yet let me not be too hasty,
Long indeed have we lived, slept, filter'd, become really blended
into one;
Then if we die we die together, (yes, we'll remain one,)
If we go anywhere we'll go together to meet what happens,
May-be we'll be better off and blither, and learn something,
May-be it is yourself now really ushering me to the true songs,
(who knows?)
May-be it is you the mortal knob really undoing, turning—so
now finally,
Good-bye—and hail! my Fancy.
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Psyche's Muse
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3/30/2026 12:20:13 AM
---- Updated 3/30/2026 12:20:13 AM
Walt Whitman was a celebrated 19th Century poet. Mostly known for his writing, Whitman was also a healthcare worker during the U.S. Civil War. When his brother George was wounded in the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862, Whitman traveled from New York to come to his aid.
Whitman cared for his brother in the Army hospital until he was able to return to his regiment. Despite his brother’s improved health, Whitman continued on to Washington, DC, to visit hospitalized soldiers.
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