- On journeys through the States we start,
- (Ay through the world, urged by these songs,
- Sailing henceforth to every land, to every sea,)
- We willing learners of all, teachers of all, and lovers of all.
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- We have watch’d the seasons dispensing themselves and passing on,
- And have said, Why should not a man or woman do as much as the
- seasons, and effuse as much?
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- We dwell a while in every city and town,
- We pass through Kanada, the North-east, the vast valley of the
- Mississippi, and the Southern States,
- We confer on equal terms with each of the States,
- We make trial of ourselves and invite men and women to hear,
- We say to ourselves, Remember, fear not, be candid, promulge the
- body and the soul,
- Dwell a while and pass on, be copious, temperate, chaste, magnetic,
- And what you effuse may then return as the seasons return,
- And may be just as much as the seasons.
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- To a Certain Cantatrice
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- Here, take this gift,
- I was reserving it for some hero, speaker, or general,
- One who should serve the good old cause, the great idea, the
- progress and freedom of the race,
- Some brave confronter of despots, some daring rebel;
- But I see that what I was reserving belongs to you just as much as to any.