Behold This Swarthy Face

Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)




   BEHOLD this swarthy face--these gray eyes,
   This beard--the white wool, unclipt upon my neck,
   My brown hands, and the silent manner of me, without charm;
   Yet comes one, a Manhattanese, and ever at parting, kisses me lightly
         on the lips with robust love,
   And I, on the crossing of the street, or on the ship's deck, give a
         kiss in return;
   We observe that salute of American comrades, land and sea,
   We are those two natural and nonchalant persons.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

24 sec read
464

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEFGDH
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 483
Words 81
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 9

Walt Whitman

Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. more…

All Walt Whitman poems | Walt Whitman Books

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