Poem by Walt Whitman

Leaves of Grass. 5. Calamus. 31. What Think You I Take My Pen in Hand?

What think you I take my pen in hand to record?
The battle-ship, perfect-model'd, majestic, that I saw pass the
      offing to-day under full sail?
The splendors of the past day? or the splendor of the night that
      envelops me?
Or the vaunted glory and growth of the great city spread around me? —no;
But merely of two simple men I saw to-day on the pier in the midst
      of the crowd, parting the parting of dear friends,
The one to remain hung on the other's neck and passionately kiss'd him,
While the one to depart tightly prest the one to remain in his arms.

1. Leaves of Grass. 35. Good-Bye My Fancy. 24. The Commonplace
2. Leaves of Grass. 34. Sands at Seventy. Fancies at Navesink. 6. Proudly the Flood Comes In
3. Leaves of Grass. 20. By the Roadside. 8. Perfections
4. Leaves of Grass. 20. By the Roadside. 6. Thoughts
5. Leaves of Grass. 24. Autumn Rivulets. 13. Out from Behind This Mask [To Confront a Portrait]

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