Poem by Walt Whitman

Leaves of Grass. 20. By the Roadside. 9. O Me! O Life!

O me! O life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill'd with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I,
      and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the
      struggle ever renew'd,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see
      around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?

      Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

1. Leaves of Grass. 34. Sands at Seventy. 42. While Not the Past Forgetting
2. Leaves of Grass. 21. Drum-Taps. 35. How Solemn As One by One [Washington City, 1865]
3. Leaves of Grass. 30. Whispers of Heavenly Death. 5. Yet, Yet, Ye Downcast Hours
4. Leaves of Grass. 35. Good-Bye My Fancy. 7. The Pallid Wreath
5. Leaves of Grass. 32. From Noon to Starry Night. 8. A Riddle Song

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