Poem by Walt Whitman

Leaves of Grass. 30. Whispers of Heavenly Death. 2. Whispers of Heavenly Death

Whispers of heavenly death murmur'd I hear,
Labial gossip of night, sibilant chorals,
Footsteps gently ascending, mystical breezes wafted soft and low,
Ripples of unseen rivers, tides of a current flowing, forever flowing,
(Or is it the plashing of tears? the measureless waters of human tears?)

I see, just see skyward, great cloud-masses,
Mournfully slowly they roll, silently swelling and mixing,
With at times a half-dimm'd sadden'd far-off star,
Appearing and disappearing.

(Some parturition rather, some solemn immortal birth;
On the frontiers to eyes impenetrable,
Some soul is passing over.)

1. Leaves of Grass. 35. Good-Bye My Fancy. 13. Bravo, Paris Exposition!
2. Leaves of Grass. 30. Whispers of Heavenly Death. 7. Assurances
3. Leaves of Grass. 34. Sands at Seventy. 56. Old Age's Lambent Peaks
4. Leaves of Grass. 34. Sands at Seventy. 39. Life and Death
5. Leaves of Grass. 24. Autumn Rivulets. 36. With All Thy Gifts

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