Walt Whitman

Leaves of Grass. 5. Calamus. 24. A Promise to California

A promise to California,
Or inland to the great pastoral Plains, and on to Puget sound and Oregon;
Sojourning east a while longer, soon I travel toward you, to remain,
      to teach robust American love,
For I know very well that I and robust love belong among you,
      inland, and along the Western sea;
For these States tend inland and toward the Western sea, and I will also.