Poem by Walt Whitman

Leaves of Grass. 5. Calamus. 20. I Hear It Was Charged Against Me

I hear it was charged against me that I sought to destroy institutions,
But really I am neither for nor against institutions,
(What indeed have I in common with them? or what with the
      destruction of them?)
Only I will establish in the Mannahatta and in every city of these
      States inland and seaboard,
And in the fields and woods, and above every keel little or large
      that dents the water,
Without edifices or rules or trustees or any argument,
The institution of the dear love of comrades.

1. Leaves of Grass. 34. Sands at Seventy. 56. Old Age's Lambent Peaks
2. Leaves of Grass. 24. Autumn Rivulets. 13. Out from Behind This Mask [To Confront a Portrait]
3. Leaves of Grass. 34. Sands at Seventy. Fancies at Navesink. 1. The Pilot in the Mist
4. Leaves of Grass. 34. Sands at Seventy. 32. Life
5. Leaves of Grass. 5. Calamus. 16. Behold This Swarthy Face

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