Poem by Walt Whitman

Leaves of Grass. 21. Drum-Taps. 19. Not the Pilot

Not the pilot has charged himself to bring his ship into port,
      though beaten back and many times baffled;
Not the pathfinder penetrating inland weary and long,
By deserts parch'd, snows chill'd, rivers wet, perseveres till he
      reaches his destination,
More than I have charged myself, heeded or unheeded, to compose
      march for these States,
For a battle-call, rousing to arms if need be, years, centuries hence.

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. 32. Life
4. Leaves of Grass. 5. Calamus. 16. Behold This Swarthy Face
5. Leaves of Grass. 5. Calamus. 21. The Prairie-Grass Dividing

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