Walt Whitman Poems : Prayer of Columbus

A batter'd, wreck'd old man,
Thrown on this savage shore, far, far from home,
Pent by the sea and dark rebellious brows, twelve dreary months,
Sore, stiff with many toils, sicken'd and nigh to death,
I take my way along the island's edge,
Venting a heavy heart.

 

I am too full of woe!
Haply I may not live another day;
I cannot rest O God, I cannot eat or drink or sleep,
Till I put forth myself, my prayer, once more to Thee,
Breathe, bathe myself once more in Thee, commune with Thee,
Report myself once more to Thee.

 

Thou knowest my years entire, my life,
My long and crowded life of active work, not adoration merely;
Thou knowest the prayers and vigils of my youth,
Thou knowest my manhood's solemn and visionary meditations,
Thou knowest how before I commenced I devoted all to come to Thee,
Thou knowest I have in age ratified all those vows and strictly kept them,
Thou knowest I have not once lost nor faith nor ecstasy in Thee,
In shackles, prison'd, in disgrace, repining not,
Accepting all from Thee, as duly come from Thee.

 

All my emprises have been fill'd with Thee,
My speculations, plans, begun and carried on in thoughts of Thee,
Sailing the deep or journeying the land for Thee;
Intentions, purports, aspirations mine, leaving results to Thee.

 

O I am sure they really came from Thee,
The urge, the ardor, the unconquerable will,
The potent, felt, interior command, stronger than words,
A message from the Heavens whispering to me even in sleep,
These sped me on.

 

By me and these the work so far accomplish'd,
By me earth's elder cloy'd and stifled lands uncloy'd, unloos'd,
By me the hemispheres rounded and tied, the unknown to the known.

 

The end I know not, it is all in Thee,
Or small or great I know not--haply what broad fields, what lands,
Haply the brutish measureless human undergrowth I know,
Transplanted there may rise to stature, knowledge worthy Thee,
Haply the swords I know may there indeed be turn'd to reaping-tools,
Haply the lifeless cross I know, Europe's dead cross, may bud and
blossom there.

 

One effort more, my altar this bleak sand;
That Thou O God my life hast lighted,
With ray of light, steady, ineffable, vouchsafed of Thee,
Light rare untellable, lighting the very light,
Beyond all signs, descriptions, languages;
For that O God, be it my latest word, here on my knees,
Old, poor, and paralyzed, I thank Thee.

 

My terminus near,
The clouds already closing in upon me,
The voyage balk'd, the course disputed, lost,
I yield my ships to Thee.

 

My hands, my limbs grow nerveless,
My brain feels rack'd, bewilder'd,
Let the old timbers part, I will not part,
I will cling fast to Thee, O God, though the waves buffet me,
Thee, Thee at least I know.

 

Is it the prophet's thought I speak, or am I raving?
What do I know of life? what of myself?
I know not even my own work past or present,
Dim ever-shifting guesses of it spread before me,
Of newer better worlds, their mighty parturition,
Mocking, perplexing me.

 

And these things I see suddenly, what mean they?
As if some miracle, some hand divine unseal'd my eyes,
Shadowy vast shapes smile through the air and sky,
And on the distant waves sail countless ships,
And anthems in new tongues I hear saluting me.

Submited by

Lunes, Abril 11, 2011 - 01:02

Poesia Consagrada :

Sin votos aún

Walt Whitman

Imagen de Walt Whitman
Desconectado
Título: Membro
Last seen: Hace 14 años 1 semana
Integró: 04/08/2011
Posts:
Points: 849

Add comment

Inicie sesión para enviar comentarios

other contents of Walt Whitman

Tema Título Respuestas Lecturas Último envíoordenar por icono Idioma
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Tests 0 3.206 04/13/2011 - 00:24 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Tears 0 3.383 04/13/2011 - 00:18 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Starting from Paumanok 0 3.966 04/13/2011 - 00:14 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Spontaneous Me 0 3.972 04/13/2011 - 00:06 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Spirit Whose Work Is Done [Washington City, 1865] 0 4.698 04/13/2011 - 00:03 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Spirit That Form'd This Scene 0 3.502 04/13/2011 - 00:02 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Sparkles from the Wheel 0 3.128 04/13/2011 - 00:01 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Spain, 1873-74 0 3.532 04/12/2011 - 23:57 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Soon Shall the Winter's Foil Be Here 0 2.701 04/12/2011 - 23:55 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Song of the Universal 0 3.207 04/12/2011 - 23:51 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : A Song of the Rolling Earth 0 2.544 04/12/2011 - 23:50 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Song of the Redwood-Tree 0 3.477 04/12/2011 - 23:48 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Song of the Open Road 0 2.545 04/12/2011 - 23:43 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Song of the Exposition 0 2.555 04/12/2011 - 23:40 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Song of the Broad-Axe 0 3.410 04/12/2011 - 02:18 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Song of the Banner at Daybreak 0 3.579 04/12/2011 - 01:47 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Song of the Answerer 0 3.730 04/12/2011 - 01:44 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Song of Prudence 0 6.488 04/12/2011 - 01:35 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Song of Myself 0 9.843 04/12/2011 - 01:19 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : A Song of Joys 0 3.952 04/12/2011 - 00:59 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : A Song for Occupations 0 3.123 04/12/2011 - 00:56 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Song for All Seas, All Ships 0 4.215 04/12/2011 - 00:54 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Song at Sunset 0 2.257 04/12/2011 - 00:52 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : So Long! 0 4.105 04/12/2011 - 00:36 Inglés
Poesia Consagrada/General Walt Whitman Poems : Small the Theme of My Chant 0 4.572 04/12/2011 - 00:34 Inglés