BEAT! BEAT! DRUMS!
by: Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
- EAT! beat! drums! -- blow! bugles!
blow!
- Through the windows -- through doors -- burst like a ruthless
force,
- Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation,
- Into the school where the scholar is studying;
- Leave not the bridegroom quiet -- no happiness must he have
now with his bride,
- Nor the peaceful farmer any peace, ploughing his field or
gathering his grain,
- So fierce you whirr and pound you drums -- so shrill you
bugles blow.
-
- Beat! beat! drums! -- blow! bugles! blow!
- Over the traffic of cities -- over the rumble of wheels in
the streets;
- Are beds prepared for sleepers at night in the houses? no
sleepers must sleep in those beds,
- No bargainers' bargains by day -- no brokers or speculators
-- would they continue?
- Would the talkers be talking? would the singer attempt to
sing?
- Would the lawyer rise in the court to state his case before
the judge?
- Then rattle quicker, heavier drums -- you bugles wilder blow.
-
- Beat! beat! drums! -- blow! bugles! blow!
- Make no parley -- stop for no expostulation,
- Mind not the timid -- mind not the weeper or prayer,
- Mind not the old man beseeching the young man,
- Let not the child's voice be heard, nor the mother's entreaties,
- Make even the trestles to shake the dead where they lie awaiting
the hearses,
- So strong you thump O terrible drums -- so loud you bugles
blow.
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POEMS BY WALT WHITMAN |
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