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(courtesy Rothe Technologies, Inc.)
Walt Whitman
To a Common Prostitute
BE composed--be at ease with me--I am Walt Whitman, liberal
and lusty as Nature;
Not till the sun excludes you, do I exclude you;
Not till the waters refuse to glisten for you, and the leaves to
rustle for you, do my words refuse to glisten and
rustle for you.
My girl, I appoint with you an appointment--and I charge you
that you make preparation to be worthy to meet me,
And I charge you that you be patient and perfect till I come.
Till then, I salute you with a significant look, that you do not
forget me.
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (Philadelphia: David McKay, 1900)
238-239.