I tramp a perpetual journey (Whitman)

May 21, 2026

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I tramp a perpetual journey, (come listen all!)
My signs are a rain-proof coat, good shoes, and a staff cut from the woods,
No friend of mine takes his ease in my chair,
I have no chair, no church, no philosophy,
I lead no man to a dinner-table, library, exchange,
But each man and each woman of you I lead upon a knoll,
My left hand hooking you round the waist,
My right hand pointing to landscapes of continents and the public road.  

Not I, not any one else can travel that road for you,
You must travel it for yourself.

Section 46 of Song of Myself, Walt Whitman

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