Camps of Green.

NOT alone those camps of white, old comrades of the wars,
When as order'd forward, after a long march,

Footsore and weary, soon as the light lessens we halt for the

night,

Some of us so fatigued carrying the gun and knapsack, dropping asleep in our tracks,

Others pitching the little tents, and the fires lit up begin to

sparkle,

Outposts of pickets posted surrounding alert through the dark, And a word provided for countersign, careful for safety,

Till to the call of the drummers at daybreak loudly beating the

drums,

We rise up refresh'd, the night and sleep pass'd over, and resume our journey,

Or proceed to battle.

Lo, the camps of the tents of green,

Which the days of peace keep filling, and the days of war keep

filling,

With a mystic army, (is it too order'd forward? is it too only

halting awhile,

Till night and sleep pass over?)

Now in those camps of green, in their tents dotting the world, In the parents, children, husbands, wives, in them, in the old and

young,

Sleeping under the sunlight, sleeping under the moonlight, content and silent there at last,

Behold the mighty bivouac-field and waiting-camp of all,

Of the corps and generals all, and the President over the corps and generals all,

And of each of us O soldiers, and of each and all in the ranks we

fought,

(There without hatred we all, all meet.)

For presently O soldiers, we too camp in our place in the bivouac

camps of green,

But we need not provide for outposts, nor word for the counter

sign,

Nor drummer to beat the morning drum.

The Sobbing of the Bells.

(Midnight, Sept. 19-20, 1881.)

THE Sobbing of the bells, the sudden death-news everywhere,

The slumberers rouse, the rapport of the People,

(Full well they know that message in the darkness,

Full well return, respond within their breasts, their brains, the sad

reverberations,)

[passing,

The passionate toll and clang-city to city, joining, sounding, Those heart-beats of a Nation in the night.

As They Draw to a Close.

As they draw to a close,

Of what underlies the precedent songs—of my aims in them, Of the seed I have sought to plant in them,

Of joy, sweet joy, through many a year, in them,

(For them, for them have I lived, in them my work is done,) Of many an aspiration fond, of many a dream and plan;

Through Space and Time fused in a chant, and the flowing eter

nal identity,

To Nature encompassing these, encompassing God — to the joyous, electric all,

To the sense of Death, and accepting exulting in Death in its turn the same as life,

The entrance of man to sing;

To compact you, ye parted, diverse lives,

To put rapport the mountains and rocks and streams,

And the winds of the north, and the forests of oak and pine, With you O soul.

Joy, shipmate, joy!

Joy, Shipmate, Joy!

(Pleas'd to my soul at death I cry,)
Our life is closed, our life begins,
The long, long anchorage we leave,
The ship is clear at last, she leaps!
She swiftly courses from the shore,
Joy, shipmate, joy!

The Untold Want.

THE untold want by life and land ne'er granted,
Now voyager sail thou forth to seek and find.

Portals.

WHAT are those of the known but to ascend and enter the Un

And what are those of life but for Death?

[known?

These Carols.

THESE Carols sung to cheer my passage through the world I see, For completion I dedicate to the Invisible World.

Now Finalè to the Sbore.

Now finale to the shore,

Now land and life finalè and farewell,

Now Voyager depart, (much, much for thee is yet in store,)

Often enough hast thou adventur'd o'er the seas,

Cautiously cruising, studying the charts,

Duly again to port and hawser's tie returning;
But now obey thy cherish'd secret wish,
Embrace thy friends, leave all in order,

To port and hawser's tie no more returning,
Depart upon thy endless cruise old Sailor.

So Long.

To conclude, I announce what comes after me.

I remember I said before my leaves sprang at all,

I would raise my voice jocund and strong with reference to con

summations.

When America does what was promis'd,

When through these States walk a hundred millions of superb

persons,

When the rest part away for superb persons and contribute to

When breeds of the most perfect mothers denote America,

Then to me and mine our due fruition.

I have press'd through in my own right,

I have sung the body and the soul, war and peace have I sung,

and the songs of life and death,

And the songs of birth, and shown that there are many births.

I have offer'd my style to every one, I have journey'd with confident step;

While my pleasure is yet at the full I whisper So long!

And take the young woman's hand and the young man's hand for the last time.

I announce natural persons to arise,

I announce justice triumphant,

I announce uncompromising liberty and equality,

I announce the justification of candor and the justification of pride.

I announce that the identity of these States is a single identity

only,

I announce the Union more and more compact, indissoluble, I announce splendors and majesties to make all the previous politics of the earth insignificant.