To Rich Givers (by Walt Whitman)

To Rich Givers
by Walt Whitman
What you give me, I cheerfully accept,
| A little sustenance, a hut and garden, a little money, as I rendezvous with my poems, |
| A traveler's lodging and breakfast as I journey through the States,—Why should I be ashamed to own such gifts? Why to advertise for them? |
| For I myself am not one who bestows nothing upon man and woman, |
| For I bestow upon any man or woman the entrance to all the gifts of the universe. |
[from the 1867 edition of Leaves of Grass]
To read other Whitman selections in the Crisis Chronicles Online Library, click here.





Comments