Despairing Cries

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Title:     Despairing Cries
Author: Walt Whitman [More Titles by Whitman]

1.

Despairing cries float ceaselessly toward me, day and night,

The sad voice of Death--the call of my nearest lover, putting forth, alarmed, uncertain,

"_The Sea I am quickly to sail: come tell me,

Come tell me where I am speeding--tell me my destination_."

2.

I understand your anguish, but I cannot help you;

I approach, hear, behold--the sad mouth, the look out of the eyes, your mute inquiry,

"_Whither I go from the bed I recline on, come tell me_."

Old age, alarmed, uncertain--A young woman's voice, appealing to me for comfort;

A young man's voice, "_Shall I not escape_?"

[The end]
Walt Whitman's poem: Despairing Cries

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