History & Politics
To The States [To Identify the 16th, 17th, or 18th Presidentiad]
From Leaves of Grass
Why reclining, interrogating? why myself and all drowsing?
What deepening twilight-scum floating atop of the waters,
Who are they as bats and night-dogs askant in the capitol?
What a filthy Presidentiad! (O South, your torrid suns! O North,
your arctic freezings!)
Are those really Congressmen? are those the great Judges? is that
the President?
Then I will sleep awhile yet, for I see that these States sleep, for
reasons;
(With gathering murk, with muttering thunder and lambent shoots we
all duly awake,
South, North, East, West, inland and seaboard, we will surely awake.)
Cite this poem
MLA
Whitman, Walt. “To The States [To Identify the 16th, 17th, or 18th Presidentiad].” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/whitman/140/.
Chicago
Whitman, Walt. “To The States [To Identify the 16th, 17th, or 18th Presidentiad].” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/whitman/140/.
Read this poem with the Codex →