Death & Dying

Whispers of Heavenly Death

by Walt Whitman 1819–1892

From Leaves of Grass

Death & Dying

Whispers of heavenly death murmur’d I hear,
Labial gossip of night, sibilant chorals,
Footsteps gently ascending, mystical breezes wafted soft and low,
Ripples of unseen rivers, tides of a current flowing, forever flowing,
(Or is it the plashing of tears? the measureless waters of human tears?)
I see, just see skyward, great cloud-masses,
Mournfully slowly they roll, silently swelling and mixing,
With at times a half-dimm’d sadden’d far-off star,
Appearing and disappearing.
(Some parturition rather, some solemn immortal birth;
On the frontiers to eyes impenetrable,
Some soul is passing over.)

MLA

Whitman, Walt. “Whispers of Heavenly Death.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/whitman/233/.

Chicago

Whitman, Walt. “Whispers of Heavenly Death.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/whitman/233/.

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