cookie monstr

as the time draws nigh

As the time draws nigh, glooming, a cloud,
A dread beyond, of I know not what, darkens me.

I shall go forth,
I shall traverse The States awhile–but I cannot tell whither or how
long;
Perhaps soon, some day or night while I am singing, my voice will
suddenly cease.

O book, O chants! must all then amount to but this?
Must we barely arrive at this beginning of us?… And yet it is
enough, O soul!
O soul! we have positively appear’d–that is enough.

by Walt Whitman (1819-1892)