Walt Whitman - 5/9/22 Fun with Chairs

After a particularly windy, smoky, dry unsettled-feeling Spring the lilacs have come to the rescue. As they always do, thank goodness! These hardy travelers thrive in many corners of the world, putting on an extravagant show. Prepare for multiple offerings, starting with the most famous, for Sarah McCarty who loves this piece.

WHEN LILACS LAST IN THE DOORYARD BLOOM'D ,

I

When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd,

And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night,

I mourn'd, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.

Ever-returning spring, trinity sure to me you bring,

Lilac blooming perennial and drooping star in the west,

And thought of him I love.

…

II

In the dooryard fronting an old farm-house near the white-wash'd palings,

Stands the lilac-bush tall-growing with heart-shaped leaves of rich green,

With many a pointed blossom rising delicate, with the perfume strong I love,

With every leaf a miracle - and from this bush in the dooryard,

With delicate-color'd blossoms and heart-shaped leaves of rich green,

A sprig with its flower I break.

IV

In the swamp in secluded recesses,

A shy and hidden bird is warbling a song.

Solitary the thrush,

The hermit withdrawn to himself, avoiding the settlements,

Sings by himself a song.

…

XVI

…

The song, the wondrous chant of the gray-brown bird,

And the tallying chant, the echo arous'd in my soul,

With the lustrous and drooping star with the countenance full of woe,

With the holders holding my hand nearing the call of the bird,

Comrades mine and I in the midst, and their memory ever to keep, for the dead I loved so well,

For the sweetest, wisest soul of all my days and lands and this for his dear sake,

Lilac and star and bird twined with the chant of my

There in the fragrant pines and the cedars dusk and dim.