"You are to die -- let others tell you what they please, I cannot prevaricate,
I am exact and merciless, but I love you -- there is no escape for you."
"To One Shortly to Die"
by Walt WhitmanFROM all the rest I single out you, having a message for you:
You are to die -- let others tell you what they please, I cannot prevaricate,
I am exact and merciless, but I love you -- there is no escape for you.Softly I lay my right hand upon you, you just feel it,
I do not argue, I bend my head close, and half envelope it,
I sit quietly by, I remain faithful,
I am more than nurse, more than parent or neighbor,
I absolve you from all except yourself spiritual bodily, that is
eternal, you yourself will surely escape,
The corpse you will leave will be but excrementitious.The sun bursts through in unlooked-for directions,
Strong thoughts fill you, and confidence, you smile,
You forget you are sick, as I forget you are sick,
You do not see the medicines, you do not mind the weeping
friends, I am with you,
I exclude others from you, there is nothing to be commiserated,
I do not commiserate, I congratulate you.
