Monday, June 14, 2010
♥
Whoever you are holding me now in hand,
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Without one thing all will be useless,
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I give you fair warning before you attempt me further,
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I am not what you supposed, but far different.
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Who is he that would become my follower?
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Who would sign himself a candidate for my affections?
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The way is suspicious, the result uncertain, perhaps destructive,
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You would have to give up all else, I alone would expect
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to be your sole and exclusive standard,
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Your novitiate would even then be long and exhausting,
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The past theory of your life and all conformity to the lives
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around you would have to be abandon'd,
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Therefore release me now before troubling yourself any further,
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let go your hands from my shoulders,
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Put me down and depart on your way.
`
WALT WHITMAN, Leaves of Grass
