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When I Read The Book, By: Walt Whitman

October 16, 2026 by Editors

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When I read the book, the biography famous,
And is this then (said I) what the author calls a man’s life?
And so will some one when I am dead and gone write my life?
(As if any man really knew aught of my life,
Why even I myself I often think know little or nothing of my real life,
Only a few hints, a few diffused faint clews and indirections
I seek for my own use to trace out here.)

Read all of Walt Whitman's poems · About Walt Whitman

More by Walt Whitman

  • Beginning My Studies
  • Beginners
  • To The States
  • On Journeys Through The States
  • To A Certain Cantatrice

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