Floodlights and Goalposts

An online commonplace book

Thanks in Old Age, by Walt Whitman

Thanks in old age - thanks ere I go,
For health, the  midday sun, the impalpable air - for life,
     mere life,
For precious ever-lingering memories, (of you my mother
     dear - you, father - you, brothers, sisters, friends,)
For all my days - not those of peace alone - the days of war
     the same,
For gentle words, caresses, gifts from foreign lands,
For shelter, wine and meat - for sweet appreciation,
(You distant, dim unknown - or young or old - countless,
     unspecified, readers belov'd,
We never met, and ne'er shall meet - and yet our souls embrace, long, close and long;)
For beings, groups, love, deeds, words, books - for colors,
     forms,
For all the brave strong men - devoted, hardy men - 
     who've forward sprung in freedom's help, all years, all
     lands,
For braver, stronger, more devoted men - (a special laurel
    ere I go, to life's war's chosen ones,
The cannoneers of song and thought - the great artillerists - 
     the foremost leaders, captains of the soul 🙂
As soldier from an ended war return'd - As traveler out of
     myriads, to the long procession retrospective,
Thanks - joyful thanks! - a soldier's, traveler's thanks.


Mr. Whitman covers it all. He’s even thankful for his unknown readers – love that.

The title of the poem is Thanks in Old Age, but these are things we could all be thankful for at any age.

Happy Thanksgiving gentle readers. I’m thankful for you.

Whitman, Walt. The Complete Poems. United Kingdom, Penguin Books Limited, 2004.


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