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Home  »  The Oxford Book of English Verse  »  742. The Imprisoned Soul

Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.

Walt Whitman. 1819–1892

742. The Imprisoned Soul

AT the last, tenderly, 
From the walls of the powerful, fortress’d house, 
From the clasp of the knitted locks—from the keep of the well-closed doors, 
Let me be wafted. 
 
Let me glide noiselessly forth;         5
With the key of softness unlock the locks—with a whisper 
Set ope the doors, O soul! 
 
Tenderly! be not impatient! 
(Strong is your hold, O mortal flesh! 
Strong is your hold, O love!)  10