All about Walt Whitman

5 CONCLUSION (Part 11)

“Song of the Exposition”, as the title suggests, was a composition that was presented at the Annual Exhibition in New York City, on September 7, 1871. It sings the grandeur of the United States, its industrial, commercial and human power. It unites the ancient muse with the American Muse, Columbia, the first name of the United States, which represents the Union, the National Flag, the Nation, and the Mother of all its citizens. It is in fact a nationalist song, as we can see in the quotation below in its two last stanzas (it is a curious coincidence that Whitman has written a song about nationality to be read on September 7, our Independence Day):

WHITMAN:

Now here and these and hence in peace, all thine O Flag!
And here and hence for thee, O universal Muse! and thou for them!
And here and hence O Union, all the work and workmen thine!
None separate from thee–henceforth One only, we and thou,
(For the blood of the children, what is it, only the blood maternal?
And lives and works, what are they all at last, except the roads to faith and         death?)
While we rehearse our measureless wealth, it is for thee, dear Mother,
We own it all and several to-day indissoluble in thee;
Think not our chant, our show, merely for products gross or lucre—it is for        thee, the soul in thee, electric, spiritual!
Our farms, inventions, crops, we own in thee! cities and States in thee!
Our freedom all in thee! our very lives in thee!

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OUR RE-CREATION:

Agora aqui e estes e daqui em paz, tudo teu Oh Bandeira!

E aqui e daqui por ti, Oh Musa universal! e tu por eles!

E aqui e daqui Oh União, todo trabalho e trabalhadores são teus!

Nenhum separado de ti—doravante Um só, nós e tu,

(Pois o sangue dos filhos, o que é, só o sangue materno?

E vidas e obras, o que são todas afinal, exceto as vias para fé e morte?)

.

Enquanto ensaiamos nossa riqueza incomensurável, é por ti, Mãe querida,

Possuímos tudo e vários hoje indissolúveis em ti;

Não pensa que nosso canto, nosso espetáculo, meramente como produtos brutos ou lucro—é por ti, a alma em ti, elétrica, espiritual!

Nossas fazendas, invenções, colheitas, possuímos em ti! cidades e Estados em ti!

Nossa liberdade toda em ti! nossas próprias vidas em ti!

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