stormdog | Walt Whitman

I've never really read much poetry at all. I found this selection pieced together from Walt Whitman's "Song of the Open Road" while looking at non-traditional readings for wedding ceremonies.

Oh, it's a hard road being presented here! For a long time, it was the life I wanted. I think it still is, though perhaps no longer unreservedly. Traveling freely and without lasting connections is a lonely life, and this feels as much a curse as a blessing until the end, when the invitation to a fellow traveler appears. Though that part reminds me all the more that I'll be physicaly away from Danae for the next two-to-three years.

Regardless, this is meaningful to me and I want to share it.

I do not offer the old smooth prizes,
But offer rough new prizes,
These are the days that must happen to you:
You shall not heap up what is called riches,
You shall scatter with lavish hand all that you earn or achieve.
However sweet the laid-up stores,
However convenient the dwellings,
You shall not remain there.
However sheltered the port,
And however calm the waters,
You shall not anchor there.
However welcome the hospitality that welcomes you
You are permitted to receive it but a little while
Afoot and lighthearted, take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before you,
The long brown path before you,
leading wherever you choose.
Say only to one another:
Camerado, I give you my hand!
I give you my love, more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law:
Will you give me yourself?
Will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?