Walt Whitman

The Dresser

1  An old man bending, I come, among new faces,
Years looking backward, resuming, in answer to chil–
        dren,
Come tell us old man, as from young men and maidens
        that love me;
Years hence of these scenes, of these furious passions,
        these chances,
Of unsurpass’d heroes, (was one side so brave? the
        other was equally brave;)
Now be witness again—paint the mightiest armies of
        earth;
Of those armies so rapid, so wondrous, what saw you to
        tell us?
What stays with you latest and deepest? of curious
        panics,
Of hard-fought engagements, or sieges tremendous,
        what deepest remains?
 
2  O maidens and young men I love, and that love me,
What you ask of my days, those the strangest and sud–
        den your talking recals;
Soldier alert I arrive, after a long march, cover’d with
        sweat and dust;
In the nick of time I come, plunge in the fight, loudly
        shout in the rush of successful charge;
Enter the captur’d works . . . . yet lo! like a swift–
        running river, they fade;
Pass and are gone, they fade—I dwell not on soldiers’
        perils or soldiers’ joys;
(Both I remember well—many the hardships, few the
        joys, yet I was content.)
 
 
3  But in silence, in dream’s projections,
While the world of gain and appearance and mirth goes
        on,
So soon what is over forgotten, and waves wash the
        imprints off the sand,
In nature’s reverie sad, with hinged knees returning, I
        enter the doors—(while for you up there,
Whoever you are, follow me without noise, and be of
        strong heart.)
 
4  Bearing the bandages, water and sponge,
Straight and swift to my wounded I go,
Where they lie on the ground, after the battle brought
        in;
Where their priceless blood reddens the grass, the
        ground;
Or to the rows of the hospital tent, or under the roof’d
        hospital;
To the long rows of cots, up and down, each side, I
        return;
To each and all, one after another, I draw near—not
        one do I miss;
An attendant follows, holding a tray—he carries a
        refuse pail,
Soon to be fill’d with clotted rags and blood, emptied,
        and fill’d again.
 
5  I onward go, I stop,
With hinged knees and steady hand, to dress wounds;
I am firm with each—the pangs are sharp, yet unavoid–
        able;
One turns to me his appealing eyes—(poor boy! I
        never knew you,
Yet I think I could not refuse this moment to die for
        you, if that would save you.)
 
6  On, on I go—(open, doors of time! open, hospital
        doors!)
The crush’d head I dress, (poor crazed hand, tear not the
        bandage away;)
The neck of the cavalry-man, with the bullet through
        and through, I examine;
Hard the breathing rattles, quite glazed already the eye,
        yet life struggles hard;
(Come, sweet death! be persuaded, O beautiful death!
In mercy come quickly.)
 
7  From the stump of the arm, the amputated hand,
I undo the clotted lint, remove the slough, wash off the
        matter and blood;
Back on his pillow the soldier bends, with curv’d neck,
        and side-falling head;
His eyes are closed, his face is pale, he dares not look on
        the bloody stump,
And has not yet looked on it.
 
8  I dress a wound in the side, deep, deep;
But a day or two more—for see, the frame all wasted
        and sinking,
And the yellow-blue countenance see.
 
9  I dress the perforated shoulder, the foot with the bul–
        let wound,
Cleanse the one with a gnawing and putrid gangrene, so
        sickening, so offensive,
While the attendant stands behind aside me, holding
        the tray and pail.
 
10  I am faithful, I do not give out;
The fractur’d thigh, the knee, the wound in the abdo–
        men,
These and more I dress with impassive hand—(yet
        deep in my breast a fire, a burning flame.)
 
11  Thus in silence, in dream’s projections,
Returning, resuming, I thread my way through the hos–
        pitals;
The hurt and the wounded I pacify with soothing hand,
I sit by the restless all the dark night—some are so
        young;
Some suffer so much—I recall the experience sweet
        and sad;
(Many a soldier’s loving arms about this neck have
        cross’d and rested,
Many a soldier’s kiss dwells on these bearded lips.)

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