Leaves of Grass (1860)/To a Cantatrice

by Walt Whitman

Layout 2

To a Cantatrice.

Here, take this gift!
I was reserving it for some hero, orator, or general,
One who should serve the good old cause, the progress
and freedom of the race, the cause of
my Soul;
But I see that what I was reserving belongs to you
just as much as to any.