Such Phantom Blossoms Palely Shining

Immortality Is Not A Gift, Immortality Is An Achievement; And Only Those Who Strive Mightily Shall Possess It.

The Spiritual Kinship Between Lincoln And Whitman Was Founded Upon Their Americanism, Their Essential Westernism. Whitman Had Grown Up Without Much Formal Education; Lincoln Had Scarcely Any Education. One Had Become The Notable Poet Of The Day; One The Orator Of The Gettsyburg Address. It Was Inevitable That Whitman As A Poet Should Turn With A Feeling Of Kinship To Lincoln, And Even Without Any Association Or Contact Feel That Lincoln Was His.

The Tongue May Be An Unruly Member-- But Silence Poisons The Soul.

I Have Known The Silence Of The Stars And Of The Sea. And The Silence Of The City When It Pauses, And The Silence Of A Man And A Maid, And The Silence For Which Music Alone Finds The Word.

Such Phantom Blossoms Palely Shining Over The Lifeless Boughs Of Time.