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Rh But the greatest of all joys for Whitman is the joy of being loved, in body and in spirit:

After studying all philosophers and all prophets he discovers that the basis of all metaphysics is love:

He thinks of all the men scattered in far away lands whom he might love:

But Whitman’s song would not be truly universal if he saw only the beauty and the goodness of the world. I have already said, I believe, that his optimism is by no means that of Dr. Pangloss. He is not unaware of evil; he transcends it. Sometimes, indeed, he cannot rise above it in full