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composed—be at ease with me—I am Walt
 * Whitman, liberal and lusty as Nature,

Not till the sun excludes you, do I exclude you, Not till the waters refuse to glisten for you, and the
 * leaves to rustle for you, do my words refuse to
 * glisten and rustle for you.

My girl, I appoint with you an appointment—and I
 * charge you that you make preparation to be
 * worthy to meet me,

And I charge you that you be patient and perfect till
 * I come.

Till then, I salute you with a significant look, that
 * you do not forget me.



you give me, I cheerfully accept, A little sustenance, a hut and garden, a little money
 * —these as I rendezvous with my poems,

A traveller's lodging and breakfast as I journey
 * through The States—Why should I be ashamed
 * to own such gifts? Why to advertise for them?

For I myself am not one who bestows nothing upon
 * man and woman,

For I know that what I bestow upon any man or
 * woman is no less than the entrance to all the
 * gifts of the universe.