Beat!+Beat!+Drums

Beat! Beat! Drums! Walt Whitman (1861)

Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow! Through the windows—through doors—burst like a ruthless force, Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation, Into the school where the scholar is studying, Leave not the bridegroom quiet—no happiness must he have now with his bride, Nor the peaceful farmer any peace, ploughing his field or gathering his grain, So fierce you whirr and pound you drums—so shrill you bugles blow.

Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow! Over the traffic of cities—over the rumble of wheels in the streets; Are beds prepared for sleepers at night in the houses? no sleepers must sleep in those beds, No bargainers’ bargains by day—no brokers or speculators—would they continue? Would the talkers be talking? would the singer attempt to sing? Would the lawyer rise in the court to state his case before the judge? <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Then rattle quicker, heavier drums—you bugles wilder blow.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow! <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Make no parley—stop for no expostulation, <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Mind not the timid—mind not the weeper or prayer, <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Mind not the old man beseeching the young man, <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Let not the child’s voice be heard, nor the mother’s entreaties, <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Make even the trestles to shake the dead where they lie awaiting the hearses, <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">So strong you thump O terrible drums—so loud you bugles blow.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Accessed at: The Walt Whitman Archive, http://www.whitmanarchive.org/published/periodical/poems/per.00055