| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 364. Beginners |
| | | By Walt Whitman |
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| HOW they are provided for upon the earth (appearing at intervals), | |
| How dear and dreadful they are to the earth, | |
| How they inure to themselves as much as to any, what a paradox appears their age, | |
| How people respond to them, yet know them not, | |
| How there is something relentless in their fate all times, | 5 |
| How all times mischoose the objects of their adulation and reward, | |
| And how the same inexorable price must still be paid for the same great purchase. | |
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