THE LAST INVOCATION
At the last, tenderly,
From the walls of the powerful fortress’d house,
From the clasp of the knitted locks, from the keep of the well-closed doors,
Let me be wafted.Let me glide noiselessly forth;
With the key of softness unlock the locks–with a whisper,
Set ope the doors O soul.Tenderly–be not impatient,
(Strong is your hold O mortal flesh.
Strong is your hold O love.)–Walt Whitman
November is traditionally a time for thinking of those who have crossed the threshold of death, and who can feel very close to us in this season of mists and shadows. At a gathering that I attended earlier this month, the poem above was read, and continued to sound in my mind. Whitman evokes a quiet but powerful picture with the rhythm and sounds of his language.
What has spoken to your spirit lately? Please join us on the last Sunday of the month at Relevant Obscurity if you’d like to share in this topic.
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Thanks for sharing this. I love Walt Whitman. In a way, I think that he and Ralph Waldo Emerson created a new kind of spirituality in their version of Transcendentalism.
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I do too, and feel very drawn to their ideas.
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I love the painting accompanying this poem!
Whitman’s words remind me of the hold life has and the difficulty of letting go at the end. But let go we must…
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Yes, letting go is so difficult, but he helps us to see its beauty too.
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(Strong is your hold O mortal flesh.
Strong is your hold O love.)
Beautiful.
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Yes!
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