That Music Always Round Me
That music always round me, unceasing, unbeginningyet long untaught
I did not hear;
But now the chorus I hear, and am elated;
A tenor, strong, ascending, with power and health, with glad notes of
day-break I hear,
A soprano, at intervals, sailing buoyantly over the tops of immense
waves,
A transparent bass, shuddering lusciously under and through the
universe,
The triumphant tuttithe funeral wailings, with sweet flutes and
violinsall these I fill myself with;
I hear not the volumes of sound merelyI am moved by the exquisite
meanings,
I listen to the different voices winding in and out, striving,
contending with fiery vehemence to excel each other in emotion;
I do not think the performers know themselvesbut now I think I
begin to know them.
Poems by Walt Whitman
