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A carol closing sixty-nine a résumé a repetition,
My lines in joy and hope continuing on the same,
Of ye, O God, Life, Nature, Freedom, Poetry;
Of you, my Land your rivers, prairies, States you, mottled
Flag I love,
Your aggregate retaind entire Of north, south, east and west,
your items all;
Of me myself the jocund heart yet beating in my breast,
The body wreckd, old, poor and paralyzed the strange inertia
falling pall-like round me,
The burning fires down in my sluggish blood not yet extinct,
The undiminishd faith the groups of loving friends.
“A Carol Closing Sixty Nine” is similar to a later poem in the Second Annex, ” Now Precedent Songs, Farewell”, here Whitman is marking the end of his 69th year with a catalog of things he’d like to give tribute to and say goodbye to. Similarly, in “Precedent Songs” Whitman is remembering all of his past poetry. In “Carol Closing Sixty Nine”, Whitman admits his work is a resume of sorts, but not of his songs this time, rather the first half of the poem acknowledges all the things about his country that he loves, he writes: “Of ye, O God, Life, Nature, Freedom, Poetry; Of you, my land — your rivers, priaries, States — you mottled Flag I love. Your aggregate retain’d entire — Of north, south, east and west your items all;” Then the second half of the poem shifts to a discussion of Whitman’s aging. Though his heart is still beating and his blood is still flowing strong his body is in pain and losing steam, so to speak, however, in the final line his faith in himself is undiminished and he is thankful for all of his loving friends who also have resilient faith in his strength.
Definitions of terms:
mottled: spotted or blotched in coloring.
aggregate: a sum, mass, or assemblage of particulars; a total or gross amount: the aggregate of all past experience.
jocud:cheerful; merry; gay; blithe; glad: a witty and jocund group.
definitions from Dictionary.com