TO thee, old Cause! <br /> Thou peerless, passionate, good cause! <br /> Thou stern, remorseless, sweet Idea! <br /> Deathless throughout the ages, races, lands! <br /> After a strange, sad war--great war for thee, <br /> (I think all war through time was really fought, and ever will be <br /> really fought, for thee;) <br /> These chants for thee--the eternal march of thee. <br /> <br /> Thou orb of many orbs! <br /> Thou seething principle! Thou well-kept, latent germ! Thou centre! <br /> Around the idea of thee the strange sad war revolving, 10 <br /> With all its angry and vehement play of causes, <br /> (With yet unknown results to come, for thrice a thousand years,) <br /> These recitatives for thee--my Book and the War are one, <br /> Merged in its spirit I and mine--as the contest hinged on thee, <br /> As a wheel on its axis turns, this Book, unwitting to itself, <br /> Around the Idea of thee.<br /><br />Walt Whitman<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-thee-old-cause/
