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Song of the Open Road
The famous poem "Song of the Open Road" by Walt Whitman.
12 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1856
9 people are currently reading
261 people want to read
About the author
Walt Whitman
1,787 books5,403 followersWalter Whitman Jr. was an American poet, essayist, and journalist. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature. Whitman incorporated both transcendentalism and realism in his writings and is often called the father of free verse. His work was controversial in his time, particularly his 1855 poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described by some as obscene for its overt sensuality.
Whitman was born in Huntington on Long Island, and lived in Brooklyn as a child and through much of his career. At the age of 11, he left formal schooling to go to work. He worked as a journalist, a teacher, and a government clerk. Whitman's major poetry collection, Leaves of Grass, first published in 1855, was financed with his own money and became well known. The work was an attempt to reach out to the common person with an American epic. Whitman continued expanding and revising Leaves of Grass until his death in 1892.
During the American Civil War, he went to Washington, D.C., and worked in hospitals caring for the wounded. His poetry often focused on both loss and healing. On the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, whom Whitman greatly admired, he authored two poems, "O Captain! My Captain!" and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", and gave a series of lectures on Lincoln. After suffering a stroke towards the end of his life, Whitman moved to Camden, New Jersey, where his health further declined. When he died at the age of 72, his funeral was a public event.
Whitman's influence on poetry remains strong. Art historian Mary Berenson wrote, "You cannot really understand America without Walt Whitman, without Leaves of Grass... He has expressed that civilization, 'up to date,' as he would say, and no student of the philosophy of history can do without him." Modernist poet Ezra Pound called Whitman "America's poet... He is America."
Whitman was born in Huntington on Long Island, and lived in Brooklyn as a child and through much of his career. At the age of 11, he left formal schooling to go to work. He worked as a journalist, a teacher, and a government clerk. Whitman's major poetry collection, Leaves of Grass, first published in 1855, was financed with his own money and became well known. The work was an attempt to reach out to the common person with an American epic. Whitman continued expanding and revising Leaves of Grass until his death in 1892.
During the American Civil War, he went to Washington, D.C., and worked in hospitals caring for the wounded. His poetry often focused on both loss and healing. On the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, whom Whitman greatly admired, he authored two poems, "O Captain! My Captain!" and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", and gave a series of lectures on Lincoln. After suffering a stroke towards the end of his life, Whitman moved to Camden, New Jersey, where his health further declined. When he died at the age of 72, his funeral was a public event.
Whitman's influence on poetry remains strong. Art historian Mary Berenson wrote, "You cannot really understand America without Walt Whitman, without Leaves of Grass... He has expressed that civilization, 'up to date,' as he would say, and no student of the philosophy of history can do without him." Modernist poet Ezra Pound called Whitman "America's poet... He is America."
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
March 13, 2020
'Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
(...)'
To me, Song of the Open Road proves somehow bombastic, wordy and vacuous.
Read on Poetry Foundation.
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
(...)'
To me, Song of the Open Road proves somehow bombastic, wordy and vacuous.
Read on Poetry Foundation.
June 5, 2023
Allons! the road is before us!
It is safe—I have tried it—my own feet have tried it well—be not detain'd!
Let the paper remain on the desk unwritten, and the book on the shelf unopen'd!
Let the tools remain in the workshop! let the money remain unearn'd!
Let the school stand! mind not the cry of the teacher!
Let the preacher preach in his pulpit! let the lawyer plead in the court, and the judge expound the law.
Camerado, I give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself? will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?
It is safe—I have tried it—my own feet have tried it well—be not detain'd!
Let the paper remain on the desk unwritten, and the book on the shelf unopen'd!
Let the tools remain in the workshop! let the money remain unearn'd!
Let the school stand! mind not the cry of the teacher!
Let the preacher preach in his pulpit! let the lawyer plead in the court, and the judge expound the law.
Camerado, I give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself? will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?
February 14, 2024
“Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road
Healthy, free, the world before me
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing.
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms
Strong and content I travel the open road”
Healthy, free, the world before me
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing.
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms
Strong and content I travel the open road”
March 19, 2019
I've often heard others talks about those works that clean the glasses they view the world through, change their lives, cause them to lead radically different lives, change their religion -- philosophy -- school of thought -- political leaning (again) -- and redefine who they are.
I've heard all of this before, and said something akin afore. What I learned from Whitman today is that's all well, but not exactly what I thought it was.
I've heard all of this before, and said something akin afore. What I learned from Whitman today is that's all well, but not exactly what I thought it was.
December 21, 2024
My favorite verses:
“From this hour I ordain myself loos'd of limits and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master total
and absolute,
Listening to others, considering well
what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving,
contemplating,
Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.”
“You but arrive at the city to which you were destin'd, you hardly settle yourself to satisfaction before you are call'd by an irresistible call to depart,
You shall be treated to the ironical smiles and mockings of those who remain behind you,
What beckonings of love you receive you shall only answer with passionate kisses of parting,
You shall not allow the hold of those who spread their reach'd hands toward you.”
“From this hour I ordain myself loos'd of limits and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master total
and absolute,
Listening to others, considering well
what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving,
contemplating,
Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.”
“You but arrive at the city to which you were destin'd, you hardly settle yourself to satisfaction before you are call'd by an irresistible call to depart,
You shall be treated to the ironical smiles and mockings of those who remain behind you,
What beckonings of love you receive you shall only answer with passionate kisses of parting,
You shall not allow the hold of those who spread their reach'd hands toward you.”
April 12, 2023
Some stuff that made me think
Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons, /
It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.
Now I re-examine philosophies and religions, / They may prove well in lecture-rooms, yet not prove at all under the spacious clouds and along the landscape and flowing currents.
They go! they go! I know that they go, but I know not where they go, / But I know that they go toward the best—toward something great.
To know the universe itself as a road, as many roads, as roads for traveling souls.
Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons, /
It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.
Now I re-examine philosophies and religions, / They may prove well in lecture-rooms, yet not prove at all under the spacious clouds and along the landscape and flowing currents.
They go! they go! I know that they go, but I know not where they go, / But I know that they go toward the best—toward something great.
To know the universe itself as a road, as many roads, as roads for traveling souls.
November 7, 2025
He needs nothing, not even the stars to come closer to him because that is where they belong. The open road calls to the author - above all else, the freedom of choosing only lies right in front of you. It makes me want to get in my car and just start driving. He professes his love for the public road and all things that lie in wait on said road.
This is a man who lived his life fulling and completely. He felt, he experienced, he loved fully...and it shows in his writing. Touching and beautiful, a must read.
This is a man who lived his life fulling and completely. He felt, he experienced, he loved fully...and it shows in his writing. Touching and beautiful, a must read.
May 11, 2025
i cried so much reading this. such feelings have never been evoked before within me. they were leaking out.
“Whoever you are, come forth! or man or woman come forth! You must not stay sleeping and dallying there in the house, though you built it, or though it has been built for you.”
“Whoever denies me it shall not trouble me,
Whoever accepts me he or she shall be blessed and shall bless me.”
God, this is my bible.
“Whoever you are, come forth! or man or woman come forth! You must not stay sleeping and dallying there in the house, though you built it, or though it has been built for you.”
“Whoever denies me it shall not trouble me,
Whoever accepts me he or she shall be blessed and shall bless me.”
God, this is my bible.
January 4, 2018
I heard a recital of an excerpt of this on a classical collaboration album by Bill Murray. This poem is not especially striking in form to me, but I feel like it resonates to the part of me that feels that travel is essential for any person to really experience "divine things more beautiful than words can tell."
March 1, 2022
This is my first book containing poetry.
I love the author's choice of words and the story delivered. I learned about the importance of journey, as well as the things we cross as we venture.
I really enjoyed reading this! Reading this in the afternoon is very calming.
I love the author's choice of words and the story delivered. I learned about the importance of journey, as well as the things we cross as we venture.
I really enjoyed reading this! Reading this in the afternoon is very calming.
Read
June 30, 2024“¡Camarada, te extiendo la mano
Te doy mi amor, que es más precioso que el dinero,
Me entrego yo a ti, antes que entregarte el sermón o la ley;
¿Te entregarás a mí? ¿Quieres viajar conmigo?
¿Nos adherimos el uno al otro toda nuestra vida?”
Te doy mi amor, que es más precioso que el dinero,
Me entrego yo a ti, antes que entregarte el sermón o la ley;
¿Te entregarás a mí? ¿Quieres viajar conmigo?
¿Nos adherimos el uno al otro toda nuestra vida?”
December 29, 2020
This was excellent!
February 17, 2023
It’s literally a 2 min read, but i had to put it, because never in a million years would i have thought that i wanted to relate to poem this much. Hopefully One dayy
March 7, 2023
So deeply inspiring to me. I don't think poetry has ever moved me like this one has.
January 18, 2024
favorite poem EVER maybe :DDDDDDD
September 23, 2024
This one really got me thinking about my own life and connection to nature.
May 10, 2025
not that the book is bad but my head is bad in trying to understand
November 28, 2025
I loved the first part of this wtf
August 6, 2025
This poem brings out to the full, the untroubled spirit and vigorous positivity of Yeats. In this poem, there is nothing of disgruntled love, of parting and of demise. In this poem appears the representation of the poet as a happy-go-lucky vagrant setting forth with anticipation and poise on his travelling.
The expedition is representative of the poet's consideration both of his physical and spiritual environment. The road also embodies a new way of life, new cultures and standards. The poet discards the old and the outdated, cuts loose from the manacles of convention, and discovers the likelihood of a new way of life, a life of close companionship lived in line with the self-ruled epitome.
Thus, the Song is the poet's merriment of the new way of life which he is resolute to accept.
In this poem we find the poet disowning one way of life and accepting another. Basically, to travel the open road is to declare spiritual liberation and autonomy, to comprehend divine self-hood.
Each man must ascertain his distinctiveness, his association with the cosmos.
Re-read today:
Walt Whitman’s “Song of the Open Road”, first published in the 1856 edition of Leaves of Grass, stands as a jubilant declaration of spiritual independence and democratic optimism. Far more than a mere celebration of travel, this poem transforms the open road into a powerful metaphor for life itself—a life unshackled by conventions, unburdened by regrets, and wide open to experience, growth, and self-discovery.
From the outset, Whitman’s tone is buoyant and liberating. “Afoot and light-hearted,” he sets off into the world not just with his feet but with his soul—ready to embrace all of life without hesitation. The road, in this vision, is not fixed or linear but dynamic and universal: it belongs to everyone, leads everywhere, and calls each traveler toward self-realization. In a world increasingly marked by industrial regimentation and social stratification, Whitman’s voice rings out as radically inclusive—welcoming rich and poor, young and old, man and woman alike to walk beside him as equals.
The poem's structure, free verse with expansive cataloging and apostrophic address, mirrors its themes. Just as the road is unrestricted, so is the poem’s form. Whitman rejects metrical constraints in favor of organic rhythm, mirroring the spontaneity and authenticity he sees as vital to both poetry and life.
Nature, in “Song of the Open Road”, becomes both scenery and soul-mirror. To walk into the wild is to walk into oneself. Whitman’s transcendental leanings shine here: the divine is not separate from the world but immanent in it, present in the grass underfoot and the sky overhead. This spiritual openness, paired with a democratic embrace of humanity in all its diversity, gives the poem its enduring power.
Perhaps the poem's most stirring moment is its final gesture: Whitman turns to the reader and extends his hand. “Camerado, I give you my hand,” he says—not as a teacher to a student, nor as a leader to a follower, but as one companion to another. It is an invitation not only to walk but to awaken—to take the road inward as much as outward.
In 2025, as in 1856, Whitman’s open road still beckons. It speaks to the restless, the curious, the idealists and wanderers who refuse to be boxed in by systems or scripts. His poem is a call not just to travel, but to transform—to choose, to grow, and to walk boldly into the unknown, with joy.
The expedition is representative of the poet's consideration both of his physical and spiritual environment. The road also embodies a new way of life, new cultures and standards. The poet discards the old and the outdated, cuts loose from the manacles of convention, and discovers the likelihood of a new way of life, a life of close companionship lived in line with the self-ruled epitome.
Thus, the Song is the poet's merriment of the new way of life which he is resolute to accept.
In this poem we find the poet disowning one way of life and accepting another. Basically, to travel the open road is to declare spiritual liberation and autonomy, to comprehend divine self-hood.
Each man must ascertain his distinctiveness, his association with the cosmos.
Re-read today:
Walt Whitman’s “Song of the Open Road”, first published in the 1856 edition of Leaves of Grass, stands as a jubilant declaration of spiritual independence and democratic optimism. Far more than a mere celebration of travel, this poem transforms the open road into a powerful metaphor for life itself—a life unshackled by conventions, unburdened by regrets, and wide open to experience, growth, and self-discovery.
From the outset, Whitman’s tone is buoyant and liberating. “Afoot and light-hearted,” he sets off into the world not just with his feet but with his soul—ready to embrace all of life without hesitation. The road, in this vision, is not fixed or linear but dynamic and universal: it belongs to everyone, leads everywhere, and calls each traveler toward self-realization. In a world increasingly marked by industrial regimentation and social stratification, Whitman’s voice rings out as radically inclusive—welcoming rich and poor, young and old, man and woman alike to walk beside him as equals.
The poem's structure, free verse with expansive cataloging and apostrophic address, mirrors its themes. Just as the road is unrestricted, so is the poem’s form. Whitman rejects metrical constraints in favor of organic rhythm, mirroring the spontaneity and authenticity he sees as vital to both poetry and life.
Nature, in “Song of the Open Road”, becomes both scenery and soul-mirror. To walk into the wild is to walk into oneself. Whitman’s transcendental leanings shine here: the divine is not separate from the world but immanent in it, present in the grass underfoot and the sky overhead. This spiritual openness, paired with a democratic embrace of humanity in all its diversity, gives the poem its enduring power.
Perhaps the poem's most stirring moment is its final gesture: Whitman turns to the reader and extends his hand. “Camerado, I give you my hand,” he says—not as a teacher to a student, nor as a leader to a follower, but as one companion to another. It is an invitation not only to walk but to awaken—to take the road inward as much as outward.
In 2025, as in 1856, Whitman’s open road still beckons. It speaks to the restless, the curious, the idealists and wanderers who refuse to be boxed in by systems or scripts. His poem is a call not just to travel, but to transform—to choose, to grow, and to walk boldly into the unknown, with joy.
February 7, 2017
a celebration of the outdoors and travel and roads
the equality they breed, the interactions they allow, the mobility they signify.
From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master total and absolute,
Listening to others, considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
Gently,but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.
I inhale great draughts of space,
The east and the west are mine, and the north and the south are mine.
To know the universe itself as a road, as many roads, as roads for traveling souls.
All parts away for the progress of souls,
All religion, all solid things, arts, governments—all that was or is apparent upon this globe or any globe, falls into niches and corners before the procession of souls along the grand roads of the universe.
Camerado, I give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself? will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?
the equality they breed, the interactions they allow, the mobility they signify.
From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master total and absolute,
Listening to others, considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
Gently,but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.
I inhale great draughts of space,
The east and the west are mine, and the north and the south are mine.
To know the universe itself as a road, as many roads, as roads for traveling souls.
All parts away for the progress of souls,
All religion, all solid things, arts, governments—all that was or is apparent upon this globe or any globe, falls into niches and corners before the procession of souls along the grand roads of the universe.
Camerado, I give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself? will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?
December 5, 2023
I just found this book in a bookstore without any idea. I just wanted to read poems and light reading and I choosed it. Out of the context to whom this book, but it was a really romantic poem ever. Was imagining if is there a person out there who can write beautiful words.
June 13, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews