"The word I myself put primarily for the description of [my
'Leaves of Grass'] as they stand at last, is the word Suggestiveness. I
round and finish little, if anything; and could not, consistently with
my scheme. The reader will always have his or her part to do, just as
much as I have had mine. I seek less to state or display any theme or
thought, and more to bring you, reader, into the atmosphere of the theme
or thought – there to pursue your own flight."
– Walt Whitman, from "A Backward Glance O'er Travel'd Roads" (1892), in Leaves of Grass, (Library of America, 1992) p666-7.
– Walt Whitman, from "A Backward Glance O'er Travel'd Roads" (1892), in Leaves of Grass, (Library of America, 1992) p666-7.
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