To A Certain Cantatrice

written by

Walt Whitman

HERE, take this gift!
I was reserving it for some hero, speaker, or General,
One who should serve the good old cause, the great Idea, the progress
and freedom of the race;
Some brave confronter of despots-some daring rebel;
-But I see that what I was reserving, belongs to you just as much as
to any.