Lyric Poem · Death & Loss

Spain 1873–’74

by Walt Whitman

OUT of the murk of heaviest clouds,

Out of the feudal wrecks, and heap’d-up skeletons of kings,

Out of that old entire European debris—the shatter’d mummeries,

Ruin’d cathedrals, crumble of palaces, tombs of priests,

Lo! Freedom’s features, fresh, undimm’d, look forth—the same immortal face

looks

forth;

(A glimpse as of thy mother’s face, Columbia,

A flash significant as of a sword,

Beaming towards thee.)

Nor think we forget thee, Maternal;

Lag’d’st thou so long? Shall the clouds close again upon thee?

Ah, but thou hast Thyself now appear’d to us—we know thee;

Thou hast given us a sure proof, the glimpse of Thyself;

Thou waitest there, as everywhere, thy time.

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“Spain 1873–’74” by Walt Whitman — quilloak.com/poems/spain-1873-74

Quick facts

Poem: Spain 1873–’74
Poet: Walt Whitman
Length: 15 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Death & Loss, War & Remembrance

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape: 15 lines · 2 stanzas of 5–10 lines
End rhyme: No regular perfect end rhyme. The poem may still be using slant rhyme, assonance, or internal echo, which this check does not score.

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Text, source & rights

A traceable edition

Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.

Author record: Walt Whitman1819–1892
Source record: PoetryDBSpain 1873–’74 by walt-whitman, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record: Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint: SHA-256 7b1dbb0b4dfdb2ff…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.