Song of the Open Road

Here is a beautiful poem by Walt Whitman, adapted by composer Norman Dello Joio.

Hello! Hello! Whoever you are, come travel with me,
Whoever you are.
We will sail pathless and wild seas,
We will go where waves dash and winds blow.
Oh! Hello! Hello! Whoever you are, come travel with me.
Come on! Come on! Wherever you are,
Look around! Look around!
You will find what never tires.
Come on! Come on, and join hands,
Know what it is as you pass to be loved by strangers.
Take to the open road, healthy and free,
Take the long path leading wherever I choose,
I travel with the wide world before me,
The earth expanding, the music sounding.
Hello! Hello! Wherever you are,
Come on! Come on! Whoever you are,
Join hands and travel with me.
I ordain myself loosed from imaginary limits.
From this hour I shall live as my own master,
Searching, receiving and listening,
Breaking the bonds that would hold me.
Sing a song of the open road, for here is space and here a great deed has room.
Sing a song of the highway I travel,
For here is the test of a wisdom, a wisdom that is of the soul.
Take warning of those who would hold you.
The mocking and bat-eyed men.
Take your love on the road with you,
Gather the minds of men out of their brains,
Gather love out of men’s hearts,
The universe is a path that is endless
The universe itself is a road.
Come forth, my call is the call of battle.
Going with me you must go well armed.
Come forth, come forth and travel with me.
I give you my hand.
I give you my love
I give you myself.
Will you give me yourself?
Will you travel with me?
The road is before us, I give you my hand,
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?
Whoever you are.
Wherever you are.
Come on and travel with me.