I know that, among music critics, it's thought a failed attempt, but I've always loved Ralph Vaughan Williams' 'Sea Symphony' which sets Whitman's words to music.
I don't know, to be frank, what I'd think of the words without the music, but when I hear:
"O we can wait no longer,
We too take ship O soul,
Joyous we too launch out on trackless seas,
Fearless for unknown shores on waves of ecstasy to sail,
Amid the wafting winds, (thou pressing me to thee, I thee to me, O soul,)
Caroling free, singing our song of God,
Chanting our chant of pleasant exploration."
--
it just lifts my heart every time.
Regards, Maz
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