remain alive in you as a vital—perhaps sentient—force. As Jacques Der-
rida explains, it is only “ ‘in us’ that the dead may speak, that it is only by
speaking of and as the dead that one can keep them alive.”^82 Or as Whit-
man describes the phenomenon in “So Long!” the persona of his dead
self will become “immersed” in you, and thus be perpetuated in you.
76 / “Triumphal Drums for the Dead”