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Well, one thing I gathered from this poem is that Walt Whitman loves himself, and he loves America. To his mind, America is everything; it is freedom; it is democracy; it is happiness, and, again, according to him, it is the most poetic place on Earth. Through this he is trying to establish a unified America, and a mind-set that is distinctively American. After the civil war he wanted the nation to identify themselves with these ideals and to break from the past, as seen by his personal breaking...
There is no denying that this is a gorgeous book, each two-page monochrome spread lovingly and inventively drawn. You never know what the next page will bring. However, for someone brand new to Whitman, it just doesn’t work as a way of reading “Song of Myself.” Words loop around the page, skirting the illustrations in unpredictable patterns, so that it is very difficult to follow the poem’s flow. I gave up after one-third because I didn’t feel like I was actually reading Whitman. I need to get o...
I thought I would not like Whitman. I thought that I knew what to expect from him. After all, he was a Romantic so after I had read a bit of Wordsworth this should not have been that big of a difference. But it was. I think? Maybe because I had read Markus Zusak`s The Book Thief I was able to understand this poem? Or maybe exactly because of that the meaning that I undertook had been tainted? Or not?What was this poem about? I guess that it concerned itself with Nature whiteout check, with orig...
Song of Myself is the song to all humanity represented in Progress entering a new life in the United States. Whitman, an American poet, contemporary of Poe and Emerson, participated in the Civil War and became a great reference to the future of his country and the world.New styles and ways of life associated with the nascent democracy in his homeland; showing off his extreme sensitivity, he gave us this literary gem in free verse (a find for the time). He even claims his authorship in the use of...
Okay. This is a good start. I don't know if I'll ever read Leaves of Grass. I wish to, but something tells me I won't be doing that any time soon. However, I liked this poem. There's so much optimism in here that I thought I could never relate to it. And I was right... Still, I enjoyed reading this. I mean, he lost me during some verses, but after a couple of seconds and a sip of coffee, I was ready to keep going; there are a lot of beautiful lines waiting to be appreciated. I think I could tu...
Whitman is one of those writers whose merits can get lost in their reputations; you forget how good he is when you're not reading him. His role as the mascot of a kind of kitschy Americana--especially ridiculous in this time of decline and fragmentation--overshadows his saving weirdness, his poetic originality:Before I was born out of my mother generations guided me, My embryo has never been torpid . . . . nothing could overlay it; For it the nebula cohered to an orb . . . . the long slow strata...
“Let your soul stand cool and composedbefore a million universes.” ― Walt Whitman, Song of MyselfThere are some books that are just MEANT to be illustrated. Where the poem seems part of the earth. Part of the poet. Part of the sky and the stars!This book feels good. The binding is tight. The pages are thick. Even the cover contains multitudes. It is beautiful and rough. I rub it against my chin and it calms me. But wait. I haven't even opened the book yet. I see Whitman as a Giant American; a gi...
4.5 This was the first I've read of Whitman's work, and I was delighted. "Song of Myself" had such a deep connection to American history and space that it swept me away. Like Whitman himself, I could imagine myself in the people and places that he described. I also loved how unapologetic he was about being selfish. I've read so much poetry dedicated to higher powers that it was refreshing to read something so purposefully self-centered. I enjoyed other poems in this volume as well. Whitman has a...
"I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul,The pleasures of heaven are with me and the pains of hell are with me,The first I graft and increase upon myself, the latter I translate into a new tongue.I am the poet of the woman the same as the man,And I say it is as great to be a woman as to be a man,And I say there is nothing greater than the mother of men.I chant the chant of dilation or pride,We have had ducking and deprecating about enough,I show that size is only development.Have...
What I love about poetry is that there is a lot of room for interpretation. And in those beautiful 80 pages, Whitman did deliver what he promised before getting into the poem:"You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me, You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self."A must-read for anyone who likes to analyze things. It made me want to be in a book club just to discuss it. I think if I loved poetry a bit more, I might have appreciated it immensely. A few bi...
Truly remarkable. An ode to humanity.
Walt Whitman’s poem, which would eventually become “Song of Myself,” had no title in the 1855, first edition of Leaves of Grass. In the 1856 edition, it was “A Poem of Walt Whitman, an American.” In 1860, the title changed to “Walt Whitman.” It wasn’t until 1871 that Whitman changed the title to “Song of Myself.” Along with the changes in title were changes made over the course of time to the poem itself. Whitman’s “I” is a spectator, a commentator of what he sees, seeing them all, rich, poor, b...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0770h0vDescription: Orson Welles read Whitman's trailblazing poem for the BBC Third Programme in 1953. In a new landmark reading of the poem, Welles' voice is interwoven with readings from a small cast of acclaimed actors - Michael Sheen, Clarke Peters, Julianna Jennings, Kyle Soller and Eleanor Bron. With an introduction from poet, Mark Doty. Reader Orson WellesWriter Walt WhitmanReader Michael SheenReader Julianna JenningsReader Kyle SollerReader Clarke PetersR...
Incredible read every time it is readI read Song of Myself a year ago during an an online Modern Poetry class and again the year. There is so much to take from his poetry. The verbal written visuals of nature, people, the reflections of his world are the successes of his Poetry and so much more. He is the turning point along with Emily Dickinson as the Birthers of Modern Poetry. This is a great read, time after time, after time.
“You mean you're comparing our lives to a sonnet? A strict form, but freedom within it? Yes. Mrs. Whatsit said. You're given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself. What you say is completely up to you.” ― Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time: With Related ReadingsTake one:Do you guess I have some intricate purpose?Well I have, for the Fourth-month showers have, and the mica on the side of a rock has.Do you take it I would astonish?Does the daylight astonish? does the early redst
From BBC Radio 3 - Drama on 3:Orson Welles read Whitman's trailblazing poem for the BBC Third Programme in 1953. In a new landmark reading of the poem, Welles' voice is interwoven with readings from a small cast of acclaimed actors - Michael Sheen, Clarke Peters, Julianna Jennings, Kyle Soller and Eleanor Bron. With an introduction from poet, Mark Doty.Produced by Emma Harding.http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0770h0v
I am only reviewing the poem itself. It was hard to rate, because much of it was boring and hard to follow. Endless lists of prepositional phrases, predicates so long that I forgot the subjects— I really had a hard time with this work. Then—BAM!—suddenly my world would be rocked by a section. The last section floored me, but most of the poem bored me or annoyed me. In the end, I’m glad I can say I’ve read some Walt Whitman. He was definitely something interesting and new in his day.
The first six sections of Walt Whitman's Song of Myself present a myriad of issues both in subject matter and style. Reading these sections is a very different experience from reading a sonnet or even blank verse. Whitman's form was revolutionary when it arrived on the literary scene, and it continues to be distinctive. To some, Whitman's form is the essence of his art, and part of what makes Song of Myself so accessible and so entrancing. But to others it seems mere sloppiness – Whitman's line
As Whitman says, "Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems?Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems,You shall possess the good of the earth and sun, (there are millions of suns left,)You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books,You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me,You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self."
I read this a few months ago, but I just wanted to add this to comment on Goodreads's lack of poetry section. I know that poetry has to be published in a specific volume, but most people read poetry selectively, not in its entirety (This poem took me two days to read. God knows how long Leaves of Grass would have taken). And reviewing an entire volume of poetry seems absurd when there is so much substance in just one poem. Basically, I would just like to talk about one poem instead of an entire