If I had to pick one person with whom to spend the rest of my life, I would pass up Madonna, Lady Gaga, Scott Weiland (lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots), Quentin Tarantino, and even Dick van Dyke to spend time with my very favorite man in the history of the world, Walt Whitman.
It's not just his beautiful face that pulls me in, although it is very pretty, indeed. Ultimately, it is the poetry that moves me, as it should be. In fact, I very firmly feel that if you are not somehow affected by "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking," you don't have a soul. (Really.)
It is difficult for me to define the appeal. What I can say for sure is that I believe Walt Whitman did more for poetry than any other writer, with the possible exceptions of William Blake and e.e. cummings. Of course, that is a largely subjective opinion. Still, I stand by it.
Whitman's versatility is one of the keys to his enduring reputation with me, I think. He writes of everything: the sea, the wide open spaces of America, the working man, the child, the woman, the athlete, the bird, politics, love, war, family, friendship, poetry, and, most joyfully, himself. Each of the 52 sections of "Song of Myself" have something to offer, and some of my very favorite lines in all of poetry end the final section: "Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, / Missing me one place search another, / I stop somewhere waiting for you." These are the words of a man who wants to share himself with the world and, perhaps more importantly, wants the world to share itself with him.
Other notable pieces include "To One Shortly to Die," wherein Whitman speaks as Death; "We Two Boys Together Clinging," one of the most perfect love poems I've ever encountered; and, of course, the long poem "I Sing the Body Electric," if for no other reason than that it contains what may be the dirtiest line every written: "Limitless limpid jets of love hot and enormous, quivering jelly of love, white-blow and delirious juice[...]." (I wasn't kidding when I said he wrote of everything.)
For those of you who have never encountered Whitman, please do so immediately. Leaves of Grass has changed my life and that of several of my friends. I cannot recommend any poetry so highly as this.
Buy through Barnes and Noble for $8.95.
-Cate-
PS This is the first installment of what will become a regular feature: People We Covet. Check back on the 25th of every month for more featured individuals!
It is difficult for me to define the appeal. What I can say for sure is that I believe Walt Whitman did more for poetry than any other writer, with the possible exceptions of William Blake and e.e. cummings. Of course, that is a largely subjective opinion. Still, I stand by it.
Whitman's versatility is one of the keys to his enduring reputation with me, I think. He writes of everything: the sea, the wide open spaces of America, the working man, the child, the woman, the athlete, the bird, politics, love, war, family, friendship, poetry, and, most joyfully, himself. Each of the 52 sections of "Song of Myself" have something to offer, and some of my very favorite lines in all of poetry end the final section: "Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, / Missing me one place search another, / I stop somewhere waiting for you." These are the words of a man who wants to share himself with the world and, perhaps more importantly, wants the world to share itself with him.
Other notable pieces include "To One Shortly to Die," wherein Whitman speaks as Death; "We Two Boys Together Clinging," one of the most perfect love poems I've ever encountered; and, of course, the long poem "I Sing the Body Electric," if for no other reason than that it contains what may be the dirtiest line every written: "Limitless limpid jets of love hot and enormous, quivering jelly of love, white-blow and delirious juice[...]." (I wasn't kidding when I said he wrote of everything.)
For those of you who have never encountered Whitman, please do so immediately. Leaves of Grass has changed my life and that of several of my friends. I cannot recommend any poetry so highly as this.
Buy through Barnes and Noble for $8.95.
-Cate-
PS This is the first installment of what will become a regular feature: People We Covet. Check back on the 25th of every month for more featured individuals!
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