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10. Leaves of Grass.
Full of life now, compact, visible,
I, forty years old the eighty-third year of The States,
To one a century hence, or any number of centuries hence,
To you yet unborn these, seeking you.
When you read these I that was visible am become invisible,
Now it is you, compact, visible, realizing my poems, seeking me,
Fancying how happy you were if I could be with you and become your comrade;
Be it as if I were with you. (Be not too certain but I am now with you.)
It’s Walt Whitman’s 200th birthday today! Suzanne and Chris are celebrating by
rereading Leaves of Grass, the book of poetry
that Whitman kept writing, revising, and expanding throughout his life. With
its ecstatic rhythms, its vigorous celebration of the body and of freedom, and
its dreams of collectivity through diversity, Whitman’s poetry can be
compelling, even overwhelming. And even when the book doesn’t quite live up to
our hopes and dreams, it offers a path beyond itself.
Show Notes.
Leaves of Grass. [Project
Gutenberg.
Librivox.
Bookshop.]
The Walt Whitman Archive also contains the
complete text(s).
Some curious details about the first printing of Leaves of
Grass.
The most famous section of Christopher Smart’s “Jubilate
Agno”.
Walt Whitman reading “America”.
(Though there is some controversy about the authenticity of the
recording.)
Mark Twain wrote on “The Whitman Controversy” (about Whitman’s alleged obscenity).
When Wilde Met Whitman.
Whitman Noir.
Some of the poems we quote:
Full of Life Now
Whoever You Are Holding Me Now in
Hand
To a Stranger
-America
I Sing the Body Electric (final
section; later, sections 7 and 8)
Song of Myself (sections 2 and 5)
Spontaneous Me
The Sleepers
Me Imperturbe
First O Songs for a Prelude
Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field
The Wound-Dresser
When Lilacs Last in the Door-Yard
Bloom’d
O Captain! My Captain!
Responses to Whitman:
Federico García Lorca: Oda a Walt
Whitman
[English
translation]
Pablo Neruda: Oda a Walt
Whitman [English
translation]
Allen Ginsberg: A Supermarket in
California
Mark Doty: Letter to Walt
Whitman
Langston Hughes: I,
Too
Paul Hindemith set a requiem with When Lilacs Last in the Door-Yard
Bloom’d.
Mark Doty reads Song of Myself (and
more).
Next episode: The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
You can support The Spouter-Inn and gain a
bunch of perks through Patreon.
View all episodes
By Suzanne Conklin Akbari and Chris Piuma
4.8
3030 ratings
Full of life now, compact, visible,
I, forty years old the eighty-third year of The States,
To one a century hence, or any number of centuries hence,
To you yet unborn these, seeking you.
When you read these I that was visible am become invisible,
Now it is you, compact, visible, realizing my poems, seeking me,
Fancying how happy you were if I could be with you and become your comrade;
Be it as if I were with you. (Be not too certain but I am now with you.)
It’s Walt Whitman’s 200th birthday today! Suzanne and Chris are celebrating by
rereading Leaves of Grass, the book of poetry
that Whitman kept writing, revising, and expanding throughout his life. With
its ecstatic rhythms, its vigorous celebration of the body and of freedom, and
its dreams of collectivity through diversity, Whitman’s poetry can be
compelling, even overwhelming. And even when the book doesn’t quite live up to
our hopes and dreams, it offers a path beyond itself.
Show Notes.
Leaves of Grass. [Project
Gutenberg.
Librivox.
Bookshop.]
The Walt Whitman Archive also contains the
complete text(s).
Some curious details about the first printing of Leaves of
Grass.
The most famous section of Christopher Smart’s “Jubilate
Agno”.
Walt Whitman reading “America”.
(Though there is some controversy about the authenticity of the
recording.)
Mark Twain wrote on “The Whitman Controversy” (about Whitman’s alleged obscenity).
When Wilde Met Whitman.
Whitman Noir.
Some of the poems we quote:
Full of Life Now
Whoever You Are Holding Me Now in
Hand
To a Stranger
-America
I Sing the Body Electric (final
section; later, sections 7 and 8)
Song of Myself (sections 2 and 5)
Spontaneous Me
The Sleepers
Me Imperturbe
First O Songs for a Prelude
Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field
The Wound-Dresser
When Lilacs Last in the Door-Yard
Bloom’d
O Captain! My Captain!
Responses to Whitman:
Federico García Lorca: Oda a Walt
Whitman
[English
translation]
Pablo Neruda: Oda a Walt
Whitman [English
translation]
Allen Ginsberg: A Supermarket in
California
Mark Doty: Letter to Walt
Whitman
Langston Hughes: I,
Too
Paul Hindemith set a requiem with When Lilacs Last in the Door-Yard
Bloom’d.
Mark Doty reads Song of Myself (and
more).
Next episode: The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
You can support The Spouter-Inn and gain a
bunch of perks through Patreon.
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