Leaves of Grass
by Walt Whitman
Leaves of Grass
Walt Whitman |
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Whitman so constantly deals with the body. Here we
are in the presence of one of those contradic-
tions, or rather, unifications, which make him in
a certain sense a Hegelian poet. He sings of the
body when he means to sing of the soul simply
because the body, like everything else, is funda-
mentally a manifestation of the soul:
I have said that the soul is not more than the body,
And I have said that the body is not more than the soul.
And he asks:
If the body were no...more
are in the presence of one of those contradic-
tions, or rather, unifications, which make him in
a certain sense a Hegelian poet. He sings of the
body when he means to sing of the soul simply
because the body, like everything else, is funda-
mentally a manifestation of the soul:
I have said that the soul is not more than the body,
And I have said that the body is not more than the soul.
And he asks:
If the body were no...more
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Another title I'm forever dipping into.
There are many editions of LEAVES; the 1892 'deathbed' edition (Whitman was knocking on Heaven's door when he was editing it) is one I've never been able to finish, mainly because it's just so. . .voluminous. Many poems for the ages there, but just as much dead wood, too, which always bogs me down.
This first, 1855 edition---this is my favorite. I call it the rock n' roll edition. Here, you'll find the poems---in their unadulterated, original ve...more
There are many editions of LEAVES; the 1892 'deathbed' edition (Whitman was knocking on Heaven's door when he was editing it) is one I've never been able to finish, mainly because it's just so. . .voluminous. Many poems for the ages there, but just as much dead wood, too, which always bogs me down.
This first, 1855 edition---this is my favorite. I call it the rock n' roll edition. Here, you'll find the poems---in their unadulterated, original ve...more
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Whitman used to right fake reviews under false names for Leaves of Grass and send them to publishers, newspapers, and periodicals. I love that about him. So over the top. He had love for everything. Especially himself. As for the quality of the work the words speak for themselves:
"This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, a...more
"This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, a...more
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Read in December, 2007
recommended to Ben by:
President Clinton gave this as a present to Monica Lewinsky recommends it for: democrats, republicans, flag-shitters
Leaves of Grass is like reading every single instant message that I and a friend of mine ever wrote to one another over the course of the last ten years. Likely way too long, too self-serving and would have shocked the general public if they cared to read it when it was written. But nestled in there are some real, true brilliant moments.
This is after all Whitman's life work, laid bare and un-edited for the most part. What else are we to expect? He is literally singing a song of himself, ...more
This is after all Whitman's life work, laid bare and un-edited for the most part. What else are we to expect? He is literally singing a song of himself, ...more
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Walt Whitman is my favorite American poet. His poetry never dates itself. It is as contemporary as if he just wrote it last week. Walt Whitman's poems overflow with life, energy, beat and excitement, and contain deep though simply-told truths that rival those of any wise man in history. He never let his inhibitions hold back his writing and it sparkles with honesty. Walt Whitman was also a great patriot, who loved America. He sought it out on its own terms and recorded what he saw in his poetry....more
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Read in January, 1996
my southern baptist american lit professor told me his work was vulgar and humanist, citing whitman's line – "Divine am I inside and out, and I make holy whatever I touch or am/touch'd from,/The scent of these arm-pits aroma finer than prayer,/This head more than churches, bibles, and all the creeds." these words were the seed to my introspection and doubts of much of the dogma i later rejected.
Song of Myself (quoted above) eventually helped shake me out of quite a few delusions ...more
Song of Myself (quoted above) eventually helped shake me out of quite a few delusions ...more
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Read in May, 2008
Whitman revised this book numerous times--adding to it, tweaking it many times during his life. And so it's not surprising that it's the kind of book I expect to read many times during my life.
For some reason I think of Leaves of Grass as America's epic poem. Yet, with free verse that slides in and out of theme and character it certainly doesn't tell a linear story the way the classic epics do. And yet, for young crazy we do it our own way America with our pride in our democracy mixed with ou...more
For some reason I think of Leaves of Grass as America's epic poem. Yet, with free verse that slides in and out of theme and character it certainly doesn't tell a linear story the way the classic epics do. And yet, for young crazy we do it our own way America with our pride in our democracy mixed with ou...more
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4 1/2 stars, really, but we can't do that. This is the original 1855 version. Whitman added to the collection throughout his life, ending up with an overstuffed and very uneven "deathbed" version, which is better known. There are some good poems in it which aren’t in the original, such as When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d, but there’s a lot of pretty weak stuff, too. The 1855 has a small number of pretty consistently excellent poems which are highly original and loose...more
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52. To a Stranger
PASSING stranger! you do not know how longingly I look upon you,
You must be he I was seeking, or she I was seeking, (it comes to me, as of a dream,)
I have somewhere surely lived a life of joy with you,
All is recall’d as we flit by each other, fluid, affectionate, chaste, matured,
You grew up with me, were a boy with me, or a girl with me, 5
I ate with you, and slept with you—your body has become not yours only, nor left my body mine only,
Yo...more
PASSING stranger! you do not know how longingly I look upon you,
You must be he I was seeking, or she I was seeking, (it comes to me, as of a dream,)
I have somewhere surely lived a life of joy with you,
All is recall’d as we flit by each other, fluid, affectionate, chaste, matured,
You grew up with me, were a boy with me, or a girl with me, 5
I ate with you, and slept with you—your body has become not yours only, nor left my body mine only,
Yo...more
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"Song of Myself" is a work of pure genius comparable to Shakespeare's greatest. I love these last three stanzas especially. When my wife and I were dating long distance and when I was deployed, I would end alot of my letters with "I stop somewhere waiting for you."
I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love.
If you want me again look for me under your bootsoles.
You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,
But I shall be good health to you neverthe...more
I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love.
If you want me again look for me under your bootsoles.
You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,
But I shall be good health to you neverthe...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
—
Read in September, 1998
recommends it for:
anyone
There are many volumes of poetry that I love. But this is my absolute favorite. I reread a few passages frequently. "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" and, of course, "Song of Myself" are perfect antidote's to life's dull rationalism, and to the noise of media and pop culture. And to the negative self-talk and anxiety that occasionally creep up in my own consciousness. His words are like boundless radiating energy, reminding me that most of life's limits are self-impos...more
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Read in September, 2003
recommends it for:
Everyone
Literary rapture. I don't know how else I could describe my first experience reading Leaves of Grass. It was pure literary rapture.
I highly recommend Leaves of Grass to everyone - especially those who still believe, or want to believe, in the basic goodness of the American Experiment.
Pick up the slim first edition (Whitman revised and expanded Leaves of Grass throughout his life. The final product, which is what is most often seen on bookshelves, is a bloated, redu...more
I highly recommend Leaves of Grass to everyone - especially those who still believe, or want to believe, in the basic goodness of the American Experiment.
Pick up the slim first edition (Whitman revised and expanded Leaves of Grass throughout his life. The final product, which is what is most often seen on bookshelves, is a bloated, redu...more
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Almost impossible to imagine how this pansexual poem made its way into the hearths and hearts of American critics and readers. The 1855 original version is more impressionistic than later versions. All feature Whitman's aeronautical lists of places and people from all over America. The poem's first word is "I." Its last is "you." The quest is to bridge that gap. A quintessential transcendental poem of the sort that Emerson imagined and was lucky enough to witness if not...more
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recommends it for:
anyone interested in homosexuality and the body in literature
I bought this book in Talkeetna, Alaska after listening to my roommate rhapsodize about it. I am currently reading the poems with titles that appeal to me ("Give Me the Splendid Silent Sun," and "I Sing the Body Electric") as well as those cited as evidence of Whitman's sexual and romantic relations with other men.
I enjoy how literal he is, that he cannot truly hide behind his words even when he is trying to. I enjoy his lists. I like his idea that what we consider to be ...more
I enjoy how literal he is, that he cannot truly hide behind his words even when he is trying to. I enjoy his lists. I like his idea that what we consider to be ...more
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Read in January, 1995
Can't say that I've actually sat down and read this cover to cover, but the poems that I have read in this I absolutely love. I am a sucker for any of the great American masters with the distinctly American voice, because they prove to the world at large that we are culturally significant (at least some of us)
"To What You Said" is absolutely heart breaking! The pain of not being yourself (in Walt's case, openly gay) is something that we can all relate to at one point or another (...more
"To What You Said" is absolutely heart breaking! The pain of not being yourself (in Walt's case, openly gay) is something that we can all relate to at one point or another (...more
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Maybe I should have a shelf called; "Sort of read". Poetry. Nobody ever said this was. All. Poetry. I don't read poetry. I don't write poetry. I don't GET poetry. And you'd think with titles like; "From Pent up Aching Rivers", "Of Him I sing", and "Oh Hymen, Oh Hymenee!". That that's stuff I could figure out. Not so much. I did give this a good peruse, and read the author's prologue, but there's just no way I can sit around reading that stuff. All I could...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommended to Claudia by:
indirectly Susan and Jenniferrecommends it for: poetry readers
I read this for several reasons: my American literature background is pathetic; I bought this book (the 1855, self-published edition) in DC at a Whitman exhibit, and a book I recently finished, "Self Storage," had the main character quoting Whitman. Come to find out, her pivotal decision is greatly informed by knowing and loving Whitman! So glad I did finally read it. I was drawn to two contradictory thougths as I read: the amazing strength and passion of the poetry, and the secret des...more
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It's also my favorite line from the movie 'With Honors'...
"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."
This is equally memorable..."If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles...Missing me one place search another,/I stop somewhere...more
"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."
This is equally memorable..."If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles...Missing me one place search another,/I stop somewhere...more
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recommends it for:
potsmokers and navel-gazers
First, I must say that Whitman's O Captain, My Captain moves me every time I read it. It's one of my favorites. However, that said, most of Leaves of Grass left me in doubt of whether I had actually picked up Smoke Some Grass by mistake. He verbally wandered in search of a profound thought, arrogantly asserted his preeminence in all things, and often seemed to have no point. Maybe I'm the numbskull, but I have a hard time taking seriously a man who worships the smell of his own armpit.
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Walt, Walt... Didn't anyone ever tell you there's a fine line between intoxicated raving and art? The things we write when under the influence are sometimes better off if they never see the light of day. Leaves of Grass, in my opinion, should have been taken out behind the barn and quietly shot before it was allowed to afflict the literary world with its egocentric, esoteric, nightmarish images and pseudo-artistic themes.
But you know...whatever it takes to "celebrate yourself."
But you know...whatever it takes to "celebrate yourself."
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 4.21 (4348 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 4.00 (10 ratings) number of reviews: 278popular shelves
other editions
quote
"Long enough have you dream'd contemptible dreams,
Now I wash the gum from your eyes,
You must habit yourself to the dazzle of the light
and of every moment of your life"
more quotes »