Okay, maybe he doesn't write witticisms in the true Oscar Wilde-esque sense of the word, but I liked the way it sounds, alright!
Anyway, WW is this the man in American lit, or if not to you, then probably to whoever you consider the man, or who s/he considers the man (somewhere down the line, this guy is considered the man).
Anyway, he's maybe a little too cheery for me...give me Dickenson before Whitman...but I'm reading him a little more lately, things are going good so why not? I still think he's too cheery at times so I can't read it all, but some lines definitely stand out as speaking perfectly how I feel.
I was wondering if anyone else wanted to share some lines they knew of his that they felt strongly about? And if the poem isn't too long, maybe you can share the whole thing.
Mine is from a poem called Beginning My Studies, and it relates exactly how I felt when I first started reading poetry and when I first began learning guitar...I'll post the entire poem and bold the lines since it's a short piece:
Beginning my studies the first step pleas'd me so much,
The mere fact consciousness, these forms, the power of motion,
The least insect or animal, the senses, eyesight, love,
The first step I say awed me and pleas'd me so much,
I have hardly gone and hardly wish'd to go any farther,
But stop and loiter all the time to sing it in ecstatic songs.
--
Man, that is so perfect! Like losing your virginity or getting a puppy...you want the moment to last so you can just revel in it forever...unfortunately, puppies grow into dogs and losing your virginity, well...that one is real tough for most to revel in for long!
Hope to hear some more! It's interesting how unpoetic some of his "songs" can feel, but then when you really let yourself get into one or find he's pulled you really into the words of a certain one, you begin to see why they are actually songs.
-WS
Anyway, WW is this the man in American lit, or if not to you, then probably to whoever you consider the man, or who s/he considers the man (somewhere down the line, this guy is considered the man).
Anyway, he's maybe a little too cheery for me...give me Dickenson before Whitman...but I'm reading him a little more lately, things are going good so why not? I still think he's too cheery at times so I can't read it all, but some lines definitely stand out as speaking perfectly how I feel.
I was wondering if anyone else wanted to share some lines they knew of his that they felt strongly about? And if the poem isn't too long, maybe you can share the whole thing.
Mine is from a poem called Beginning My Studies, and it relates exactly how I felt when I first started reading poetry and when I first began learning guitar...I'll post the entire poem and bold the lines since it's a short piece:
Beginning my studies the first step pleas'd me so much,
The mere fact consciousness, these forms, the power of motion,
The least insect or animal, the senses, eyesight, love,
The first step I say awed me and pleas'd me so much,
I have hardly gone and hardly wish'd to go any farther,
But stop and loiter all the time to sing it in ecstatic songs.
--
Man, that is so perfect! Like losing your virginity or getting a puppy...you want the moment to last so you can just revel in it forever...unfortunately, puppies grow into dogs and losing your virginity, well...that one is real tough for most to revel in for long!
Hope to hear some more! It's interesting how unpoetic some of his "songs" can feel, but then when you really let yourself get into one or find he's pulled you really into the words of a certain one, you begin to see why they are actually songs.
-WS