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Poetry Information.... from Heart-Links.com |
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Walt Whitman, Romance With a StrangerThe concept of brief encounters, even romantic encounters, with a stranger recurs often in the verses of Walt Whitman. Take, for example, these lines from one of the inscriptions that Whitman wrote to his 1860 edition of Leaves of Grass. Clearly, Walt Whitman sees brief, chance encounters with strangers as an appropriate opportunity for the strangers to interact. Perhaps the communication will allow the strangers to become friends. In the lines of "To A Stranger," Whitman indicates that the strangers might become intimate and affectionate friends. The narrator in the poem is comfortably able to imagine himself creating a past history with the passing stranger and to foresee the opportunities for them to enjoy each other in physically affectionate ways. Here's a line from "Song of the Open Road," written in 1860. And from Whitman's "Carol of Occupations." Also consider this excerpt from "Who Is Now Reading This?" Walt Whitman's verses create a sense of comfort with the idea that strangers can longingly look at each other and act upon their impulses. Perhaps the next encounter will be with one's soulmate, as in the line, "You must be he I was seeking," from "To A Stranger." It seems reasonable to presume that Walt Whitman met many strangers in his lifetime and enjoyed the encounters. It's been said that Whitman was one of America's first self-identified homosexuals and his lifestyle may have reflected his ease with and attraction to strangers. "To A Stranger" is also known as "Calamus 22." "Calamus" is a series or cluster of 45 poems that were included in the editions of Leaves Of Grass. The "Calamus" series is about "manly attachment," and it's a series in which Whitman will "tell the secret of my nights and days." Both quotes are from the first poem in the "Calamus" series. Among the concluding lines in "To A Stranger," Walt Whitman says, "I am not to speak to you." a phrase typical of a man following orders, as in society's judgment against forbidden love. Yet undaunted and un-discouraged Whitman says, "I am to see to it that I do not lose you." It seems that love, even with a stranger, will find a way. To A Stranger Passing stranger! you do not know I have somewhere surely You grew up with me, You give me the pleasure of your eyes, I am not to speak to you, I am to think of you ***************************** Garry Gamber is a public school teacher and entrepreneur. He writes articles about real estate, health and nutrition, and internet dating services. He is the owner of http://www.Anchorage-Homes.com and http://www.TheDatingAdvisor.com.
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During interviews and general conversations with the public,one of the most difficult questions for me to answer(timely and thoroughly) is,"Why do you enjoy writing"?So due to the challenge manifested in such a question,I pondered on creating an answer. Many reasons came to mind,but after digesting much"time for thought",I managed to condense my response to three items. Im Sorry Mom! A Mothers Day Poem Mother's Day Poetry,I'm Sorry Mom!I'm sorry for the troubles And the worries I brought you. I'm sorry for my mistakes, I didn't mean to make you blue. How to Write Bad Poetry "All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling."--Oscar WildePeople write poetry for a plethora of reasons, but this article has a sharpened arrowhead aimed directly at the fingertips of amateur poets who wish to be published yet refuse to learn the attributes of a well-crafted poem. Rhymes of an Ordnance Man [Vietnam War: 1971] Rhymes of an Ordnance Man [Vietnam War: 1971]An eleven part poem By Dennis L. SilukI had went to Vietnam at the age of 23 [1971], and it was most interesting, there were 205,000 troops there when I arrived. Memoirs of a Wastelands Rim [a Poem: now in Spanish and English] Memoirs of a Wasteland's RimIt still was light when she paused at the wasteland's rim- Over, the rim rest like a sleeping brute, a wooden frame Adjacent to the blue where early stars hung like oil lamps Hanging from old beams and shade?the wooden frame Her footing caught the beams, as she had fallen onto it Alone, she watched the forenoon, climbing around her A drifter woman, marked by life, and slanting dreams With appearance of hurt and molded muscle on her face Her figure etched against the wooden frame, She tried to jump, and lost her balance, hanging like a bird Now sipping the gloom in the ledge and shattered hopes She yielded before the sluggish advance of sunset Blood dripped, with her dying darkness And a crimson moon hurled a flame across The shadowy clouds, burning throughout the sky The tormented sky above her?Crossing the valley's floor her eye gripped it Rocky images, highest points Thrusting herself up boldly from to the ledge The painted morning blushed over the rim Her brows and nose, face against the granite stone Massive injuries was taking form, Her silhouette floating so indolently across the sun It was too great a task-to die alone?she wished now She had not jumped?a thousand feet below, yet to go. Too much for any woman in a lost world Out of the weak wood her mind had peace; She knew soon it would all be over-alas Mute and protesting against life's uselessness A narrow path lay below her slender body Between death and attainment, a careless foot The rocks beneath her weakening, she plunged Plunged to her death, in the carving hands of the valley Thinking of it, as she fell, thinking with a smiled, Saying, looking up-dead before her echoes: 'Time is short?time is short?time is short!' When they found her, her face was unafraid of falling. Shadows of the Andes; Ollantayambo; and Cesar Vallejo [Poems in English and Spanish] 1) Shadows of the Andes [or: Song to the Andes]I shall blend-in, into theMountains- Into the faintest thinShadowsof the mountains! Like the moss on moistenedStoneLike a leaf blown far fromHome?(freshly fallen)!I shall blend-in, clingingTo the mountains- Into its faintest thinShadowsNote: when I arrived back home from Peru, my 7th trip in five years [April, 2005], I had spend about 30-days this time on the trip. I visited the Mantaro Valley, Huancayo, and drove through the Andes. |
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